Key Technical Skills of Successful Full Stack Developer

In app development, only professionals with versatile skills who always have higher demands are called full stack developers. Full stack developers are known for their versatile skills with front-end and back-end development. They are often regarded as the masters of multiple development skills who can build an app from start to finish.

Since they are high in demand, you need to know the critical skills to look for when you hire full stack developers for your app project. They are expected to have a strong command of all key languages and development frameworks widely used for both client-side and server-side development. Full stack developers are also experienced enough to give the app project the right direction regarding development and design decisions.

Throughout this blog post, we will explain the must-have skills of full stack developers. But before that let us spare a few words on defining the full stack developers and the leading full technology stacks.

Who are Full Stack Developers?

Every app project has two main components: client-side or front-end and server-side or back-end. Apart from these two major parts, the app also should have a database. Now for all three components, there are different development technologies.

Leading front-end development languages include JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and the most popular front-end development frameworks, including ReactJS, AngularJS, VueJS, JQuery, Xamarin, etc.

Leading back-end development languages include Java, PHP, Swift, .Net, Kotlin, C++, Ruby, Objective C, Python and leading back-end development frameworks include NodeJS, ExpressJS, Ruby on Rails, Laravel and a few others.

Leading database technologies used by most app projects include MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, NoSQL and several others.

Usually, a full stack developer is skilled with at least one front-end, one back-end, and one database technology to develop the app project's client-side and server-side. Companies often hire remote developers with full stack development skills to fulfill their server-side and client-side development needs. There are also full stack developers with expertise in multiple languages and frameworks for front-end, back-end and database.

Over the years, some technology stacks remained widely popular for their effective role in building apps. The leading full technology stacks include MEAN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS and NodeJS), MERN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, ReactJS and NodeJS), LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP), MEVN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, VueJS and NodeJS) and a few others.

Now let us explain the key technical and soft skills you should look for when hiring full stack developers.

Expertise with Git and SourceTree

A full stack developer should be fully versed with the common and widely popular open-source repository where developers update all the code changes for their projects and track versions. The platform offers a rich reserve of coding examples and documents that developers often access.

A full stack developer should have a GitHub account with an excellent track record of contributions. It is expected that the developer is also versed with the SourceTree interface to handle code updates without getting distracted from the project.

HTML & CSS

HTML happens to be the basic or foundational coding language for the vast majority of web interfaces. For any web developer having a strong command of using HTML language to incorporate special features and to give a structure to the web page is important. The developers use HTML to create forms to connect the server with the client-side of a website.

CSS or Cascading Style Sheet accompanies HTML to determine how all the HTML coded elements are displayed on the web page. In that respect, it is the crucial language to determine the look and feel of a website. The CSS decides on colors, fonts, layouts to buttons, and all other visual elements in the web design. CSS also offers several abstract functions that can be used to follow common design practices instead of designing every element manually.

JavaScript

After evaluating the core skills like HTML and CSS, you need to test the full stack developers for JavaScript development. JavaScript is the most important scripting language that incorporates dynamic features in any website ensuring a more engaging and interactive user experience.

Thanks to JavaScript, the website content can automatically be refreshed, changed, moved, or just react to the inputs of the audience. All interactive and dynamic app features ranging from responsive buttons, movable text and sliders, autocorrection of text content, and GPS integration to many apps primarily result from JavaScript. Because of code reusability, JavaScript frameworks also help reduce app development cost to a great extent. This is why JavaScript has emerged as an elementary or key skill for many developers.

Apart from web app development, JavaScript is also the key language for mobile app projects for gaming, e-commerce, entertainment, etc. JavaScript is also one language used for both front-end and back-end development. Furthermore, JavaScript is the core language for many leading front-end and back-end development frameworks.

Command on Back-End Development

Most developers are versed with front-end development technologies like HTML, JavaScript and CSS happen to be the foundational skills any developer can be versed with. What matters more is skill and command on back-end development. This is why it is widely seen that companies mostly insist on evaluating the back-end development skills when hiring full stack developers.

The following are some of the most sought-after back-end development skills that a full stack developer should have.

• Node.js: NodeJS is arguably the only powerful JavaScript framework with versatile front-end and back-end development uses. NodeJS has a robust NPM package and a very straightforward coding protocol to achieve flexible output.
• PHP & Laravel: PHP is the most popular and widely used server-side language that empowers leading CMS platforms like WordPress and millions of websites across all niches. Laravel happens to be a powerful back-end development framework based on PHP.
• Python: Python has emerged as another tremendously popular back-end development language known for powerful computing capabilities and simple and easy to understand coding syntax. Python also offers leading back-end development frameworks such as Flask and Django.

Apart from all these three technologies we mentioned above, a full stack developer can also be versed with leading back-end development languages such as Java, C++, Kotlin and others.

Database Technologies

Web apps need integrated data storage to access later or contextually. This is why the web app project must have a robust database system. The full stack developers should be well-versed in how data storage can be optimized and relational database systems can be used to ensure faster data processing and strict data security.

An expert full stack developer not only has command over managing databases but is skilled enough to create and make use of different database queries. He should also be skilled enough with the practices to manage both relational and non-relational databases. The full stack developer should also be versed with the database formats or syntaxes such as XML and JSON.

Knowledge of Web Architecture

A full stack developer handles the entire web app development project from development to deployment and he needs to ensure superior performance irrespective of conditions. This is why he is required to choose the right web architecture for the project as well.

He should be knowledgeable about the web app structure and the user interface to ensure lightning-fast loading time without compromising the content and features. The full stack developers should understand the structural attributes and UI elements such as DNS, cloud infrastructure, database servers, etc.

REST and SOAP Protocols

Since full stack developers need to establish smooth collaboration between the server-side and the client-side of an app, they often need to use web services to achieve desired results. Certain web services such as REST and SOAP have already been considered widely useful for state management and server communication. Developers should be well versed in using these two web services tools to facilitate faster and efficient data sharing and transfer between the server and the front-end.  

Version Control Skills

An app project continues to go through several subsequent updates and each update brings coding changes, feature additions and UI/UX changes. There are version control files to register these changes and document them. This allows the developers to recall any changes and evaluate them.

These version control files are created by developers separately when they develop the app. These version control files allow other developers to collaborate on the same project.

Command on App Design

You are wrong if you think a developer has nothing to do with the app design as he is entitled to look after only the app development. A full stack developer handling responsibility for the entire project needs to know the design practices and tools to decide on the design elements that work best for the app project. A comprehensive understanding of wireframing, mock-up design and dynamic prototyping will be crucial skills for a full stack developer along with other skills.

Concluding Words

Lastly, a full stack developer should also have the right personality to work with the existing team and the project manager to bring the app project to its desired fruition. Some of the most sought-after soft skills and personality attributes for a full stack developer include superior written and verbal communication skills, time management, leadership attributes, ability to handle multiple tasks and responsibilities, creative brainstorming, etc.

IndianAppDevelopers is a leading full stack development company with a proven track record for challenging app projects across multiple business niches. Hire qualified full stack developers in India at IndianAppDevelopers today!