The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected a 13% growth in web development employment for the decade 2020-2030. From this, we infer that full-stack developer skills are and will continue to grow in demand in 2022 and beyond. If you’re interested in a full-stack development career, you’ll need these top full-stack developer skills to get you started or progress down your current career path.
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In this article, we cover the top full-stack developer skills you will need to crack a developer interview. We’ll cover:
- What Do Full-Stack Developers Do?
- Must-Have Technical and Behavioral Full-Stack Developer Skills in 2022
- FAQS on Must-Have Skills to Become a Full-Stack Developer
What Do Full-Stack Developers Do?
Understanding the role of a full-stack developer is the first step to identifying full-stack developer skills required to crack a tech interview.
Full-stack developers or web developers are competent in both front-end and backend development and are usually responsible for managing the entire software application development life cycle from conceptualization to launch.
Front-end Development
Front-end developers are responsible for developing user-facing aspects of websites or applications — website structure and presentation, and user interfaces and experiences. They write code, run by browsers, to develop the elements users see on a website or app and enable users to interact with or navigate the website or app. They ensure browser compatibility.
Backend Development
Backend developers develop the unseen aspects of websites and applications that render the website or app functional and useful. Backend developers write underlying code run by web servers, test and debug software, maintain databases, and all aspects that affect site or app performance.
Front-end developers and backend developers work together to create effective websites and applications. You find front-end developers and back-end developers on large projects where teams are divided to focus on front and back end work separately.
Full-Stack Development
Having full-stack developer skills enables you to work on both front-end and back-end development, increasing your value to an organization. Many companies prefer full-stack developers over back-end or front developers for their versatility.
Full-stack developers -
- Interact with clients
- Understand requirements
- Conceptualize and design the website or app
- Oversee web or app development till its launch
- Handle post-deployment maintenance
- Enable and optimize cross-platform performance
Must-Have Technical and Behavioral Full-Stack Developer Skills in 2022
Full-stack developers must be proficient in two areas:
- Hard or technical full-stack developer skills
- Soft skills needed for full-stack web developers
Web developer interview questions will be based on popular full-stack developer skills, which you should be well-versed on in order to crack a technical interview.
Essential Technical Full-Stack Developer Skills
Listed below are the top technical full-stack developer skills you must have to get through a web developer interview. Full-stack developer interview questions are bound to be centered around these topics. While you may not be proficient in the entire set or range of full-stack developer skills, you will be expected to have knowledge of widely used tools, frameworks, and technologies.
Web Architecture
It is the framework that enables interactions between browsers, user interfaces, app components, middleware, servers, and databases. Full-stack development skills should comprise web architecture knowledge such as code and storage structuring, file categorization, scalability, reliability, and other important concepts.
Front-End Technologies
Technologies used for website, web apps, or mobile app user interface development are essential full-stack developer skills. Some popular client-side technologies are:
- HTML: HyperText Markup Language is used to structure web pages and add content.
- CSS: Cascading Style Sheets are used to present HTML content visually.
- JavaScript: An object-oriented language used to make websites and applications interactive:
- React JS: An open-source library for user interface development (web)
- React Native: A platform for cross-platform app development (mobile)
- Angular JS: An open-source framework for dynamic page development
- Angular: Required to develop complex, scalable applications
BootStrap
An open-source framework for web and app development utilizing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript templates
Flutter
Open-source tools for cross-platform app development
Backend Programming Languages
You should specialize in at least one backend development programming language. To have advanced full-stack developer skills, you should be able to work with more than one or have knowledge of multiple languages. Some popular server-side languages are:
- Python: Simple, versatile, syntax-friendly, and effective for data visualization, it is the most popular full-stack, object-oriented programming language in use.
- Java: A general-purpose programming language for app development with scalability features.
- PHP: A general-purpose programming language for developing dynamic apps
- Rust: A low-level, open-source programming language to enhance a website’s or app’s performance.
- Scala: A high-level, object-oriented, and functional programming language requiring less code than Java programs is considered one of the best web development programming languages.
- Swift: A fast programming language that requires less code, making it easy to write.
- Kotlin: A modern programming language with advantageous features such as scalability and interoperability with Java.
Node.js
An open-source JavaScript run-time environment to execute server-side code outside web browsers.
Express.js
An open-source Node.js backend framework for efficient web app development.
Database Management Systems
Enhanced full-stack developer skills include knowledge of database management systems as this contributes to effective web development.
- SQL: Structured Query Language to manage (access, update, modify) relational databases.
- NoSQL: Not Only SQL manages document-approach database models for high-performance apps and sites for improved content management.
- PostgreSQL: Postgres is an object-relational, open-source DBMS useful for complex queries and systems for voluminous, distributed data.
- MongoDB: A widely-used document-oriented database considered a top web development tool for its voluminous data storage, speed, and scalability features.
- Oracle: A multi-model DBMS that is considered one of the best commercial, cloud, or on-prem database systems for very large-scale requirements.
Servers
Most websites and apps run on open-source servers making knowledge of servers one of the top full-stack developer skills. Popular servers are:
- Apache: Also known as Apache HTTP or HTTPs, it has a modular architecture and runs on Linux
- NGINX: It has an event-driven architecture known for speed and scalability advantages and managing thousands of concurrent sessions.
- IIS: Microsoft’s modular, extensible Internet Information Services server runs on Windows OS and is a widely-used platform.
Linux
Your full-stack developer skills should include knowledge of Linux on which most servers run. You should also know Linux to ascertain code functionality.
APIs
Application programming interfaces enable interaction between software applications. API knowledge is one of the full-stack developer skills you should have as APIs enable front-end and backend interactions. Two widely-used APIs are:
- Rest: Representational State Transfer is a software architecture style for standardized and simple communication.
- SOAP: Simple Objects Access Protocol enables the communication between processes of different operating systems.
Version Control System (VCS)
Development teams use VCS to manage and communicate changes in code. It enhances collaboration and accelerates development.
- Git: A widely used version control system that should be a part of your full-stack developer skills.
- Github: A cloud repository of Git projects.
Tech Stacks
Full-stack developer skills should include knowledge of popular tech stacks and be able to identify the right one for your web or app development.
- LAMP — Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP
- LEMP — Linux, NGINX, MySQL, PHP
- MEAN — MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, Node.js
- MERN — MongoDB, Express.js, React, Node.js
- Django — A Python web development framework
- Ruby on Rails — A Ruby web development framework
- Serverless Stack
Full-stack developer skills should include knowledge of the following areas as well:
- Algorithms
- Data Structures
- Design
- Testing
- Security
Top 10 Soft Skills Needed to Be a Full-Stack Developer
Full-stack developer skills include soft skills required to perform web development tasks. The top soft skills required to be a full-stack developer are:
- Communication
- Leadership
- Collaboration
- Analytical Thinking
- Critical Thinking
- Creativity
- Problem-Solving
- Project Management
- Time Management
- Attention to detail
FAQS on Must-Have Full-Stack Developer Skills
Q1. What are the top full-stack developer skills to crack an interview?
You will be assessed on full-stack developer skills in the following broad areas: web architecture, front-end technologies like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc., backend technologies, programming languages such as Python, Java, Scala, etc., DBMS, servers, APIs, VCS, Tech stacks, basics or concepts of algorithms, data structures, design, testing, and security.
Q2. What is the difference between full-stack developer skills and software engineering skills?
The skillset for full-stack developers is broader than that of software engineers and includes leadership and project management and working on end-to-end aspects of web apps. Software engineers have less interpersonal interaction and focus on specific aspects of software development.
Q3. Are coding skills needed to be a full-stack developer?
Essential full-stack developer skills include HTML and CSS, which are required to define, structure, and present web pages.
Q4. Which are the best programming full-stack developer skills?
The programming skillset for full-stack developers should include basic languages — JavaScript, HTML, and CSS — and other in-demand languages — Python, Ruby, PHP, etc.
Q5. Are full-stack developer skills in demand?
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 13% increase in web development employment between 2020 and 2030. Most top tech companies prefer full-stack developers over those with only back-end or front-end developer skills.
Upskill to Crack Your Next Full-Stack Developer Interview
If you’re a software engineer or a software developer interested in building a web development career, we recommend tried and proven ways to crack web development interviews. By developing the required full-stack developer skills, you can land offers from top companies.
If you need help with your prep, join Interview Kickstart’s Full Stack Engineering Interview Course — the first-of-its-kind, domain-specific tech interview prep program designed and taught by FAANG+ instructors. Click here to learn more about the program.
Join our free webinar to learn more about how to develop must-have full-stack developer skills and crack the most challenging tech interviews.
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