Becoming a Full Stack Developer: Top Skills You Must Learn

Full stack web development can be described as a holistic method of developing both the frontend and the backend of web applications or websites. A full-stack web developer is capable of building complete web-based platforms or environments alone. For example, by learning full-stack web development, you can easily develop a social media platform or an interactive application for writing documents.

Full-stack developers help save medium and small-sized organizations a lot of money by not needing to hire a team of developers or expensive development firms. MNCs and top conglomerates too prioritize full-stack developers due to their understanding of the various phases of application development. Due to knowing about frontend, backend, network protocols, and databases, these types of developers can properly identify errors during development and optimize or iterate final builds easily.

What is frontend development?

Frontend development deals with developing the graphical interface or the browser side of the web application that gets rendered on the end user's side. Frontend development focuses on the client side and languages such as HTML and CSS are used for designing the pages or views (in applications) that end-users see and initially interact with. The frontend is responsible for the visual experience of the user and is an incredibly important part of web development.

Technical skills required for the frontend development

Other than CSS and HTML, there are also various libraries and frameworks that one can use to design the frontend, rather than just using CSS and HTML. Angular, Angular JS, Express.js, Vue.js, JQuery, Bootstrap are all popular frameworks for the frontend.

In order to use these frameworks, one must either use JavaScript or TypeScript. JavaScript is both a frontend and backend language and thus can be used for both purposes.

What is backend development?

Backend development is responsible for building the foundation, core functions, and background tasks that are running on the web environment. While the frontend handles the visual part, the server side or the backend relays data that govern the user’s next views (in an application), or the ability to use the web environment’s various features. The data that is rendered from the server side can be programmed using languages such as PHP, Python, Scala, Go, Ruby, Java, or even medium-level languages such as C++ or C#.

Technical skills required for the backend development

Many developers also choose to use Java applets or programs built with Java to render mini-applications or features/functions on websites. Also, due to JavaScript being a backend language, one can also use it for backend development. There are also many frameworks for backend development. For instance, developers who use Python can use Django and developers who use JavaScript can use Express.js or Node JS.

There is also Ruby on Rails for Ruby and CakePHP for PHP. For even more task-intensive applications or software, one can choose to use ASP.NET and the .NET framework, especially for using C#.

Non-technical skills required for the full-stack development

Full-stack developers must also have the capacity to understand business requirements and cater to the needs of their employers or clients effectively. For this, business communication and interpersonal skills are essential. It is also important to know how to work in teams and distribute work effectively.

Full-stack development also requires a solid understanding of project management methodologies as well as a good sense of project pipelines.

Top tools to learn for the full-stack development

Before learning about the tools required for full stack development, let us find out what is a full stack developer. Full stack developers design websites or web applications while also programming the core and background functionalities of the environment. While the frontend handles the UI/UX (User Interface/ User Experience), the actual experience of the user inside the web application (beyond the rendered pages) is developed in the backend.

For example, once you come to the landing page of an emailing platform, the views and the graphics are made with frontend technologies. Meanwhile, when you are sending an email to a recipient, the data is being processed and the task is being rendered on the server side, which further relays it to the network. Full stack developers also need to know how to handle API requests, responses, and integrations.

Structuring data and setting up databases is also crucial for web developers as well as adhering to web security standards. This is why there are a lot of tools, technologies, and skills that full-stack developers end up needing.  A full-stack web development course can help you gain these key skills and can help learn these essential technologies.

Let us check what are the top tools that a full-stack developer will definitely need:

• Frontend tools: HTML and CSS. HTML is the hypertext markup language that allows browsers to render web pages and web views. CSS helps in designing these pages or views. You can alternatively also use JavaScript if you are working with JS-based frontend frameworks. It is also an added benefit if one knows how to use visual tools such as Adobe XD or Figma. This allows for easier collaboration with the design or concept team.
• MEAN stack tools: The MEAN stack stands for MongoDB, Express, Angular, and Node. MongoDB is a NoSQL database that can be used for storing and querying files or data. Angular is used for building the visual experience of the applications through templates in a modular format. Meanwhile, Express and Node can help in developing the program and functions of the backend application and hosting it on the server.
• MERN stack tools: Similar to the MEAN stack, the MERN technology stack also uses MongoDB, Express, and Node. However, this stack uses React for developing applications with NativeScript. This allows you to build cross-platform applications that are compatible with all kinds of devices and which do not alter user experiences.
• Text editors and integrated development environments (IDEs): It is absolutely crucial for full-stack developers to be comfortable in IDEs such as Visual Studio, Atom and online alternatives. It is also crucial how to know the script or text editors effectively as that is what is used in Cpanels of basic websites.
• Git and other repositories: One must also know how to use Git commands for version controlling or for code commits. Knowing how to use project management tools is also a huge plus, especially due to large companies following various standardized software development methodologies. It is also incredibly beneficial if you know how to use automation tools and CI/CD (continuous integration/continuous development) methodologies. NPM and yarn package managers might also come in handy during various development processes as well as testing capabilities.
• Browser developer tools: Inspecting elements from the browser-side and understanding flaws, glitches and scope for optimization is extremely important for full-stack developers. Thus, you must also get accustomed to using the Developer Tools and Inspect Element (Network, Processes, Data, Script, etc.) features inside browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

There are also other technology stacks, such as LAMP that use Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. It is also very beneficial for full-stack developers to know cloud computing and have skills in hosting applications on the cloud. AWS is one of the most popular platforms for hosting applications that require scalability in the future.

It is also a plus if developers know how to integrate AI and other machine learning or deep learning implementations on a platform. There are many frameworks and libraries that one can use for these kinds of purposes such as Laravel, Rails or Django.

Other than these, full-stack developers must also have the capacity to understand business requirements and cater to the needs of their employers or clients effectively. For this, business communication and interpersonal skills are essential. It is also important to know how to work in teams and distribute work effectively.

Web development is a very valuable domain and with more businesses switching to e-commerce models from brick-and-mortar shops, it is not just large corporations that require web developers. Similarly, large companies also are always in dire need of skilled web developers for developing and maintaining their websites and applications. Full stack developers are especially important to these corporations for debugging their web applications and empowering their development processes.

Full stack developers are more capable and do not need support to carry out most web environment-related tasks. However, there will always be the need for specialists so it is beneficial to focus on specific aspects of development as well. With a full stack development certification, you will become capable of systematically building a full application on your own without tasking others with portions of the builds or units.

So, is web development a good career? Yes, it is incredibly so, especially with us relying more on online platforms after the pandemic and after the initiation of rapid digitization of our society.

If you wish to have a full-stack developer career, the Hero Vired Certificate Program in Full Stack Development is a great start. Other than the relevant current technical tools and technologies, It includes hands-on live classes by industry mentors and helps you find suitable jobs after the program, through their Placement Assurance Services.