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We all live in a digital world now, which means that it’s literally impossible not to turn to the Internet while using our PCs, tablets, or smartphones. The variety of eye-catching, creative, and informative websites has become quite common, but most people still don’t know what processes make all online platforms work.
Here comes the answer: modern technological miracles would be futile without the web development services that are provided by developers: front-end, back-end, and full stack. Today we’re going to talk about the last ones and the specifics of their job. You might have already heard that full stack developers are often highly regarded, but what do they actually do? Let’s find out.
What is full stack development
When we bring up web development in both a site’s front and end backs, we mean full stack development. As a rule, it is a complex process that may include user-facing web construction, underlying database work, communication with clients, etc.
Consequently, full stack web developers are able to build complete sites and web applications by themselves. They can operate on the front-end and back-end, database, and debugging of their projects. To avoid sounding too vague, let’s look at what we’re talking about.
Technology that is related to full stack web development
Firstly, we have front-end development.
In a nutshell, it’s a visible, client-side part of a website or web application that’s focused on providing users with a great experience. Visitors can not only see it, but also directly interact with it. To create the front-end portion of a site or an app, you should know some of the following languages:
- HTML
A well-known HTML (or Hyper Text Markup Language) is actually the combination of Hypertext and Markup languages. It is used to design front-end pieces. While Hypertext is responsible for defining the link between different web pages, the Markup language sets the text documentation within the tag that determines the page’s structure.
- JavaScript
JavaScript is another programming language that helps websites and web apps become interactive. It’s relatively easy to use and is great for building attractive and rich UI components (for example, pop-ups, tabs, image sliders, navigation systems, etc.) to improve the functionality of a site.
- CSS
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. This language was created to help web developers and simplify the process of their work. What is impressive about it is that CSS allows you to apply styles to numerous web pages independently of the HTML. It’s also good for creating an aesthetically pleasing design.
Then, it’s important to mention some of the most popular front-end frameworks and libraries:
- React.JS
React is a powerful JavaScript library (maintained by Facebook) that’s known for its flexibility and efficiency. It’s open-source and component-based, and it’s in charge of only the view layer of the application.
- jQuery
This is another open-source JavaScript library that is meant to streamline HTML/CSS document interactions. To be more specific, jQuery simplifies DOM animations, Ajax interactions, and browser event handling, among other things.
- Angular.JS
Angular is a JavaScript open-source framework. As a rule, web developers turn to it to build SAPs (single-page web applications). It’s used to enhance the development process and change the static HTML to dynamic HTML when needed.
Secondly, we have back-end development, which is responsible for the maintenance of websites’ and web apps’ digital foundations. Back-end refers to server-side development, and its main focus is on the way everything operates.
Although back-end developers are “behind the scenes”, their work is crucial. They oversee underlying components that are needed to define sites’ front-end usability and presentation and help run usability tests as well. Here are a few popular coding languages that they use the most:
- Java
Java is an incredibly well-known programming language (and a platform) that is highly scalable. Its components are available.
- JavaScript
We’ve already talked about JavaScript, but it’s worth mentioning that it can be used as both a front-end and back-end language.
- Python
Python is also one of the main programming languages. It’s often used to speed up the work process and smoothly integrate systems.
- PHP
Next we have PHP, a server-side scripting language that was designed explicitly for web development.
- C++
Although this back-end language is pretty common nowadays, it is particularly used for competitive programming.
Now let’s talk about the most preferred libraries and frameworks. Here they are:
- Node.JS
It is an open-source, cross-platform, back-end JavaScript runtime environment that runs on various platforms. Although many people confuse it with a programming language or a framework, it’s not. Node.JS is used to build back-end services like APIs (such as Mobile App, Web App) and is loved by huge companies (Walmart, Netflix, etc.).
- Laravel
Laravel is an open-source framework that is perfect for developing web applications. With its help, you can build apps with amazing templates, web portals, pre-defined architectures, and so on.
- Ruby
Finally, we have Ruby, which is also used as a framework for web applications. The reasons for its popularity are simple: it’s efficient and scalable. With Ruby, you can write rich functionality with fewer lines of code than some other frameworks would require.
Lastly, we need to mention a database.
As a whole, a database is an organized collection of structured data that is normally electronically stored in a computer system. It can be in the form of schemas, tables, reports, and others. Let’s look at 3 names you’re likely to come across while learning more about a database:
1. Oracle
This collection of data is treated as a unit. It’s used to store, manage, and retrieve information when needed.
2. Sql
Sql (or Structured Query Language) is a database language that is used to create, maintain, and retrieve a relational database.
3. MongoDB
As the most favored NoSQL database, MongoDB is open-sourced and document-oriented. It’s not based on table-like relational structure, and that’s why it has a completely different mechanism for data storage and retrieval.
Considering everything, we can say that full stack web development provides a more efficient work experience during the process of building websites and web applications. Since full stack specialists are equipped with vast knowledge of numerous technologies, they can manage their tasks faster and use diverse tools, which is beneficial for any kind of project. Hence, there is nothing surprising about the fact that such developers are so in-demand these days.
You may also like: How Much Does It Cost To Get A Web Application Developed?
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