A fellow developer who was attending the same web technology conference as I was recently asked me this. In contrast to Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration, who introduced himself as a full-stack developer on The Office, Tony Frank, Full-Stack Developer, this developer had met a lot of new people. I suspect the developer asking the question taken from the title of this post already knew the basic idea of what people mean by “full-stack developer,” but was wondering what the heck it’s all about. There was a tone in the question. a tone that suggested this individual isn’t particularly fond of the term. On that stack, being a full-stack developer means being familiar with PHP, MySQL, Apache, and Linux. (Abstractly: database, back-end language, server software, web server.) This site runs on that stack, and I’m solely responsible for its development, so I guess I’m a full-stack developer in some loose sense.
But “loose” is a generous interpretation. Except for the fact that Linux powers my web servers, I know nothing about it. I don’t know much about Apache, except that I sometimes use HTAccess directives to do things. I could count the number of MySQL queries I’ve written on my two hands, and I only really know PHP in the context of WordPress.
When viewed in that light, I scarcely qualify as a developer. On the other hand, full stack generally means adding front-end work to the mix, and I’m competent enough in that area that my front-end skill set alone has enabled me to build dozens (or hundreds!) over the course of my career. Enough full stack, anyway. There are loads of other stacks.
The front-end building process is not particularly regulated by LAMP. It came from a time when it was assumed that your front end would be a back end that generated HTML. Another stack that’s achieved notoriety since the Grand Arrival of JavaScript is the MEAN stack.
MongoDB Express Angular Node
It is perfectly plausible to replace parts of a stack. Perhaps you’d use Nginx instead of Apache, or PostgreSQL instead of MySQL in what’s otherwise LAMP stack. MEAN stands out because new technology was used to replace each stack layer. Node brought JavaScript to the back end, which could power web servers, handle routing, connect data sources, run build processes, compile code, and more.
A full-stack developer in this world is writing nearly everything in JavaScript. It is not surprising that the number of people who consider themselves to be “full stack” has increased somewhat. A single language, like JavaScript, that runs in browsers itself and is a paramount front-end technology is a widely transferrable skill.
Full stack course in Pune
Similar to LAMP, the MEAN stack can easily swap out layers. You might prefer to use a data store like Firebase or Fauna instead. Perhaps you use Vue or React instead of Angular. Perhaps you don’t need Express because you leave your routing to a framework or do it client-side.
Shawn Wang refers to a different popular stack as STAR: Design Systems TypeScript Apollo React
Full stack Training in Pune
That is JavaScript in its entirety. It is interesting that, while we continue to consider this to be a stack, we are less concerned with our servers and server software to the point where they no longer play a significant role in the stack. Not that developers and companies don’t take it seriously, but it’s more abstracted now than it has traditionally been. I’d use the serverless world as an illustration. The questions aren’t about what operating system our servers should use; it’s what platform is the most cost-effective to run our JavaScript functions.
Therefore, stacks change over time. But it’s not just what technologies they use, but what technology we even consider a part of a stack. What full-stack means morphs over time.. We’re in a place right now where knowing JavaScript grants you a full-stack merit badge. Client site frameworks can be utilized to architect components and construct an entire front end. Writing web servers is possible. Back-end code that talks to APIs is possible. You can do all the state management you need. You can construct build processes and deployment pipelines. If you want, you can even incorporate CSS into JavaScript. Even if you only work with JavaScript, most people have a wider range of skills. You can become a true web powerhouse by incorporating knowledge of HTML and CSS, Git, and DevOps.
You can do anything! Man of the Renaissance! The head of all seven kingdoms! Actually, I think that’s kind of cool. It truly empowers developers. For front-end development, it’s important to think about where the entry barriers are, but it’s also interesting to think about all the places where that bar has been lowered. I find it especially cool to watch front-end development expand to the point where it almost engulfs the entire stack. Essentially, the all-powerful front-end developer. It brings to mind how powerful it is to dominate WordPress websites. Even if you don’t fully comprehend everything, you can accomplish a lot.
