Where Web Development can involve building just one layer of websites and web applications, Full-stack Web Development refers to the development of both front-end and back-end portions. These portions include three layers: the Presentation Layer (the front end, or user interface), the Business Logic Layer (the back end), and the Database Layer. It involves work from the beginning of a project to the launch of a finished product.
Web Development is highly lucrative. Taking it a step further with Full-stack Web Development ensures successful learners are able to save organizations time and money, while increasing their value as the go-to hiree for a project’s needs and complexities on both the back end and the front end.
Learners specializing in Full-stack Web Development have their pick of tech companies to join, and clientele to build. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in Full-stack Web Development is expected to increase to over 853,000 by the year 2024. The fruits of this labor are worth it—the average Full-stack Developer salary in 2020 is $91,123 per year.
Other than Full-stack Web Developer, there are plenty of roles where knowledge of Full-stack Web Development is useful, including: Software Developer, Computer Systems Analyst, IT Manager, Information Security Analyst, Computer Network Architect, Computer Programmer, and others that are related.
Full-stack Web Development courses offered through Coursera equip learners with knowledge in building web, hybrid, and mobile solutions; understanding front-end frameworks such as Bootstrap 4 and Angular; implementing NoSQL databases using MongoDB; creating the best user experience regardless of device; the basics of APIs, data visualization, and animation; and more.
Lessons in these courses are taught by professors from major universities specializing in Computing, Computer Science, and more, and are administered via video lecture, readings, quizzes, and hands-on projects.
Some of the skills and experience you may need to have to learn full-stack web development include a general understanding of the front-end development and back-end development that goes into building a website. Important skills include coding and Linux. It will also be helpful if you have some prior working knowledge of technologies such as HTML, CSS, and the scripting language of JavaScript, as well as frameworks like Angular, React, and Node.js.
The kind of people who are best suited for roles in full-stack web development want to understand in detail how websites that exist globally actually work, how they are built, and how sites interact with the web. They have a wide breadth of knowledge about technologies and platforms that go into web development. They may enjoy using Photoshop and Illustrator to develop graphics and themed layouts on websites that users can see. People best suited for roles in the field of full-stack web development are eager to also work in the back-end development of building a website, which includes writing code to collect data from the front end and creating algorithms to manipulate the received data, as well as understanding server management.
Learning full-stack web development may be right for you if you want to learn to build complete web and hybrid mobile solutions by mastering front-end web, hybrid mobile app, and back-end/server-side development. If you are new to full-stack web development, studying the subject may be right for you if you want to better understand the structure and functionality of the web, create dynamic web pages, apply essential programming language concepts, select a hosting service, and publish a website. If you are more advanced, it may benefit you to study full-stack web development so you can learn to implement progressive tools and platforms like a NoSQL database using MongoDB, work within a Node.js environment, and communicate to the client side through a RESTful API. Studying the subject may be right for you if you want to master full-stack cloud development by learning more advanced levels in HTML, JavaScript, Node.js, Python, Django, containers, microservices, and more.