How to Become a Full-Stack Web Developer in today’s world
Aiming to become a full-stack developer has become a trend now. Its no doubt that full-stack developers are high in demand today.
Companies are looking for developers who have multiple specialized skills to provide them with flexibility in their projects.
But It’s not as easy as it sounds, the definition of Full stack differs from Company to Company.
A few years ago a full stack developer was someone who had both frontend and backend skill set, but today full-stack developers also need to have good design skills and deployment skills and need to know about Cloud Computing too.
Now here comes two questions:
- What about Frontend and Backend Developers, are they not needed anymore?
- Which Tech Stack to choose to become a Full Stack Web Developer?
We will be answering these questions in this article and also provide you a roadmap on how you can become a full-stack developer in today’s modern fast-changing world.
What about Frontend and Backend Developers, are they not needed anymore?
From the top, it seems that a full-stack developer is someone who specializes in both frontend and backend parts but that’s not necessarily true.
In most projects, a full stack developer is someone who either specializes in one part that is front-end or backend and knows enough about the other part to connect and collaborate.
Full Stack helps to connect the frontend and backend together. So the proper way is to first specialize in one skill and then learn about the other.
The main reason why companies hire full-stack is to have that flexibility in their projects but they need specialized workers first.
Which Tech Stack to choose to become a Full Stack Web Developer?
It’s the most common question by beginners:
- Should I go for React or Angular or Vue?
- Should I choose Django Or Node?
- What Database to Choose?
- MERN or MEAN Stack
The Stack doesn’t matter the main aim is you know the domain and work on projects where you create and connect things. Once you have got the basics right and have mastered a particular technology, it’s very easy to move from one to another.
Let me show you how the road to Full Stack Development looks like in a step by step manner:
Fundamentals:
The basics are very important before using any libraries or frameworks. Start with Basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and DOM Manipulation. Then you can use frameworks like Bootstrap.
Javascript is the most asked technology in interviews and most popular in the Web Development world. Once mastered Javascript it becomes very easy to learn frameworks like React and Node
Design Websites:
Now that you have got the basics right you need to get some hands-on experience by working on websites and use advanced skills like web designing with tools like AdobeXD or Figma and then advanced CSS and Bootstrap.
Choose your stack:
React or Angular or Vue, If you are a beginner you can learn React as it is the most in-demand skill right now but it doesn’t matter.
In the backend too, Node Js is very popular but backend specialization is more than that as there are a variety of stacks to choose from like Django, Dot net or Java, etc.
The main reason why most people choose MERN Stack or MEAN Stack as both involve Javascript frameworks for both frontend and backend which makes developers work easy as they have to learn just one language.
Once you have chosen your stack: Frontend, Backend, and Database then work on the project to learn how to connect these services
Database Management Systems:
Having good knowledge of Database skills like SQL and NoSQL is very important while designing the application and connecting the backend to a database like MySQL and MongoDB.
Connect the Services
Let’s take the MERN stack example, it would involve designing the website in React and creating a REST API backend with Node JS and Express Framework and MongoDB as a database which queries the results and sends them back to the client. The REST API also manages authentication of users and storage of files in the Backend Server.
Advanced Topics
Once you have a good grasp of the above topics you can take your full-stack skills even further by learning about the deployment in the Cloud with services like Amazon Web Services, GoogleCloud Platform, etc., and DevOps. How to host a project live and scale it using Docker and Kubernetes.
But Note one thing, you don’t have to learn so many skills at one go. Start with the basics especially javascript for web development, work on projects and improve along the way and then learn these advanced topics.