Full stack development is the process of developing an application’s front end and back end. The process involves the business logic layer, also known as the back end server side area, which specializes in data validation, and the presentation layer also referred to as the front end area, which specializes in the user interface. Full stack development involves all the steps from planning to the finished product. To work in the full stack development industry, developers must be able to work with different stacks efficiently.
What Is a Full Stack Developer & What Do They Do?
Full-stack developers are software engineers who work on front-end and back-end development processes. They develop, design, and maintain functional and fully-fledged platforms with servers or databases. The servers don’t require third-party applications to build a system from scratch. The phrase full stack developer became popular in the early days of web design. Then, websites were small and less complex, allowing experts to manage every site-building phase.
The web has since evolved, becoming more complicated by the day. The emergence of responsible design, predictive computing, and machine learning has made web management more challenging. Modern businesses often rely on groups of developers to run network equipment, manage massive databases, and work with virtual machines. Developing a comprehensive knowledge of emerging technologies takes time.
What do Full Stack Developers do?
A full-stack developer has numerous responsibilities. They must be conversant with designing websites with a solid internal architecture and delivering an intuitive and interactive interface for clients. A full-stack developer must understand JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. They should also know how to navigate data structures, algorithms, and back-end technologies.
Full stack developers work with products from the designing phase until their launch in the market. They utilize industry-standard best practices to address technical concerns at each development stack phase. These professionals begin by creating platforms and allocating them to a graphic design team.
A full-stack developer also reviews prototypes before converting them into coded components. These programmers then design functional servers and databases to facilitate client-facing content support. Full stack developers are also tasked with assessing the responsiveness of an application for front-end users and fixing problems when they arise.
Qualified full-stack developers keep pace with emerging technologies and prevailing industry trends. They are also conversant with deploying Amazon AWS solutions and emerging technologies to meet their workers’ needs. A qualified developer must ensure that a website renders correctly over multiple operating systems, browsers, and devices.
A typical day for a full stack developer includes:
- Working with JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and CSS preprocessors to design client-facing platforms;
- Coding for functionality on multiple platforms and languages;
- Managing servers and databases;
- Monitoring emerging technologies that can cater to business needs;
- Communicating with professional developers and graphic designers to deliver a great product;
- Prototyping MVPs (minimal viable products) to facilitate communication with company partners.
What are the Skills Required for a Full-stack Developer?
Full stack developers should have a wide range of skills, as seen below.
· Knowledge of HTML/CSS
Full stack developers use HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) to add web content and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a personalization tool for website designing and styling. CSS and HTML determine the feel and look of a website, which is critical for attracting potential customers.
Full stack developers work with HTML to determine the layout and animations of web pages. They must be conversant with CSS to present HTML elements effectively. These professionals must have a thorough knowledge of these programming languages to create engaging, intuitive, and interactive front-end for applications.
· Knowledge of JavaScript
JavaScript is a critical full-stack developer skill for web and software development. This object-based scripting language is usually used for writing back-end and front-end code for servers. JavaScript is the only programming language that runs natively on the server-side (Node.js) and the browser.
The ideal full-stack developer must have comprehensive knowledge of JavaScript and its concepts like Angular and React. JavaScript includes essential features like prototypes, functions, closure, and high-order event delegation, which are crucial for designing responsive web designs. Full stack developers must also advance their JavaScript knowledge when new tools, libraries, and frameworks are launched. Further, these professionals must know how to use JSON and DOM.
· Understanding of Git and GitHub
Git is a distributed open source version control system that handles a wide range of development needs. It’s designed to improve efficiency and speed for large-scale and minor projects. Full stack developers can use Git to manage changes made to codes, applications, documents, websites, and other data affiliated with software or application development.
Professional developers must have a LinkedIn and GitHub profile, especially when working as a team. Git allows developers to monitor every minor modification done on the application codebase. They must understand the basic Git examples and commands.
· Back-end Languages
There are numerous programming languages that developers can use for back-end development. Completing a full-stack web development course helps developers learn the necessary languages. Every full stack developer must be conversant with the following back-end development programming languages.
· Database Storage
Web applications require a database where all the data is stored. Developers can access that data when the need arises. A professional full-stack developer must be fully conversant with database storage and relational databases. They must be capable of manipulating, understanding, and designing database queries. They must also understand how to work with JSON and XML. Full stack developers must know the following things related to database storage.
- Web storage.
- NoSQL databases.
- The features or non-relational and relational data.
· Basic Design Skills
Full stack developers must have fundamental design skills. Understanding the front-end design is critical to ensuring the website is appealing and attractive. A neat website with a user-friendly design attracts potential customers.
· Soft Skills
While technical skills are crucial in becoming a full-stack developer, soft skills are also vital. The ideal full-stack developer must possess the following soft skills.
- Excellent time management skills;
- Analytical skills;
- Creative vision;
- Attention to detail;
- Passion for learning;
- Patience.
Is a Full-stack Developer a Good Career?
Full stack development jobs are promising for people in the software development industry. According to studies, over 50% of developers are identified as full stack experts. Currently, full-stack developers are the most sought-after professionals in the industry. According to another survey, over 30% of hiring managers said full stack development was the leading career in 2020.
What is the Difference Between a Front-end Developer and a Full-stack Developer?
Full stack development is a fusion of front-end and back-end development. With the numerous types of websites, languages, and methods available, there isn’t a formal difference between a full stack developer’s features. These professionals can execute all back-end and front-end programming tasks with little assistance. These tasks include user experience, data modeling, hosting, databases, and servers. These aspects are critical for websites to be visually appealing and run appropriately. Full stack developers have multiple skill sets, making them efficient.
What are the Benefits of Being a Full-stack Developer?
There are numerous reasons to become a full-stack developer. These include:
· High Demand
There is a high demand for full-stack developers. A study completed in 2018 established that the need for full-stack developers increased by 20%. That was because these professionals work with all the layers of the website development process — database, logic, and presentation. Besides that, organizations search for multiple talented professionals who can keep pace with the market and execute numerous roles. Unlike other professionals, full-stack developers can perform a wide range of projects.
· Attractive Pay
Full stack developers are well paid because they reduce a company’s operating expenses. For example, the average full stack developer earns approximately 6 LPA in India. Experienced full-time developers make around 14 LPA. The least paid developer in India earns about 3.5 LPA.
· Creative Flexibility
Full stack developers are conversant with different development aspects. As a result, they can operate with flexibility too. These professionals can work on an application’s client-side and its database. Flexibility allows developers to control the products they are building.
· Enhanced Productivity
Full stack developers are conversant with different technologies. For example, they can create a database and still add images to a web page, making them more effective than other developers. Full stack developers understand the impact of some changes on the entire project and can make decisions quickly.
· Full Stack Developer Qualifications
While you don’t need formal qualifications to work as a full-stack developer, most employers seek individuals with computer science qualifications. Other essential qualifications include:
- A computer science degree with a specialization in software development.
- Knowledge of one or multiple programming languages.
How to Make a Good Full Stack Development Team
Building an excellent full-stack developer team can be difficult because finding qualified developers is not easy. Not every professional has the drive and interest to advance into full stack development. Still, you can do various things to increase the chances of nurturing the growth of full-stack development teams. They include:
· Recruit Right
Hiring the ideal developers is the first step to nurturing full-stack development skills on the team. During interviews, avoid relying on technical questions only. Instead, combine technical questions why a set of queries that bring out the developer’s motivation, flexibility, and self-learning skills. For example, ask them the advantages of using one technology over the other. Such questions allow the candidate to demonstrate their understanding of their technology. This shows the learning ability and motivation that fosters full stack development.
· Leverage Learning
Full stack development has a never-ending learning curve. You can help your team learn in various ways. For example, your group requires motivation to learn. Instructor-based training, coding boot camps, and online courses are one of the strategies for supporting learning. Online paths and tutorials are readily available and cost-friendly. They allow developers to learn on the go. Developers can also attend software conferences to develop their full stack skills. While they are not ideal for extensive learning, they introduce full-stack developers to various technologies.
Full Stack Development Tools
Full stack development tools help ease the process. These include back-end and front-end technologies, libraries, frameworks, code editors, package managers, and databases. The web development process is transient, meaning new tools are available in the market every day. Full stack web development tools are divided into two categories — back end and front end tools. Front-end or client-side tools include:
- js. Google developed this framework that utilizes HTML as the foundation. It facilitates the management of a full view and upgrades HTML.
- Bootstrap is CSS and HTML based. It supports JavaScript and was developed by Twitter. It eliminates the need for code in web development.
- Foundation is part of the CSS framework. Creating responsive websites and web user interface with the foundation is easy. It’s flexible, customizable, and supports JavaScript and HML templates.
Full stack developers must be conversant with one or more programming languages such as:
- Hypertext Preprocessor is an open-source coding language ideal for web development and can be integrated into HTML.
- HTML5 is the fifth core version of HTML. It’s a website’s basic markup language and a stack answer for web pages. It determines how web pages behave with a markup language. HTML5 has API and Markup for sophisticated web applications. It can be used to develop cross-platform applications.
- CSS3 is a stylesheet programming language used to illustrate presentation components of a web page written with markup languages. It’s one of the core foundations of web development. CSS3is classified into different independent and working modules, each providing extra capacities.
Other front-end programming languages include: Back-end or server-side tools include:
- Ruby on rails. This open-source server-side application runs on Ruby. It is an MVC framework that offers default web service and database options.
- Django stack is a fast python-based web framework used for server scripting. It eliminates the amount of code written per application. The Django Software Foundation maintains this tool. Other popular stacks include the Mern stack like express and Node.js, Lamp stacks like Apache and Linux, and Mean Stack.
- js of a JavaScript run-time environment. It is ideal for server-side operations and creating irresistible web pages.
Other back-end development tools include:
- EmberJS and ASP.net
- Full stack developers should be conversant with various databases such as MYSQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB.
- Other essential full stack development tools are libraries like jQuery, React.js, and Lodash.
Full Stack Development Project Examples
Developers can leverage full-stack projects to learn and enhance their development skills. Completing a full stack project helps developers master CSS and HTML. They also improve their programming capabilities in servers, browsers, and databases. Examples of a full stack development project include:
· eCommerce Site for Automotive Accessories
Under this project, developers can develop a primary eCommerce site that shows the products sold. Customers should choose their preferred products and include them in a cart. They should also pay through a safe payment gateway with ease.
· Multiple Client Site Providing Client Services
In this project, merchants are the core customers. They must be capable of signing up at the website and creating a page that shows a list of the services they offer and the pricing. Users should sign up and buy goods from their favorite merchants. There must be a primary checkout process integrated into a payment gateway system.
· Content Management System for Blogs
Drupal and WordPress are excellent examples. Users must use the content management system to create a webpage using the drag-and-drop method.
Further, they should include media or textual content in placeholders attached to various locations on the web page. Users should be able to publish blog posts. In this case, they would need a text editor element that allows user to input text and changes it into HTML. The site should be published over HTTPS and HTTP protocols.
Finally
Full stack development is a promising and well-paying career. If you are interested in becoming a full stack development expert, this article should help you understand how to prepare and what to expect.