Last updated on October 12th, 2022 at 09:24 am
Why is Full Stack Development Becoming So Popular?
Full stack development has taken the tech world by storm, not least because of how effectively it both drives and breaks down the latest innovations and advancements in the field. Over the last few years, full-stack development has become increasingly lucrative, reaching the point where the demand from organisations big and small has exceeded the supply of full-stack developers at hand.
But before diving into its popularity, a basic understanding of full stack development is in order.
Full stack development heralds the age of the generalist. For long now, the building of complex websites, applications, platforms and tools were undertaken by an extensive team of developers, each specialising in one layer of technology.
A full stack developer, however, is the Jack of all trades in this case– they have the knowledge and expertise of all-layer developers put together, and can perform the duties of all these developers just as well on their own. This knowledge can well be learnt through college courses or even a good full stack development course online.
A full stack developer today is often regarded as a tech wizard.
By having a keen understanding of each layer of a project, and having the skills to navigate between each using the tools of the trade, the full stack developer has quite cemented their place in the technological hierarchy as someone who can cut costs for the company, reduce the need for constant communication and collaboration, and complete projects quickly and efficiently.
The number of jobs in full stack development is only multiplying by the day– come 2030 and the US market will see a whopping 8,53,000 jobs opened up in that field alone.
Why has Full Stack Development Gained Popularity
Working anywhere in the stack
Full stack developers can work anywhere in the stack i.e. the layers that form a product or application. The basic layers of a project, in this case, are the presentation, logic and the database. A good full stack developer is able to seamlessly weave in and out of stacks, making changes and designing setups for the entire product to function correctly.
By default, this also means they gain a near-perfect understanding of the product’s nuances– a valuable contribution to larger business, organizational and marketing plans of the firm they work for or with.
Reducing the need for specialists
Full stack developers are well-versed in the basic languages and technologies of each layer. The front-end uses JavaScript, CSS and HTML, while the back-end is built using NodeJS, Python and PHP among others. On the database layer, programmes like MySQL and MongoDB come into the picture.
Before, companies would have to invest in experts from each of these layers and induce them to collaborate over a product. Today, a full stack developer’s knowledge of all of these technologies enables companies to hand over the reins to them and reduce expenditure on in-house or external specialists.
Able to troubleshoot and fire-fight where required
By virtue of knowing the product like the back of their hand and being able to work between stacks, full stack developers are able to step in when there’s a bug or a massive error that’s causing damage to the system or the user. Once again, this negates the need to call someone in last-minute, as they knowledge this developer has, and the experience they have in building the product, are more than sufficient to engage in quick fixes and more technical troubleshooting.
They can also be pulled in, in cases of customer dissatisfaction, errors in the code, loss of functionality on the website or other fire-fighting situations.
A cost-efficient choice for start-ups and small budgets
Start-ups today are increasingly tech-driven, but to be backed by technology is to also be spending a lot of money on crafting the perfect team of developers, engineers, product designers and business specialists. However, by hiring a full stack developer, start-ups in effect get all these profiles all rolled into one job role.
This is also the reason why many large scale companies, which started off as tech start-ups, have CTOs or higher-level positions filled by full-stack developers.
Full stack development is a skill- and experience-based profession more than a theoretical one. That’s why the well-rounded full stack development course of today is one that focuses on theory and practice.
