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A programmer skilled in coding both the frontend and the backend parts of a web application is called a full stack web developer.

The frontend: This is the part of the web application that the user sees and uses.

The backend: These are parts of the application that function behind the scenes and execute the commands issued by the user. This usually includes:

logical processes
database-related processes
validation of users
server configuration

A full stack developer is not expected to be an expert in all areas pertaining to the frontends and backends. The individual needs to be knowledgeable in all the technologies involved and should be able to understand the processes happening within the entire application.

1 - Is a full stack developer different than a software engineer?

Yes and no. The title "full stack developer" describes a programmer who’s qualified to work on both the “front end” (stuff users see on their screen) and “back end” (the stuff behind the scenes) of websites and mobile applications (a type of software). This means full stack developers working on apps can also be considered software engineers.

The title "software engineer" itself simply describes a programmer who works on some aspect of building a software program, meaning not all software engineers are full stack.

2 - What’s the difference between a full stack developer and full stack engineer?

Full stack developers are web or app developers who can work on all parts (front end and back end) of a web development project. Full stack engineers are usually more senior full stack roles that combine development know-how with skills like project management and DevOps.

3 - What’s a full stack developer salary? Is it more than a regular web developer?

As of this writing, Indeed cites average full stack developer salaries at $109,508 per year. That’s compared to only $71,130 per year for web developers in general. So yes, like most things tech-related, having more skills (being able to work on all aspects of a development project) means being able to pay more bills.

You may have heard whisperings that full stack developers aren’t necessarily beloved. There’s a pretty large divide between people who think of full stack developers as the famed unicorns of the tech world and those who feel like they’re spreading themselves too thin. Here’s a quick breakdown of the pros and cons of full stack.

Pros of Going Full Stack

Can work more easily on small teams or tech startups where there are fewer developer jobs to go around
Full stack developers know how to communicate with both front end developers and back end developers, helping cut down on lots of confusion
They can solve all problems at once—not just surface-level development needs

Cons

The biggest argument against full stack (we think) is this: If you’re not specialized, is the quality of your code ever going to be as good as it could be?
It’s hard to prioritize projects
You may find that companies that hire you for both front end and back end development expect you to do more work than you can complete in a 40-hour workweek (i.e. the cutting corners approach to a web development budget

A full stack developer needs to know the following technologies:

HTML/CSS

The web is built on these technologies. HTML is the tool that helps developers input content into a website and CSS is a designing tool used to alter the appearance of web applications. Both are essential tools for a full stack developer and are taught in all courses, whether online or in-person.

JavaScript

This is a must-have for any full stack developer. This can be used in both front-end and back-end processes. Browsers are built on it and JavaScript can be used as a server-side language as well.

JavaScript libraries and frameworks (jQuery, React JS)

Backend technologies

After mastering HTML/CSS and JavaScript, you need to learn at least one language used for coding backend processes. The functions occurring in the backend of a web application are database operations, user validation, and logical operations.

Any course, whether online or otherwise, most often will teach you backend technology — PHP, Java, Python, C#, C++, IOS, RUBY/RAILS, or SQL. Learning one of the languages should suffice but you should attain proficiency in it.

Databases & Web Storage

When learning to build web applications, at some point you’ll probably want to store data somewhere and then access it later. You should have a good grasp on the following topics related to databases and storage.

Understand the benefits of relational data, e.g. SQL.
Learn about NoSQL databases, e.g. MongoDB.
Understand which would be better in certain situations.
Know how to connect a database with your chosen back-end language (e.g. Node.js + MongoDB).
Understand the benefits of in-memory data stores like Redis or memcached.
Web storage to store sessions, cookies, and cached data in the browser.
Scaling databases, ACID, and ORM (all optional).

HTTP & REST

HTTP is a stateless application protocol on the Internet — it’s what allows clients to communicate with servers (e.g. your JavaScript code can make an AJAX request to some back-end code you have running on a server which will happen via HTTP).

Some important topics you should learn about are listed below:

What is REST and why is it important in regards to the HTTP protocol and web applications.
Best practices for designing a RESTful API. POST/GET requests.
Learning how to use Chrome DevTools can be extremely helpful.
What are SSL Certificates.
HTTP/2 & SPDY (optional).
WebSockets, Web Workers, and Service Workers (all optional).

Web Application Architecture

Once you think you have a grasp on HTML/CSS, JavaScript, back-end programming, databases, and HTTP/REST, then comes the tricky part. At this point if you want to create a somewhat complex web application, you’ll need to know how to structure your code, how to separate your files, where to host your large media files, how to structure the data in your database, where to perform certain computational tasks (client-side vs server-side), and much more.

Git

Git is a version control system that allows developers working on a team to keep track of all the changes being made to a codebase. It’s important to know a few important things related to Git so that you understand how to properly get the latest code that you’ve missed, update parts of the code, make fixes, and change other people’s code without breaking things. You should definitely learn the concept behind Git and play around with it yourself.

Basic Algorithms & Data Structures

This topic is somewhat polarizing in the development world because there are developers who don’t think there should be such a heavy focus on computer science topics like tree traversal, sorting, algorithm analysis, matrix manipulation, etc. in web development. However, there are companies like Google that are notorious for asking these types of questions in their interviews.

Here are some things you should definitely learn:

Study hash tables and try to understand them on a deeper level. This data structure underlies objects in JavaScript (dictionaries in Python and hashes in Ruby).
Understand how trees and graphs can be beneficial as data structures.
Understand the basics of Big-O analysis so you don’t do silly things like create a nested loop 3 levels down if you don’t need to!
Know when to use an object vs an array and understand the trade-offs.
Learn why caching is so important when working with a large amount of data. Also learn the pros and cons of in-memory vs disk storage.
Learn the difference between queues and stacks.

To understand complex concepts, you need to be sure about the fundamentals. JavaScript & HTML/CSS form the base of web development. For any novice, you should be clear about all aspects of these technologies.

Test your knowledge. Create test web pages and apply the concepts learned in the course. JavaScript can be found in 99 percent of all web applications. Become proficient in its use.

Knowledge of programming concepts can help improve coding skills. Some theories/knowledge to acquire before pushing ahead are:

Servers and their functioning
Networks and their nuances
Web-hosting environments
Algorithms and their formulation
Data structures (types, properties, and use)
Programming technologies
Databases and their management

You should be able to piece together the different parts of the application and create a whole out of the parts. For this, you should understand how each part works, its role in the bigger scheme of things and how one part connects to the other.

As the scope of your leaning expands, you will realize that there is much more to learn than you possibly can master. Most programmers fail because they try to learn too much of too many things. There is no need for such efforts. Master one and understand the rest. Learn how to work in them and that should be good enough..

As your experience grows, your ease with the technologies will also improve. Take pains to specialize in one technology. Choose a technology popular among clients. This should help you compete effectively with others in the field and produce outstanding work. And with the way this economy is growing with lower taxes, you should have a bright career ahead and be able to relocate other states if you wish to.

Even the best prepared should be willing to keep learning new things to remain relevant. New technologies join the foray frequently — no one knows everything. A full stack developer needs to stay abreast of these changes. Taking online or virtual courses is an easy way to keep upskilling.

Among the many organizations offering technology courses online are:

The Odin Project
Treehouse
Codecademy
Udemy’s Beginner Full Stack Web Development: HTML, CSS, React & Node

A word of caution: Avoid costly courses that promise to teach everything in a matter of hours.

Since the objective is to learn theory and get practical exposure within the shortest time possible, choose courses that offer:

Mentoring by knowledgeable coders.
Flexible schedule that matches yours.
Projects as part of the curriculum (see the University of Phoenix, which incorporates teamwork into the curriculum with acumen).
Tutoring to clarify doubts (either individually or in groups).

The most challenging part of the process is when you have a thorough understanding of all the necessary technologies—HTML/CSS, JavaScript, back-end programming, databases, and HTTP/REST. Time has come to use all this knowledge in an application. For this, you need to know:

The right way to structure code.
Means to separate files.
Environment to host large media files.
The right data structures to use.
Location of each computational task (client-side or server-side).

Theoretical knowledge can be obtained by reading online materials, but to understand application architecture properly, you must implement an actual web application.

Working with a team is the ideal way to accomplish this through an individual can also develop an application alone. This exercise adds the all-essential practical exposure to the technology toolkit of a full-stack developer.

A few companies may insist on an applicant having a degree in computer science to apply for the position, but most will overlook education if a candidate can exhibit the necessary coding abilities.

Join additional projects in your company that work on technologies outside your expertise. This way you will upskill and add extra value to your organization as well. Most companies will appreciate these types of initiatives — just don’t try to show anyone up and courteous in your pursuit of learning.

In the beginning, the journey to becoming a full stack developer might appear herculean. But experience makes the process easier. Continuously upgrading your skill-set is not as daunting as it may appear at first. Moreover, being able to understand all aspects of a project will make you an indispensable part of your company or department.

How to Become a Full Stack Developer