What Is A Full Stack Developer? Complete Explanation For Beginners

A Full stack Developer is someone who can handle everything about web development including planning, implementing, coding, maintenance, and more. They are the professionals who can handle your frontend as well as backend of the application.

If you are someone who is looking for a complete website development then all you need is a full stack developer by your side. In this blog, we will learn more about who are full stack developers, their roles, responsibilities, skills, qualifications, and more.

Table of Contents

Who Is A Full Stack Developer?

A Full Stack Developer is a professional who is proficient in working both with front end (Client Side) as well as backend frameworks (Server Side) for software development of an application website. They are responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the entire web application from user interface to designing databases.

The two major parts of full stack development are frontend and backend development. Full stack development needs you to have knowledge and skills related to handling user experiences to maintain the backend of the application and ensure it is working.

Full Stack Developer Vs Frontend Developer

Frontend Developers are someone who handles the user interface or client side of the application making sure that users get to have an appealing and interactive design. They ensure that the complete web page is responsive, simple and follow all guidelines of an ideal web page interface.

Full Stack Developer

Front-end developers are skilled in frameworks like HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, React, Tailwind CSS, and more. Now Full Stack Developer has it all. They handle the user interface part along with handling the backend of the application. They are someone who ensures that the website is up and running with every framework and functionalities of the website in active state.

The Frontend: Attracting Interface for Clients

The frontend part is an important face of web development which develops the user experience with the parts that users interact with. Frontend design is equally important as backend development of a website as it enhances the visual appeal of a site and make it more appealing for viewers.

Full Stack Developers uses frameworks and frontend technologies like HTML, CSS, Javascript, Bootstrap, React, Next, Node, Express, MongoDB, and more to enhance, style and design the entire visibility of the web application. They ensure that the latest frontend frameworks to be sued in the website whether they are using thousand other tools.

The importance of creative design is not less than other parts in software development life cycle which means developers need to ensure that the usability, accessibility, and scalability. They ensure that the entire web application is free to navigate and include all users even people with diabilsitiies.

Full Stack Developers also integrate or connect frontend with backend, using APIs. They use modern web features such as Javascript to build modern, responsible and scalable web application.

The Backend: Powering the Functionality

Backend is the part of software application which actually make the application work or run. Here, the full stack developers are responsible for implementing the server side application using frameworks such as Python, PHP, Ruby, and more.

They ensure that the core functionality and features of software application are working properly. They are responsible for database management using MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Mysql, anyoneform the following. These professionals have strong coding skills which help them write clean and efficient code for powering the backend logic of the software application.

These full stack developers are also responsible for designing and implementing the RESTful APIs for connecting both frontend as well as backend technologies of an application. They ensure that data is properly handled, deployment take place properly, debugging, and more within an application.

How to Become a Full Stack Developer?

Full Stack Developer

A Full Stack Developer is a professional having overall complete experience of web development. Let us get a step by step guide of how to become a software developer below.

1. Basics of Web Development

Start with the fundamentals of web development along with HTML, CSS, Javascript of web development. Try to understand how the web development works, its principles, and various parameters involved in building an entire web application.

2. Learn Frontend Development

Master the frontend frameworks such as HTML, CSS, Tailwind CSS, Bootstrap, Javascript, React, Vue.js, Angular, and more. Learn how frontend applications work along with state management, responsive design, dynamic UIs, and more.

3. Learn Backend Development

Build your expertise in backend development with tools like Node, Express, Django, Spring Boot, Java, C#, PHP, and more. Learn how to implement functionalities, coding, RESTful APIs, and how to build these frameworks.

4. Learn Database & Version Control

Master version control with Git and GItHub tools. Also get familiar with tools like pull requests, merge conflicts, branches in Git and more. Make sure you practice using MongoDB, MySQL, and other manipulation with databases such as integrating database into backend applications.

5. Build Real World Projects

Start building a complete full stack projects to strengthen your concepts in both frontend as well as backend. You can start with a simple landing page, blog site, E-commerce site, chatting application, and more.

6. Build a Portfolio

Build a strong portfolio including all your major skills along with real world project links, website links, and more. Mention all your frontend and backend development skills in your portfolio.

7. Apply for Opportunities

Now as you are ready start applying for full stack developer role in multiple companies. You can seek internship, freelance, or full time opportunities in different companies.

What Does A Full Stack Developer?

A Full Stack Developer has major responsibilities in the entire software development life cycle. They ensure proper designing, coding, and running of software applications.

1. Client Side Development

They are responsible for creating the part of the application that is visible to users and they interact with that part of the application. They generally work with HTML, CSS, Javascript, and other modern client side frameworks such as React, Angular, Vue, and more.

They ensure that the entire website is responsive and loaded properly on all devices. Also, make sure that the design and styling of the application follows all W3C guidelines properly.

2. Backend Development

They handle the logics and implementation of the different functionality behind working of an application. They use different languages and frameworks to make it possible with Node.js, Express, Python, Django, Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails, and more.

They are responsible for ensuring that the server side is up and running along with authentication, server logic, payment processing, and more.

3. Database Management

They are also responsible for designing and development of relational or No SQL databases, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Firebase and more.

They handle data manipulation, schema design, and performance optimization of the application. They ensure proper connectivity and logic implementation in application databases.

4. API Designs & Integration

Full Stack Developers help connect the frontend and backend of the application in an efficient manner. They build and consume RESTful APis, GraphQL APIs and more.

5. Other Roles

There are many other roles of Full stack developers such as version control, DevOps integration, GitHub integration, Debugging, Testing, deployment and maintenance of the application.

Apart from these responsibilities they also ensure proper communication and collaboration with different team members such as designers, product managers, and more based on requirement. They also connect with stakeholders for briefing of the application from their part.

Types of Full Stack Developers

Full Stack Developer

There are different types of full stack developers based on the language and frameworks they put forward in practice. Let us know some of the major types of full stack developers below.

1. MERN Stack Developer

The MERN stack developer works with MongoDB, Express, React and Node.js to build a fully working software application. It is great for building interactive and full scale applications popular among startups due to the flexibility and strong community support for these frameworks in this type of full stack Development.

2. MEAN Stack Developer

This type of Full stack Developer works with MongoDB, Express, Angular, Node.js to build fast and scalable web application. This type of full stack development works best for single page software application and enterprise solutions.

3. LAMP Stack Developer

These full stack developers are specialising LAMP stack frameworks which includes Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP which is used by the developers to develop an application. These frameworks are secure, scalable and help in building classic server side rendered websites.

4. Javascript Full Stack Developers

These developers spcialize in javascript based development used for both frontend as well as backend application development. They utilise frameworks like React, Angular, Vue, and more along with express, Nest, and more for backend development. They are more inclined to developing responmsive and scalable web application with Javascript.

5. Ruby on Rails Frameworks

Ruby on Rails is a framework which specialise in web development for creating efficient and managable web application. This is a popular web application written with Ruby programming language. Developers build efficient and robust software application easily using this framework.

Tools & Frameworks Required By Full Stack Developer

Full Stack Developer

Let us know about other frameworks used by Full Stack Developers below.

Tools / Frameworks	Purpose
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, TypeScript	Structure, styling, interactivity
React.js, Vue.js, Angular	Building UI components
Tailwind CSS, Bootstrap, SCSS/SASS	Responsive and utility-first CSS styling
Webpack, Vite, Babel	Module bundling and JS compiling
ESLint, Prettier	Code quality and formatting
Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, C#, Ruby	Server-side programming
Express.js, Django, Spring Boot, Laravel, ASP.NET Core, Flask, FastAPI	Server-side logic and API creation
MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite	Structured data storage
MongoDB, Firebase, Redis	Unstructured/real-time data
REST, GraphQL, Postman, Insomnia	Data communication, API testing
WebSockets, Socket.io	Real-time apps (chat, live data)
Git, GitHub, GitLab	Source code management
GitHub Actions, Jenkins, CircleCI	Continuous Integration/Deployment
Docker, Docker Compose	Packaging apps for consistent environments
Vercel, Netlify, Heroku, Render, Railway, AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean	Hosting frontend/backends
Jest, Mocha, PyTest, Selenium, Cypress	Unit, integration, end-to-end testing
npm, yarn, pnpm, pip, Composer, Maven, Gradle	Managing dependencies
Figma, Adobe XD	Design mockups and collaboration
Swagger, Postman Docs	API schema and documentation
NGINX, Apache, PM2	Hosting and managing server processes
Prisma, Sequelize, TypeORM	Database modeling and abstraction

Also Read:

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Full Stack Developer FAQs

Q1. Who is a Full Stack Developer?

Ans: Full Stack Developer is a professional who can work with frontend and backend of a web application and ensures that the entire web application is up and running.

Q2. Is Frontend the same as full stack development?

Ans: Frontend is a part of full stack development whereas full stack development comprises both frontend as well as backend part of the web development.

Q3. What are the frameworks used by a full stack Developer?

Ans: Full stack developers uses HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, React, Next.js, Express.js, PHP, Python, MongoDB, and more. They must have skills in both client as well as server side of the web development.

Q4. Is Full stack Developer a tough job?

Ans: Full stack Development is a job filled with challenges and gaining hands on experience building every aspects of software application. If you have the right skill and experience you can easily build a career as a full stack developer.

Q5. What is a full stack Developer salary?

Ans: A full stack developer average salary is in the range of INR 4 Lakhs per annum to INR 30 Lakhs per annum or even more based on number of factors such as location, experience, company, city, and more.