What Is a Full Stack Developer?

As IT skills have probably already become key knowledge in the contemporary world, let’s assess the profession of a full stack developer. The knowledge about these professionals will help you safely navigate the ever-changing world of IT, making right decisions when necessary.

What Is a Full Stack Developer?

…And what is full stack development, really? These are the fundamental questions we must answer to move on. Well, a full stack developer is one of the key players in the IT area. These are universal programmers, the Swiss knife kind of people who can handle both front-end and back-end tasks in programming, plus other areas like operational systems and PaaS. These guys are not just generally smart — they’ve got knowledge in various layers of development, making their approach a 3D thing in programming. This allows them to develop comprehensive web apps.

Full stack development can work on web applications’’ customer-side and server-side parts. Let’s go!

What Is Full Stack Development?

By the way, it was only after 2010 that front-end and back-end skills became truly separated professions. So, full stack development as a comprehensive IT profession is an offspring, the next step in overall development. Here are the key layers of full stack development:

1. Front-end: The user interface and experience layer. The technologies used are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The front-end is like a window; it is about UX and the user’s functionalities. 
2. Back-end: On the contrary, it is about what is inside. We can talk about server, application, and database management layers. A full stack developer must be, optionally, an expert in Ruby, Python, Java, and frameworks such as Node.js
3. Database: Sure, databases are about storing and retrieving data. Systems, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or MongoDB, are great things to know for a full stack developer.
4. DevOps: To host the application, you must ensure specific deployment and network operations are applied. This can require various cloud services, such as AWS, Azure, or even Google Cloud.

What Does a Full Stack Developer Do?

It is a true IT expert who designs, develops, and keeps under control and monitors the front-end and back-end sides of web applications. Full stack developers create UX and develop server-side functionalities. They also connect databases, plus they handle various integration and deployment processes. To make a long story short, these guys work across all application stack layers to create a comprehensive and working project.

Full Stack Developer Skills

Let’s see now what a full stack developer’s professional must-haves are: 

• Front-end technologies: These must-haves involve basic skills like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Expertise in frameworks such as Angular or React is also important. 
• Back-end skills: It is essential to work using server-side languages like Python, Ruby, Java, or Node.js and frameworks such as Django or Express.
• Database management: It is about working with SQL or NoSQL databases, such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, or MongoDB.
• Version control/Git: Git commands help you track the code changes, which is essential. A full stack developer must manage and, when it comes to teamwork, collaborate on project codebases./
• API interaction familiarity: Experience in both designing and consuming REST-based services is necessary.
• Design ability: Full stack developers are not UI/UX designers, but this profession’s basic understanding is welcome.
• Problem-solving: It is about being smart and analyzing things, like being able to debug applications and help your team when needed.
• Communication and cooperation: It’s all about teamwork!
• DevOps: Skills in development options like software deployment, system administration, and understanding of the CI/CD pipeline are 100% needed. 

With these skills, a full stack developer can efficiently work with complicated web applications.

Full stack developers typically use a variety of programming languages. Let’s learn what these languages are.

Full Stack Developer Languages

As you know, there are various languages, and full stack developers don’t have to know them all. The most popular choice is JavaScript, Python, or similar pairs. Yet, let’s look at all the options.

• JavaScript: 100% needed for both front-end and back-end (Node.js) development.
• Python: A pretty popular option for back-end development due to its simplicity.
• Java: Again, popular in enterprise environments as it is truly efficient.
• Ruby: An elegant and cool syntax makes the difference here. 
• PHP: This language is typically used for server-side scripting.
• SQL: Another vial option for database management.
• HTML/CSS: Hey, it’s fundamental! Without it, you won’t create a single web page.

These languages allow full stack developers to handle multiple aspects of web development, from user interface design to server and database management.

Full Stack Engineer Salary

Let’s learn about the average full stack developer’s annual wages in some countries:

In the United States, on average, according to Talent.com, it equals $117,000, including: 

1. California: $131,563.
2. New York: $130,000.
3. Texas: $121,717.
4. Vermont: $97,053.

The United Kingdom: 63,700 GBP, according to Devitjobs.

Germany: 47,000 to 75,000 EUR, according to GermanTechJobs.

Canada: $132,444, according, again, to Talent.com. 

Australia: $125,000, according to Talent.com.

How to Become a Full Stack Developer

Let’s see what steps must be taken for an IT professional to be a certified full stack developer:

Step 1

A full stack developer must learn the basics, like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. 

Step 2

Develop yourself to master front-end frameworks like React. Then, switch to server-side programming using Node.js, Python, or Ruby. 

Step 3

Gain some knowledge in database management (SQL/NoSQL). 

Step 4

Develop personal or open-source projects: they will help you reach the next level as a pro. 

Step 5

Getting to know version control with Git, plus familiarizing yourself with DevOps practices, is also essential to complete an aspiring IT person to become a full stack developer.