Youth Incorporated Magazine

In the current times, we are in the midst of what can only be seen as an age of technological innovation and revolution. As a result, almost every organization today has a solid online presence and a technology-powered operating model. With the fast-evolving times, organizations, too, are looking to catch up to survive and grow in the increasingly competitive market. For this, they require fully functioning web applications encompassing all features. Full-stack developers help with exactly this. Therefore, new jobs requiring skill sets differ from those traditionally required. One such job that has gained immense popularity over the years is that of a full-stack developers, one of the hottest professions today.

The increased demand for Full Stack Developers is premised on the fact that they have a wider skill set and can handle most aspects of the job. The Jack-of-all-trades approach that characterizes the job role of a full-stack developer is preferred by companies as they can handle all levels of the job, reducing the need for unnecessary hiring of multiple developers. 

To understand it simply, Full-Stack Development entails the development of all aspects of a website, including the front-end and back-end aspects. At the front end of a website, the focus is on the user experience and designing the user interface is a part of this. To perform these functions, one must be familiar with computer languages, including JavaScript, HTML and CSS. 

The back-end part of Full-Stack Development focuses on the server or the website’s functioning. It is a part of business logic and includes working on data validation and verification. Computer languages that come in handy at this end are PHP, JAVA and Python. 

Along with this, Full-Stack Developers are responsible for maintaining the website and working on databases to extract information and present it comprehensively. Given the tremendous amount of responsibilities that a full-stack developer has to shoulder, they are required to be proficient in computer languages, aware of the web architecture’s intricacies and comfortable working with databases and APIs. 

According to a study by Stack Overflow, published in 2020, around 50 per cent of the people who enter the fieldwork on the entire system, while a small minority work only in the front or back-end part of development. Some other job roles for a full-stack developer include testing applications, modifying codes, creating and extracting information from databases and demonstrating the product’s suitability for various virtual platforms. 

With technological advancements, the demand for full-stack developers who can work on the presentation layer, the business logic layer and all other layers of websites is rising. The era of ‘specialists’ is long gone, with companies now looking for developers who can design and bring into reality their envisioned website. 

Since a full-stack developer is involved on all levels, the integration of information and chances of error due to multiple people being involved is reduced. Moreover, since a full-stack developer is involved in all aspects of the website, it is easier for them to troubleshoot problems arising and remove errors that require urgent solutions. From the company’s perspective, especially for start-ups, hiring full-stack developers is more cost-effective than hiring multiple experts and different levels. 

There is no specific degree needed to become a full-stack web developer. However, one must have experience in the field of coding and be familiar with the required computer languages. Most people who enter the domain have a degree in computer science, or software engineering, although this is not mandatory. 

Given that a full-stack developer is in high demand and is entrusted with many responsibilities, various e-learning platforms offer certificate courses in full-stack development. Although such a course is not mandatory, it enables those enrolled to practice their skill set and get hands-on training and experience through participation in mock projects. In addition, these courses also allow obtaining mentorship from industry experts and building networks.

The demand for full-stack developers is now at an all-time high. One of the primary reasons is that in the job market today, someone capable of working on all aspects of a product is preferred over a person with a specialization in one aspect. This is especially true for companies that are bootstrapped or in the initial stages of their operations. To sum it up, full-stack development is a lucrative career with immense growth potential. All you have to do is equip yourself with the right skill sets to succeed.