The position of full stack developer is one of the most popular and highly valued in the world of development. Not surprisingly, 51.9% of the professionals in the sector who were surveyed by Stack Overflow in their 2019 Developer Survey define themselves as such. Working as a full stack developer makes you a versatile, efficient, multi-skilled and very valuable team member, which is why companies will continue to prise highly this type of developer in the coming years.
Are you thinking about steering your career in this direction? Here at BETWEEN we tell you everything you need to know: what a full stack developer is, what they do, the training you'll need to become one and what salary brackets you can aspire to. Let's get started!
What is a full stack developer?
A full stack developer is a professional developer who combines front end and back end skills. This means that he or she is capable of working with different layers of the same technology: with those that are visible to users at the client level, and with those that are not accessible to them at the server level.
Most often, a full stack developer begins their professional career specialising in one of the two areas (front end or back end) and then gradually acquires knowledge of the other area, thereby becoming fully versed in the area of programming.
Duties of a full stack developer
The duties of a full stack developer include communication and coordination with different team members, making sure processes flow correctly. In fact, full stack developers are valuable not because they can do everything as regards a particular technology, but rather because they are capable of understanding what happens at each different point of the stack, identifying problems and pointing the way towards solutions.
This is why some experts believe that, due to the progressive atomisation of computer technologies and the complications this causes in the world of development, full stack developers are being required to evolve towards a profile which might be best described as full stack integrator. A professional who is trained, in short, to connect the different steps and guide the specialists in each technology towards achievement of the project objectives.
How to become a full stack developer?
To become a full stack developer you will need to master various technologies, both front end and back end. The main ones are:
- JavaScript: a very useful programming language for full stack development, as it's used in both the front end and the back end. This is why a good command of JavaScript is practically a must. Being familiar with it will enable you to understand the workings of front end (Angular, React) and back end (Node.js) frameworks.
- HTML and CSS: markup and style sheet languages, respectively, that are used in the design of the display and aesthetic aspects of applications. Due to the mobile phone boom, a website these days must be responsive, something that can be easily achieved with a framework such as Bootstrap.
- Python: the third most-used programming language in 2019, according to the TIOBE index, and companies' demand for it is on the rise. Experience with Python and the Django framework is usually a requirement when companies are looking to hire full stack developers.
- Git: code version-control software that facilitates team and long-term programming jobs. It is commonly used in any project above a certain size.
- SQL databases (SQL Server, My SQL, Oracle, Postgre SQL) and NoSQL (MongoDB).
- Middleware programming: software that serves as a bridge to connect the client and the server.
- Machine learning: In the very short term, full stack developers will have no choice but to develop machine learning projects with software such as TensorFlow or Keras. This means they will have to be familiar with the ins and outs of data management and machine learning.
Apart from this skill set, it is also helpful to have a basic grasp of PHP or Java, PaaS (Platform as a Service) tools and cybersecurity measures.
Demand for full stack developers in the job market
There is constant demand for full stack developers in the job market. This can be seen from studies such as LinkedIn's 2020 Emerging Jobs Report, which includes Python specialists among its top 15 fastest-growing jobs in Spain. These profiles have experienced a 49% year-over-year growth on this social network, finding roles in companies in sectors such as information technology, telecommunications and financial services.
Meanwhile, the Telefónica Foundation ranks Java and Python developers among the digital professions most in demand. And in its jobs map, it ranks full stack developers 11th on its list of the most sought-after computing experts in Spain.
Job requirements for full stack developer
To land a full stack developer position it's necessary to have a number of hard skills, meaning technical knowledge of tools like those we have already mentioned; and soft skills, meaning cross-disciplinary capabilities that will allow you to better integrate yourself into a team with a high degree of efficiency and productivity.
This latter group encompasses communication skills, imagination and creativity. Let's not forget that every full stack developer will have to regularly take on new challenges, and so coming up with ad hoc solutions will become routine for them.
Furthermore, leading companies require another special skill of their full stack developers: that they be familiar with the DevOps philosophy and become familiar with applying its processes in their work. Generally speaking, this concerns bridging the gap between the Development and Operations departments in order to set up multidisciplinary teams that can carry out projects faster and with fewer malfunctions. Full stack developers that become part of a DevOps system have to take on very diverse tasks, including programming, systems administration and working out solutions which are aimed at achieving business objectives.
Finally, in smaller companies or those in which the development team works closely with the commercialisation department, it's common to look for full stack developers that know how to use web analysis tools (e.g. Google Analytics) and that are up-to-date with the latest SEO and SEM tools for improving search engine ranking.
Full stack developer salary
The global average annual salary for a full stack developer is US$57,000 gross, according to Stack Overflow's 2019 Developer Survey. The figure is almost double that in the United States, where the average salary is $110,000.
In Spain, given the flexibility of this profile, what a full stack developer can earn is very much determined by the responsibility and duties that they effectively take on in their position. On BETWEEN you will find vacancies for full stack developers with a starting salary of over €40,000 for new hires.
The best courses for full developer training
Training yourself as a full stack developer requires determination, discipline and time. On the one hand, you'll have to gain experience in other less cross-disciplinary positions (as a front end or back end programmer, for example). Take the opportunity to learn alongside your bosses and co-workers, and invest time in self-teaching in order to keep adding hard skills to the catalogue of technologies you're fluent in.
At the same time, there are other ways for you to achieve full stack developer status as soon as possible. These involve courses which, in this sector, are usually presented as bootcamps, intensive courses which combine online learning with in-person workshops and take a few weeks or maybe months to complete.
To choose the bootcamp which most closely matches your needs, you can use indexes such as that on the Course Report website, which includes their list of the top 48 in-person programming courses in the world. This list includes the following options in Spain:
- Web Development Bootcamp by Ironhack, in Madrid and Barcelona (in 15th position).
- Bootcamp specialising in Ruby on Rails by Le Wagon, also in Madrid and Barcelona (18th position).
- Full stack JavaScript course by Skylab Coders Academy, in Barcelona (48th position).
As well as these, Course Report includes other training courses with workshops which are organised periodically in different European cities, such as London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels.
Want to check out all the opportunities that will become available to you once you acquire the knowledge and experience of a full stack developer? Browse the job ads for development professionals available on BETWEEN. Apply for the ones that interest you most and give your career the ultimate boost!
