What technologies do I need to learn to become a full-stack web developer

Web developers are known for writing code to create, update, and manage website performance. However, a full-stack developer is more than that. A full-stack web developer is a multipurpose programmer, responsible for the development of the project, from the assembly of the servers to the design with CSS and here at BeAPython.Dev we recognize great developers are versatile in many programming languages, languages, and software methodologies. And even though I really enjoy working with Python, most of my work by trade is full stack development and distributed application management.

Becoming a good full-stack web developer requires a lot of knowledge and strong technical and software design skills. Full-stack web developers must also have good communication skills so that they can work with clients and determine their needs whether it’s working as a freelancer or working with internal customers within your organization.

But if you want to start your path to the world of web development and you wonder what technologies you must learn to become a full-stack web developer, you are in the right place. We explain what is the essential knowledge you must-have if you want to be a professional in the sector.

A web developer encompasses multiple skill sets that translate into different specialties. The most common terms used to name these specialties are front-end, back-end. And then we will show you each one, so you can become a full-stack developer.

Front-end

If you want to become a web developer you have surely heard of this term.

Front-end mainly deals with external components of the website or web application.

The Front-end developer takes an idea and turns it into reality. What you see and what you use, such as the visual aspect of the website, the drop-down menus, and the text, are created by the Front-end developer, who writes a series of programs to give structure, shape, and interactivity to these elements. Also, Front-end is the part of a website that interacts with users, that’s why we say it is on the client-side.

For this reason, a front-end developer must necessarily master the following programming languages.

The main Front-end programming languages ​​are:

HTML

HTML or “HyperText Markup Language” is a primary language that every web developer must learn. It belongs to the family of “markup languages” and is used for the elaboration of web pages. The HTML standard is defined by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and currently, HTML is in its HTML5 version.

It should be noted that HTML is not a programming language since it does not have arithmetic functions, variables, or control structures typical of programming languages, so HTML generates only static web pages, however, HTML can be used in conjunction with various programming languages ​​for creating dynamic web pages.

Javascript

JavaScript is a programming language that every good web developer must learn perfectly, this program is mainly used to create dynamic web pages and effects.

A dynamic web page is one that incorporates effects such as animations, texts that appear and disappear, and actions that are activated by pressing buttons and windows with warning messages to the user.

It is important to mention that JavaScript is also an interpreted programming language, so it is not necessary to compile the programs to execute them. In other words, programs written with JavaScript can be tested directly in any browser without the need for third parties. Therefore, it is recognized as one of the three native languages ​​of the web along with HTML and CSS.

CSS

CSS or cascading style sheets is a language that defines the appearance of a document written in a markup language (for example, HTML.

Thus, the elements of the web page created with HTML will be given the desired appearance using CSS: colors, spaces between elements, fonts, etc., thus separating the structure of the presentation.

This separation between the structure and the presentation is very important since it is only by changing the CSS that the appearance of a web page is completely modified. This makes it possible, among other things, for users to use custom style sheets.

CSS is widely used by developers to make their web pages stand out from the rest.

The CSS standard, as well as HTML, is defined by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and currently, CSS is in its CSS3 version.

Several frameworks and libraries emerge from these languages ​​that expand their capabilities to create any type of user interface. And then we will explain to them.

Javascript frameworks

JavaScript is a language that continues to increase in popularity, making it essential for web developers to keep abreast of the main frameworks available to them.

Development frameworks are very interesting tools that are increasingly used to develop applications and websites and that are increasingly requested by companies in this sector.

However, choosing the best JavaScript framework for your web development or application development project is not easy. You must first assess the needs of your project and see how appropriate the functionality of a particular framework is for your development project.

Each framework has its pros and cons. Therefore, depending on the specific requirements of your development project.

And so below we bring you the pros and cons of the best javascript frameworks:

Angular.JS

Angular.JS is a development framework for JavaScript and created by Google that allows you to create faster and smoother web applications, to facilitate the development of web applications.

The world of web development demands security, stability, and innovation. And this is what Angular.JS guarantees by allowing developers to combine today’s development features with design elements. There are different versions of Angular that you can use for your development project. However, the latest version has gained a lot of traction in a short time.

Angular.JS has the largest developer community and is the most widely used JavaScript framework for developing single-page web applications.

Among the pros and cons we found:

Pros:

* It has more tools and better guides to create efficient solutions.

* It focuses on creating applications, making it very popular in organizations

* Detailed documentation that allows us to obtain all the necessary information without asking our fellow developers. However, this requires more training time.

* Datalink in both directions, which allows an application behavior that minimizes errors.

* MVVM (Model-View-View Model) allows the developer to work in the same section of the application using the same data.

* Injection of dependencies of the characteristics related to the components of the modules and modularity in general.

Cons:

* Large files and poor performance compared to React.

* It has the API with the highest learning curve due to its extensive content.

* The code may seem complex and repetitive compared to React.

React.JS

React.JS is an open-source JavaScript library, which was developed by Facebook and was first released in 2013 under the BSD license to create user interfaces.

With React.JS developers get a layer of components to ease the process of creating UI elements and combining them.

React.JS was used to create the Facebook and Instagram user interface, demonstrating the effectiveness of React.JS in creating dynamic, high-traffic applications.

Among the pros and cons we found:

Pros:

* Easy to learn. React is much easier to learn because of its simplicity in terms of syntax. Engineers just need to draw on their ability to write HTML. There is no need to learn TypeScript within the case of Angular.

* High level of flexibility and maximum responsiveness’.

* Virtual DOM (Document Object Model) that allows you to convert documents in HTML, XHTML, or XML format into a more manageable tree for browsers while executing different elements of the application.

* Combined with ES6 / 7, ReactJS can work with high load easily.

* down’ data link which means that with this type of data flow the child’ elements cannot affect the parent’ data.

* 100% open-source JavaScript library with frequent updates and improvements from developers around the world.

* Very light framework since user-side data can be represented on the server simultaneously.

* Migration between versions is generally very simple, with Facebook providing code mods (code modifications) to automate much of the process.

Cons:

* Absence of official documentation. React.JS’s high development speed barely leaves room for proper documentation, which is somewhat chaotic as different developers contribute without a common approach.

* There is no development standard, so we have too many choices to make.

* It takes a long time to master it, as well as a deep knowledge of how to integrate user interfaces in MVC frameworks.

Some of the companies that use React.JS are Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, New York Times, Whatsapp, Codecademy, Dropbox, Airbnb, Asana, Atlassian, Microsoft.

Knowing the pros and cons of these frameworks you can choose the one that best suits the needs of your project more easily.

The second specialty to master to be a full-stack developer is:

Backend

Unlike the Front-end web developer. The back-end web developer works on the Server side, behind the scenes, allowing the user to enjoy their experience with their work. Without it, the development carried out by his former partner would not be sustained.

The back-end web developer uses computer programs to ensure that the server, the application, and the database have a regular joint performance. Also, it analyzes what the company needs and provides efficient programming solutions.

Back-end has with it several types of technologies which are the following:

Rest Technology

The term REST or Representational State Transfer originated in 2000. A REST service is not a software architecture, but a set of restrictions with which we can create a style of software architecture, which we can use to create web applications respecting HTTP. REST API is a way to describe how programs or websites exchange data.

Today most companies use REST APIs to create services. This is because it is a logical and efficient standard for creating web services. An example may be Facebook identification systems, authentication in Google services, among others.

Something else about rest technology is that the most important thing to keep in mind when creating our service or REST API is not the language in which it is implemented, but rather that the responses to requests are made in XML or JSON since it is the language used the exchange of information.

Some frameworks with which we can implement our APIs: The most used are JAX-RS and Spring Boot for Java, Django REST framework for Python, Laravel for PHP, or Restify for Node. Js.

Backend technologies

To be a backend developer you must use the following technologies:

* ASP.NET: is Microsoft’s web development platform. Widely used in companies. It has the Web Forms and MVC variants, and now also ASP.NET Core MVC.

* PHP: for example, the famous content manager WordPress uses PHP behind. Laravel is one of the frameworks used in this language.

* Ruby: together with its Ruby on rails framework.

* Python: easy to learn. Often used with Django as a framework for being the most famous. However, you can also create web applications using the python Flask framework. I personally really enjoy working with Flask as you have a lot of control and flexibility over how you implement your applications features and technology integrations.

* Node.js: it is becoming increasingly popular because it uses the same language as on the client-side: JavaScript.

* Java: the classic language and one of the most popular.

To be a back-end web developer it is not enough to master a language and a framework. Every web application must store data in some way. Therefore, a back-end web developer must also be familiar with databases. And Among them stand out:

* SQL Server

* MySQL

* Oracle

* PostgreSQL

* MongoDB, which is a non-relational or NoSQL data store.

Microservices Technologies

Microservices technologies are one approach to developing a software application as a series of small services, each running autonomously and communicating with each other.

There are usually a minimum number of services that handle things common to others, such as database access, but each microservice is small and corresponds to an application business area.

Furthermore, each one is independent and its code must be able to be displayed without affecting the others. Even each of them can be written in a different programming language since they only expose the API to the rest of the microservices.

There are no rules on how large each microservice must be, nor on how to divide the application into microservices.

Among the microservices technologies we can mention:

* Databases (RDS, NoSQL)

* Message queues

* Caching

Becoming a full-stack developer is a complex and quite difficult task. In addition to having to master both specialties, there are numerous languages ​​and frameworks to choose from. However, with these technologies, you will know what technologies to learn to start and become an incredible full-stack web developer.

Originally published at http://beapython.dev on May 21, 2020.