Full Stack Web Development tutorial For Beginners [UPDATED]

Last updated on 29th May 2020, Blog, Tutorials

What is a Full Stack developer?

FULL STACK DEVELOPER is an engineer who works on both client-side and server-side software. This type of software developer works on the Full Stack of an application meaning Front End Technology, Back End Development Languages, Database, Server, API, and version Controlling Systems. Hence, the name “Full Stack” Developer.

Full stack developers translate user requirements into the overall architecture and implement the new systems. A Full-Stack Developer doesn’t necessarily master all technologies. However, the professional is expected to work on the client as well as server sides and understand what is going on when developing an application. He or she should have a genuine interest in all software technologies.

Stackoverflow Survey of Developer profiles are as follows;

Why do you need a Full-Stack Developer?

Here are some prominent reasons why you should hire a full stack development professional:

• Full stack developer helps you to keep every part of the system running smoothly
• Full stack developer can provide help to everyone in the team and greatly reduce the time and technical costs of team communication
• If one person plays different roles, it saves your company’s personnel, infrastructure and operational cost

Skill sets required to become a Full Stack Developer

Front-end technology

Full stack developers should be masters of essential front-end technologies like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript. Knowledge of third-party libraries like jQuery, LESS, Angular and React JS is desirable

Development Languages

Full stack engineers should know at least one server-side programming language like Java, Python, Ruby, .Net etc.

Database and cache: Knowledge of various DBMS technology is another important need of a full stack developer. MySQL, MongoDB, Oracle, SQLServer are widely used for this purpose. Knowledge of caching mechanisms like varnish, Memcached, Redis is a plus.

Basic design ability

In order to become a successful full stack developer, the knowledge of designing is also recommended. Moreover, the person should know the principle of basic prototype design and UI /UX design.

Server

Exposure to handling Apache or nginx servers is desirable. A good background in Linux helps tremendously in administering servers.

Version control system (VCS)

A version control system allows full stack developers to keep track of all the changes made in the codebase. The knowledge of Git helps full stack developers to understand how to get the latest code, update parts of the code, make changes in other developer’s code without breaking things.

Working with API (REST & SOAP):

Knowledge of web services or API is also important for full stack developers. Knowledge of creations and consumption of REST and SOAP services is desirable.

Other Pieces of the Puzzle:

• Ability to write quality unit tests
• He or she should have a complete understanding of automated processes for building testing, document, and deploying it at scale
• An awareness of security concerns is important, as each layer has its own vulnerabilities
• Knowledge of Algorithms and data structures is also an essential need for professional full stack developers

What is a Software Stack? Which Stack should I learn?

Software stack is a collection of the programs which are used together to produce a specific result. It includes an operating system and its application. For example, a smartphone software stack includes OS along with the phone app, web browsers, and default applications.

The above list of skill sets for a full stack engineer could be daunting. You need to master a software stack based on your career goals, project and company requirement. Following is a list of popular software stacks. Irrespective of the stack you choose, you will find similarities in the architecture and design patterns across different stacks

LAMP stack

LAMP is a widely used model for web service stacks. Its name “LAMP” is an acronym of four open-source components.

• L= Linux: An open source operating system
• A= Apache: Widely used web server software
• M= MySQL: Popular open source database
• P=PHP: Server-side open source scripting language

These above-discussed components, supporting one another. Many popular websites and web applications run on LAMP stack, Example: Facebook.

MERN stack

MERN is a collection of JavaScript-based technologies:

• M=MongoDB: Popular NoSQL database
• E=Express: Light and portable web program framework
• R=React: A javascript library for building user interfaces
• N=Node.js: A server-side JavaScript run time

This stack is currently in huge demand as it is widely used to develop web applications.

MEAN stack

MEAN Stack Application Development is witnessing a growing trend in usage. MEAN is an abbreviation of:

• M = MongoDB: nosql Database
• E = Express: Easy to use light and portable web program framework
• A = Angular.js: Robust framework for developing HTML5 and JavaScript- web programs
• N = Node.is: a server-side JavaScript run time

What does a Full Stack Developer do?

As a full stack developer, you may be involved in following activities:

• Translate user requirements into the overall architecture and implementation of new systems
• Manage Project and coordinate with the Client
• Write backend code in Ruby, Python, Java, PHP languages
• Writing optimized front end code HTML and JavaScript.
• Understand, create and debug database related queries
• Create test code to validate the application against client requirements.
• Monitor the performance of web applications & infrastructure
• Troubleshooting web application with a fast and accurate a resolution

Full Stack Developer Salary

As a FULL STACK DEVELOPER, you are likely to earn$112000 per year.

Full Stack Developer Salary, In this UK, the salary range is £40,000 – £70,000

Myths about the Full Stack Engineer

• Myth: Full stack developer is writing all types of code themselves.
• Fact: He or she might know different technologies but not writing each code.
• Myth: Write both frontend and backend codes.

Some full stack developers might code entire websites if they are working as a freelancer. But this it’s not a given that they mandatorily write both front and backend code.

Full Stack Developer is “jack of all trades, master on none”.

No, FSD is the master of a few stacks and comfortable with the rest. In fact working as a Full stack engineer gives you a 360 degree view into different components that make a software product successful. Due to this awareness, a Full Stack Developer can rapidly create a prototype compared to a backend or frontend engineer. Their viewpoints on product design and architecture are very pointed and helpful.

Myth: You can’t become full stack developer if you work for an Outsourcing company.It is a mind-set, not a position. In order to become a full stack developer all, you need a right combination of technical knowledge.

KEY NOTES:

• A full-stack web developer is a technology expert who can work on both in the front end & back-end of any application.
• Full stack developer helps you to keep every part of the system running smoothly.
• Skill sets required to become a Full Stack Developer are Front-end technology, Development Languages, Database, Basic design ability, Server, Working with API and version control systems.
• Software stack is a collection of the programs which are used together to produce a specific result.
• LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MYSQL, and PHP.
• MERN is the full form of MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js.
• MEAN stands for MongoDB, Express, Angular.js and Node.js.
• FULL STACK DEVELOPERS can earn up to $112000 per year.
• The biggest myth about Full stack developers is that they are writing all types of code themselves which is not true.

What is a Mean Stack Developer? Skills, Salary, Growth

What is Mean Stack?

Mean stack refers to a collection of JavaScript technologies used to develop web applications. Therefore, from the client to the server to the database everything is based on JavaScript. MEAN is a full-stack development toolkit used to develop a fast and robust web application. MEAN is a user-friendly stack which is the ideal solution for building dynamic websites and applications. This free and open-source stack offers a quick and organized method for creating rapid prototypes for web-based applications.

MEAN is comprised of four different technologies:

• MongoDB express is a schemaless NoSQL database system
• Express JS is a framework used to build web applications in Node
• AngularJS is a JavaScript framework developed by Google
• Node.js is a server-side JavaScript execution environ

Characteristics of Functional Programming

• Functional programming method focuses on results, not the process
• Emphasis is on what is to be computed
• Data is immutable
• Functional programming Decompose the problem into ‘functions
• It is built on the concept of mathematical functions which uses conditional expressions and recursion to do perform the calculation
• It does not support iteration like loop statements and conditional statements like If-Else

History of Functional programming

• The foundation for Functional Programming is Lambda Calculus. It was developed in the 1930s for the functional application, definition, and recursion
• LISP was the first functional programming language. McCarthy designed it in 1960
• In the late 70’s researchers at the University of Edinburgh defined the ML(Meta Language)
• In the early 80’s Hope language adds algebraic data types for recursion and equational reasoning
• In the year 2004 Innovation of Functional language ‘Scala.’

Functional Programming Languages

The objective of any FP language is to mimic the mathematical functions. However, the basic process of computation is different in functional programming.

Here, are some most prominent Functional programming languages:

• Haskell
• SML
• Clojure
• Scala
• Erlang
• Clean
• F#
• ML/OCaml Lisp / Scheme
• XSLT
• SQL
• Mathematical

Basic Functional Programming Terminology and Concepts:

Immutable Data

Immutable Data means that you should easily be able to create data structures instead of modifying ones which already exist.

Referential transparency

Functional programs should perform operations just as if it is for the first time. So, you will know what may or may not have happened during the program’s execution, and its side effects. In FP term it is called Referential transparency.

Modularity 

Modular design increases productivity. Small modules can be coded quickly and have a greater chance of re-use which surely leads to faster development of programs. Apart from it, the modules can be tested separately which helps you to reduce the time spent on unit testing and debugging.

Maintainability

Maintainability is a simple term which means FP programming is easier to maintain as you don’t need to worry about accidentally changing anything outside the given function.

First-class function

‘First-class function’ is a definition, attributed to programming language entities that have no restriction on their use. Therefore, first-class functions can appear anywhere in the program.

Closure

The closure is an inner function which can access variables of parent functions, even after the parent function has executed.

Higher-order functions

Higher-order functions either take other functions as arguments or return them as results.Higher-order functions allow partial applications or currying. This technique applies a function to its arguments one at a time, as each application returns a new function which accepts the next argument.

Conclusion :

• Functional programming or FP is a way of thinking about software construction based on some fundamental defining principles.
• Functional programming concepts focuses on results, not the process
• The objective of any FP language is to mimic the mathematical functions
• Some most prominent Functional programming languages: 1)Haskell 2)SM 3) Clojure 4) Scala 5) Erlang 6) Clean
• A ‘Pure function’ is a function whose inputs are declared as inputs and none of them should be hidden. The outputs are also declared as outputs.
• Immutable Data means that you should easily able to create data structures instead of modifying ones which is already exist
• Allows you to avoid confusing problems and errors in the code
• Functional code is not easy, so it is difficult to understand for the beginner
• FP uses Immutable data while LOOP uses Mutable data
• Hope you have found all the details that you were looking for, in this article.