wappalyzer is very cool thanks for the tip.

I realize I won't be building Smartsheet anytime soon, but I want to start learning the tools with enough power to get me there.

I do plan to "Start with PHP, Rails or Node and build stuff," but first I would like to have a broad understanding of the frontend to backend path you describe. I know nothing of this process. I am looking for the basic concepts. In some ways, I feel like I'm trying to take derivatives with a fuzzy understanding of algebra. Following the book's example can get you from x^n to n*x^(n-1), but not to understanding.