You might have heard of a developer having knowledge of a specific programming language or say a software technology. But have you heard about those who are familiar with the entire stack of technologies, which means those who can work with databases, PHP, HTML, CSS, JS and everything in between and can even venture into things Photoshop and so on? This is what actually a full stack developer is. A full-stack developer is the one who is familiar or comfortable working with frontend as well as backend technologies. These are the guys who make the lives of people around them a lot easier with their extensive software knowledge and skills. So, when you talk full stack development it’s all about server-side and client-side development required to create complete software solutions.
In recent times to be a full stack developer one needs to have expertise in specific areas of competence rather than specific programming languages. Nowadays it’s not only about the server and client-side development, but the command-line, HTTP, the third-party APIs, version control and much more to learn in order to be a full stack developer.
Things to Know in Backend:
Server-side scripting is an important aspect required to be a full stack developer. It’s about developing programs for the server so that dynamic responses can be generated for the client requests. To learn server-side scripting it’s important to get familiar with the concepts and design patterns underlying the technology rather than learning the server-side languages. For example, consider Ruby on rails framework which is an excellent resource for the beginners to start off with server-side scripting. It’s full of beginner-friendly resources and an active community for support.
All the dynamic web applications are backed by databases and hence, for full stack development, it’s really important to understand how to configure and use the database. There is a number of databases today that have many unique features and specifications but the basic data storage approach remains the same across all of them. For beginners going with SQLite would be a good choice as it is easy to understand and go on with.
Things that Can Help in Frontend:
Talking about the front end, presentation plays an important role and hence, getting familiar with elements like HTML and CSS is a good thing. It’s after all these elements that define the structure, style, and layout of a website. Therefore, knowledge of these basic building blocks of the web is really essential for a full stack developer.
Apart from this, knowledge of JavaScript could help a full stack developer because behind the functioning of every dynamic website and interactive application it’s this programming language that works. JavaScript is the technology of both present as well as future and hence, knowledge of it is certainly desired from the one who wants to be a full stack developer.
Javascript is further extended with a group of libraries usually known as The JavaScript Libraries just like jQuery. Every full stack developer should be aware of these libraries and also a few JavaScript Frameworks in order to get on with front end development needs. For a beginner, it would be better to get a suggestion for which one to learn or choose a well-documented and easy framework to start with at the beginning.
Other Technologies:
Knowledge of installing packages, programs execution and file manipulation with the command-line process, using the version control tool, basic understanding of HTTP functioning and how to authorize, document, consume and interact with the third-party APIs is really important for a full stack developer.
So, for those who desire to be full stack developers, it is really important for them to be aware of all the above things to get on with a good career in the field of full stack development.
