Full-stack developer: Skills, tools and technologies of 2024

Today's companies are faced with the challenge of hiring versatile professionals who can navigate the various layers of web applications. Finding agile, full-stack developers is becoming key to meet the demands of the digital marketplace. Let's talk about the important aspects, skills and responsibilities required to be successful in this role.

What does a full-stack developer look like?

The term ‘full-stack’ refers to a multi-disciplinary developer who can master all components of a web application. From user interface to server infrastructures, business logic and databases, a full-stack developer covers all technological layers. At the heart of this versatility is true intellectual flexibility, allowing the full-stack developer to tackle user experience, performance, security and optimisation issues with equal skill.

Tasks of a full-stack developer

A full-stack developer's responsibilities are as broad as they are varied:

• Designing the architecture of a new website: combining the building blocks of frontend and backend technologies to create a high-performance application framework;
• Developing programming interfaces (APIs): designing and developing APIs to enable seamless interaction between components;
• User Engagement: deciphering the needs of target users to design relevant digital experiences;
• Maintenance and continuous development: deploying frontend and backend updates so that the system is constantly evolving;
• Mobile adaptation and creativity: solving mobile device adaptation challenges and working with graphic designers to improve interfaces;
• Technical infrastructure management: building, deploying and strictly administering server, database and cloud architectures;
• Development Cycle Control: managing the entire lifecycle through interdisciplinary review;
• Managing cross-disciplinary teams: combining DevOps, cybersecurity and design skills to turn digital ambitions into reality.

What you need to be able to do?

1. HTML/CSS

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) form the structural and aesthetic duo at the heart of every web page. Mastery of HTML allows you to create the semantic structure of an interface, while CSS gives you powerful tools to stylise that structure by adding formatting, colours and animations.

2. JavaScript

JavaScript is a fast and powerful programming language that is widely used in browsers. Despite its simple syntax, JavaScript hides advanced concepts such as object-oriented programming and promises.

3. Knowledge of backend languages

PHP is one of the most widely used backend languages, known for its ease of learning and rich set of features for building high-performance web applications. Despite criticism, it remains indispensable due to its accessibility and extensive open source library. Java, on the other hand, is a must-have language for developing robust enterprise applications, boasting speed, security, and multi-platform capabilities. Its application goes beyond web servers and is actively used in cloud computing and big data.

4. Knowledge of frontend and backend frameworks

Knowledge of frontend and backend frameworks is a key element of a full-stack developer's expertise. These software libraries make modern application development much easier and faster by offering proven frameworks, tools, and best practices. React, Angular and Vue.js should be mastered for the frontend, while Laravel or Symfony for PHP, Spring or Struts for Java, Express or Nest.js for Node.js are important for the backend.

5. Understanding of databases

Mastery of databases is an undeniable prerequisite for any experienced full stack developer. Relational databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle require a deep understanding of schema concepts, SQL queries, and transactions. At the same time, NoSQL databases such as MongoDB and Cassandra offer a flexible alternative for specific needs requiring scalability and high availability.

6. DevOps

Mastering the basics of DevOps adds real value aimed at unifying application development and operations lifecycles. The concepts of continuous integration, deployment, containerisation and CI/CD pipelines allow full-stack developers to understand the entire production chain and participate in optimisation.

Conclusion

Knowledge of frameworks, databases, and DevOps gives full-stack developers a powerful set of tools. These skills enable them to successfully solve problems at all stages of application development and operation. In today's world, full-stack developers are becoming indispensable specialists in the IT industry.