Full-Stack Development

Full-Stack Development

Let us think about an IT student fresh of college nowadays.

Jobs are few and competition is intense. His college degree has not equipped him in any practical way and he didn't think before to do any internships before.  A mountain of choices stares him in the face.

Like his batch-mates, he does not have any idea which technical specialization to opt for. The problem of selection starts with the programming language. Should he go for Java or Python or Ruby on Rails. Should he go for propriety software like Microsoft or for open-source. Each choice is complicated by different Libraries and Methodologies associated with that programming language. Thats not all, he also has to make a choice between a front-end developer career or a back-end development career. He has to tread carefully as both have their own pros and cons. Additionally, he has to research the Jobs available for each career choice in his geographic vicinity. He watches as his batch mates opt for one or the other and he feels pressure to choose as soon as possible with the limited knowledge he has.

Let us think about an IT student fresh of college nowadays.

Jobs are few and competition is intense. His college degree has not equipped him in any practical way and he didn't think before to do any internships before.  A mountain of choices stares him in the face.

Like his batch-mates, he does not have any idea which technical specialization to opt for. The problem of selection starts with the programming language. Should he go for Java or Python or Ruby on Rails. Should he go for propriety software like Microsoft or for open-source. Each choice is complicated by different Libraries and Methodologies associated with that programming language. Thats not all, he also has to make a choice between a front-end developer career or a back-end development career. He has to tread carefully as both have their own pros and cons. Additionally, he has to research the Jobs available for each career choice in his geographic vicinity. He watches as his batch mates opt for one or the other and he feels pressure to choose as soon as possible with the limited knowledge he has.

In this scenario, one of the best choices he can make is opting for a full-stack development career! This covers both front-end as well as backend and he will be able to create entire Applications of non-trivial size. Additionally, many more Job Opportunities will be available for him.  

So, what is Full-Stack Development?

A simple definition for Full-Stack Development is the one in which development is done using a technology stack that combines features of both Front-End Development as well as Back-End Development. Such Frameworks have become ubiquitous nowadays as more and more people realize the importance of such an integrated approach. Apart from opening more job prospects, full-stack development also open doors to a freelancer career as he is able to cater to a wider potential clientele.  

Ok, he has chosen to become a Full-Stack Developer. How can he go about it?

Here it is important for the student to make many decisions, all of which are equally important. The results of any wrong decision will result in critical losses of time or money or both. The important decisions that he should make are –

  • Which Platform to choose? The student should research and hone in to a platform that is easiest to pick up as well as powerful enough that big organizations are using it. Not all platforms offer the same power and performance. At the same time, there are platforms that are too complicated for a novice developer to immediately start writing programs in. Here we give an example of Python and Django Stack for Web Development tasks. Both are relatively easier to pick up. Both of them offer many powerful features such as Strong Typing, Object Relation Model (ORM), High Automation Capabilities. Additionally, they both are open-source and a huge section of libraries are available for both to accomplish many day-to-day as well as specialty tasks.
  • How to learn about the chosen Platform? This is most critical and students often get taken-in by advertisements and plush class rooms put up by big brands. They end up paying up-to 1 lakh or more for these courses. Students don’t bother checking whether these courses just scratch the surface to cover some the scenarios that experienced IT developers come across every day. At legofi, we make all our courses cover both the breadth and depth of the platforms. These are further cemented by Teacher Monitoring, Assignments, Projects and Special sessions. Additionally, we made sure to make our courses affordable to almost everyone.
  • How to make a career after learning? This is the final key decision that students have to make. Its not enough to choose a platform and learn everything about it. It is also important to be able to prove in front of potential hirers the skills obtained by the candidate. This can be done by implementing self-projects, deploying the final applications and creating a good write-up. The students can also do self-branding by publishing about their work on linked-in and other social media platforms.

 

This efficient combination of getting knowledge, cementing the knowledge with constant and consistent practice and self-branding activities like publishing and sharing their work is key to a fulfilling Full-Stack career. In the long term, the IT industry has seen ebbs and flows in various technologies and popularity of Front-End V/s Back-end. A professional that can handle both will have a far greater chance to survive and thrive in a constantly changing environment. In their later careers, when it is time to promote employees, the organizations tend to look at people that can contribute the most.

We have mainly spoken about students who are new to their careers and have decided to work in the IT industry. Full-Stack Development is equally important for working professionals who want to switch their careers into the IT industry. The potential recruiters will need additional inducement to hire such candidates due to their different education experience. By choosing a Full-Stack career, the candidates can increase their chances of being hired.

Thus, we can see that it is important to make the decision to opt for Full-Stack development careers and then pursue it in the correct manner. This can be a key differentiator in these tough market conditions.