Rather than being a copywriter, a web designer, or just a programmer, full-stack developers are skilled in all three. Here are some of the hidden roles of a full-stack developer:
Front-end Development
All full-stack developers are front-end developers, but not all front-end developers are full-stack developers.
A front-end developer is someone whose primary focus is on how a website or program looks and functions. They take the graphical design and turn it into code that an internet browser can read and display to users. The goal is typically to make a site look great and work well from the user’s perspective. This means that front-end developers must have a strong grasp of user experience (UX) design. They need to anticipate how users will interact with a site or program then ensure that those interactions are smooth, intuitive, and bug-free.
To do this, front-end developers use three core languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. HTML provides the structure. CSS dictates design elements like color and font. JavaScript adds interactive elements like menus and forms.
Front-end developers are also responsible for performance optimization. This includes ensuring that images load quickly and responsively, ensuring that users can access all of the content they need regardless of whether they’re using a desktop computer or mobile device.
Full-stack developers must therefore be knowledgeable in all these languages and techniques.
Back-end Development
The back end is slightly less visible to users, but there’s a lot more that can go wrong in this area! On the back end, full-stack developers are responsible for ensuring that all the data a website or app collects is stored correctly. This can include keeping track of who made what purchase and when they made it, helping people log into their account on both desktop and mobile devices, and even helping to prevent unauthorized access to information through things like coding better passwords.
Business Analysis
Full-stack developers are also business analysts. This is because they have strong programming skills and must function as a business analyst, which means that they have to interpret and understand business requirements and translate them into code.
A primary goal of a business analyst is to be able to work with the business side of an organization to optimize projects. Once these projects are completed, the analyst then works with the developers to ensure that the products meet all of the organization’s functional, security, and performance standards.
Quality Assurance
Full-stack developers are also Quality assurance experts because they’re involved in every step of the software development life cycle.
When a software project is new, there’s no QA process. If you’ve never done it before, you’ll have to learn how to test a new feature or fix an existing one.
In addition, they make sure everything works on all the different environments that their software runs on: dev, test, staging, and production. Although most of this work is done independently, full-stack developers may be aided by QA in debugging testing issues and fixing bugs found during testing.
Full-stack developers often spend a significant amount of time in continuous integration (CI). It is a process to automatically build and test a piece of code at regular intervals to be easily deployed to multiple environments and automatically updated when the code is changed or new builds are created.
Information Architecture
These all-rounders have a knack for finding solutions when faced with problems and tend to be the type to jump from project to project without looking back. As a result, they are often seen by their peers as the most valuable team members and are responsible for building the product from its inception until it’s ready for launch.
Project Management
A full stack developer is responsible for every aspect of the software development process from start to finish. They take on all aspects of the project, from planning and developing, testing, documenting, and managing requirements. This means that full-stack developers are responsible for software engineering and organizational tasks such as hiring, motivating employees, and ensuring the company has the budget needed to develop the product.
They must learn about business logic and have experience in web development. A major aspect of full-stack developers’ role is to manage the software development process and ensure that the requirements are met by effectively creating and modifying code. A full-stack developer should also teach other programmers how to use the software they build since they may not experience it.
They work with a team to create a roadmap and ensure the product is on track. They work with clients to make sure the product works as expected.
Full-stack developers continue to be in high demand but don’t get nearly as much attention as other roles. This article has shed some light on how important they are.
