Must-have Skills to be a Great Full-stack Developer

Over the last several years, the tech industry has seen explosive growth, with more companies relying on top-tier development talent for day-to-day operations and creating new avenues of growth through agile and high-performance software applications.

To that end, software developers are increasingly important in many organizations. Companies are looking for developers who can work on the end-to-end development of their products, which entails them being considered full-stack developers.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that full-stack development job opportunities will increase from 135,000 to 853,000 by 2024. Full-stack development jobs are also high-paying and readily available.

Becoming a full-stack developer necessitates a diverse & specialized skill set. Full-stack developers are highly skilled programmers working on both the front and back of web applications. Due to the versatility and the comprehensive nature of their work and responsibilities, they are in high demand, making this a profitable field to enter.

We’ll go over the fundamental skills needed to become a full-stack developer to get started.

What is a Full-Stack Developer?

We know that a website or web application’s functionality depends on two major components: the front end and the back end. Full-stack developers master a web application’s front-end, back-end, and database management. You must be well-versed in web development elements such as the user interface (front-end) and the server-side aspects (back-end).

A full-stack developer’s primary responsibility is to design user interactions on websites and platforms, write mobile-optimized code, and create databases.

Full-stack developers can handle complex web projects. They create new guides, documentation, and standards to improve the web development process. They are the key to a modern, professional digital agency.

The Purpose of a Full-Stack Developer

Here are some compelling reasons why you should hire a dedicated full-stack developer:

• Full-stack developers assist you in keeping all aspects of the system running smoothly.
• The full-stack developer will significantly reduce team communication time and technical costs by assisting everyone on the team.
• When one person performs multiple roles, your company saves money on employees, infrastructure, and operational costs.

Quick Plug: Our full-stack development services at Netsmartz include a variety of technologies and frameworks, including Node.js, React.js, AngularJS, DevOps, and more. Our experienced full-stack developers help enterprises and startups build full-fledged applications.

Full Stack Developer Skills You Need to Know

Front-end technology

All full-stack developers should be proficient in front-end technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. The candidate should be familiar with third-party libraries like jQuery, ReactJS, LESS, and Angular.

Development Languages

A full-stack engineer must be familiar with at least one server-side programming language like Ruby, Java, .Net, Python, etc.

Database and cache

Another critical need for full-stack developers is knowledge of various DBMS technologies. For this purpose, MySQL, MongoDB, Oracle, and SQLServer are widely used. Understanding caching mechanisms like varnish, Memcached, and Redis would be an asset.

Basic design ability

To become a successful Full Stack developer, you must also have knowledge of designing. Further, the individual should have a good understanding of basic prototype design and UI/UX design.

Server

It would be best if you had experience handling Apache or NGINX servers. Also, having a solid knowledge of Linux facilitates server administration.

Version control system (VCS)

Full-stack developers can keep track of all code changes in a version control system. Full-stack developers need to know Git to get the latest code, update parts of the code, and make changes to another developer’s code without breaking it.

Working with API (REST & SOAP)

It is also essential for full-stack developers to understand web services and APIs. REST and SOAP services are helpful in knowing how to create and consume.

Here are a few more pieces to the puzzle:

Quality Unit Testing Ability

• The individual should be familiar with automated processes for testing, documenting, and deploying systems at scale.
• Each layer has vulnerabilities, so it is crucial to be aware of security concerns.
• Professional full-stack developers must also have a strong understanding of algorithms and data structures.

Software Stack That A Skilled Developer Must Know

A software stack is a cluster of programs to achieve a specific goal.

A smartphone software stack consists of the operating system (OS), phone apps, web browsers, and default applications.

It would help if you comprehended a software stack based on your career objectives, projects, and company needs.

Let’s check out some of the popular stacks:

LAMP Stack

LAMP is a popular web service stack model. The acronym “LAMP” stands for four open-source components.

L= Linux is a free and open-source operating system.
A= Apache: Web server software that is widely used.
M= MySQL is a well-known open-source database.
P= PHP is an open-source server-side scripting language.

These previously mentioned components complement one another. Many popular websites and web applications, such as Facebook, use the LAMP stack.

MEAN Stack

MEAN Stack Application Development is becoming more popular. The acronym MEAN stands for

M= MongoDB, which is a NoSQL database.
E= Express: A lightweight and portable web application framework that is simple to use.
A= Angular.js: Powerful framework for creating HTML5 and JavaScript-based web applications.
N = Node.js: a JavaScript runtime on the server

MERN Stack

MERN is a set of JavaScript-based technologies that include:

M= MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database.
E= Express is a lightweight and portable web application framework.
R= React: A javascript library used to create user interfaces.
N= Node.js: A JavaScript runtime on the server.

This stack is currently in high demand due to its widespread use in the development of web applications.

Note: It doesn’t matter what stack you choose; you’ll find similarities in the architecture and design patterns across stacks.

The Future of Full-Stack Developers

Full-stack developers are essential to agile development and bring certain fluidity to application development across different forays and requirements. Thus, they will be in demand, citing their numerous benefits to companies. As technology evolves at such a rapid pace, foresighted companies will continue to hire them.

Since they are trained to work on various technologies and products, full-stack developers have become the most in-demand developers.

So, now is the best time for aspiring full-stack developers to capitalize on these opportunities and explore stacks to tinker with and provide their services.