CHAPTER 12

Full Stack Development

This chapter is an initiative to teach our readers about full-stack development.

If you’re a passionate learner, you’ll love to explore this chapter, as it contains almost everything about full-stack development and other associated aspects.

Move ahead to dive in!

Overview of Full-stack Development

Full-stack in itself comes as a complete package, and for the development, it refers to the development of both front-end (client-side) and backend (server-side) of a website.

What is full-stack web development?

Generally, developers require different programming languages to build a website. If some are well-versed in front-end, he’ll use client-side development, and similarly, backend developers use the best server-side technologies to create web masterpieces.

A combination of suitable front-end and back-end technologies is used only in full-stack to carry out outstanding web development.

A full-stack developer can only be successful if he holds a strong command of any of these languages. But he has to learn the languages in combination as learning a single language or technology will only solve the half purpose of web development.

The below image contains different languages that the full-stack developers have broadly used as per project requirements. So you only need to choose the ones you’re fine to start full-stack web development with.

Full-stack Web Development (Geeksforgeeks)

What is a full-stack developer?

Simply, a full stack developer is a person who is the master of all the technologies running brilliantly across the web development market. The individuals who have the skills to handle the client requirements, server-side facets, and databases solely are the full-stack developers.

Further, the responsibilities of a full-stack developer can be changed depending upon the project and what customers need. For example, it may be a website or a native app.

What is a full-stack JavaScript developer?

A full-stack JavaScript developer has experience working on both the front-end and backend of the web application. He knows HTML and CSS and also has outstanding knowledge -

• To program a browser application using JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, and Vue
  
• To program a server application using Node.js as their ideal language
  
• To program a database using the most trending MongoDB database

Besides, they know how to use different HTML and CSS frameworks to make a web application more structured.

Let’s dive deep into the concept by having a look at the -

Responsibilities of a full-stack JavaScript developer

• Develops a fascinating user-interface design
  
• Builds reusable codes and libraries for future development use
  
• Ensures the technical feasibility of website UI/UX
  
• Optimizes web applications for maximum speed and scalability
  
• Assures that all the user input is carefully validated before submitting to the backend services
  
• Collaborate with other team members for quality enhancement of the final product

Do you know there’s a massive demand for full-stack developers in the industry? You can see the upsurge in demand in below StackOverflow’s Stats:

Here, you can see the exact demand of full-stack developers across the industry more than almost all the development profiles.

- Demand Of Full-stack Developers (Guru99)

Role of Full Stack Developer

Most commonly, a full stack developer is involved in catering to the horizontal technical requirements so that they can one-handedly prepare a prototype design for the proposed product type without taking too much time.

What does a full-stack developer do?

A full-stack web developer holds full stackability that simultaneously provides a broader angle of project views and a proactive mindset. As a result, they are proactive in designing the product prototype with the concerned product needs.

If you’re a coding freak, we have brought you a list of JavaScript geeks you should follow.

Moreover, they keep themselves abreast of the new techniques to make the product better than before. The best thing you’ll see in a full-stack web developer is he is available to help everyone and provide ideal solutions to their problems.

As he is a full-stack, he can extend his helping hand to front-end developers, server-side programming individuals, and other technical team members. They are engrossed in making the UI/UX and database robust.

Knowledge of Full Stack Developer

A qualified full-stack developer must have functional knowledge and outstanding capabilities to handle all the aspects of a web application.

What does a full-stack developer need to know?

A lot of facets are there for a full-stack developer to learn.

Here is the selective list of components:

Programming Languages

A full-stack developer should have appropriate knowledge of different languages, including:

• Java
  
• C#
  
• PHP
  
• Ruby
  
• Python
  
• Perl,etc
  

Find the best source to learn programming languages if you want to become a successful full-stack web developer.

Development Frameworks and Libraries

All the popular programming languages are generally accompanied by a useful framework. The prominent ones among them are -

• Java Spring
  
• Hibernate
  
• MyBatis
  
• PHP ThinkPHP
  
• Python Django
  
• Yin
  
• Node.js express etc.
  
  

Front-end Technologies

Becoming a full stack web developer requires being proficient in different front-end technologies such as -

• HTML (HTML5 - Advanced Version)
  
• CSS (CSS3 - Advanced Version)
  
• JavaScript

And libraries like -

• jQuery
  
• Sass
  
• LESS
  
• React
  
• Angularjs

Database and Cache

Every project needs a database management system to seamlessly store and run all the website operations. Robust databases that a developer should know include -

• MySQL
• MongoDB
• Oracle
• Redis
• SQLServer
  
  

Basic Web Design Ability

It’s rarely discussed that a full-stack developer should also contribute to the designing area. For that, he should know how to -

• Plan for a website’s design aspects
  Plan how to carry out UI designing
  Look at the facts that can make a UX
  

Self Requirement Fulfilment Capability

A full-stack developer’s core responsibility is to take care of all the project needs, and he can do it all if they are enriched with -

• Global thinking
  
• Creativity
  
• Good communication skills
  
• Curiosity for development
  
• Time management skills

What skills are required for a full-stack developer?

There’s no limit to learning anything, and a full stack developer keeps on learning new things that strengthen his skills and make him capable of handling projects.

For your reference, a full stack developer -

• Helps you keep every part of every part of the web application running properly
  
• Helps everyone in the team regardless of their domain and problems
  
• Helps businesses in saving a lot of money as a full stack developer plays multiple roles, thereby putting efforts to generate revenue

A full-stack developer is also proficient in different technical aspects.

• He has the ability to quality unit tests for the developed modules
  
• He possesses a strong understanding of website testing and automation, make the project easy to test, document, and deploy
  
• He also has complete awareness of website security concerns that make him capable of dealing with different vulnerabilities
  
• A full-stack developer also possesses immense knowledge of playing with Algorithms and data structures that are needed to make a website structurally robust
  
  

Hire Full Stack Developer

You can consider a full stack developer a complete package, or you can say a celebrity who can do anything for your entertainment. Just like that, a full-stack developer is the hero of the web development world who is highly demanded because of his extraordinary and exceptional skills.

But, to hire these heroes, you have to be more careful but not stressed.

A few hacks can help you hire these all-rounder developers with ease.

How to hire a full-stack developer?

Hire based on Qualities

By keeping qualities in mind, you need to look for someone who -

• Is passionate and interested in learning new things relevant to his domain
• Possesses knowledge not only for the stacks but also keeps a close tab on different latest technologies
• Can point the team and other associated individuals in the right direction by giving them an absolute solution to their problem
• Is fully aware of the latest trends in the development world
• Can see a big picture of the client’s business by taking the proposed project into consideration
  
  

Hire based on Technical Skills

It’s not enough; instead, you need to make an analytical assessment of a full stack developer and check if they have an in-depth understanding of -

• HTML, CSS and JavaScript (quite compulsory)
• Prominent and highly demanded backend programming languages
• Well-architectured databases
• Version control
• Project hosting and deployment
• Integration of third-party services/APIs
  
  

Additional Things to Consider While Hiring A Full Stack Developer

Even after reviewing all the technical and other facts, you can go ahead with asking a few more questions to make your hiring process more proven.

• Tell us about a few projects you’ve worked on in the past.
  
• What technologies would you prefer to build a web application from scratch?
  
• What’s the most recent technology or thing that you’ve learned?
  
• Do you possess experience working remotely?
  
• Share your experience with the challenge you faced while working with any standard web development technology.
  
  

We have tried to clear all the individuals' queries about full-stack development and developers through this chapter. Hope, we’ve done it proficiently.