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Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

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Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#51

Post by Xeoncross »

A full stack developer starts out as a kid that is too poor to pay someone else to do the parts of an application they don't understand.

So they learn databases, linux, Photoshop (wait, if poor; then GIMP), Javascript, PHRUBYPY, and $100 of free adwords credits.

These poor, full-stack developers try writing their own legal terms, finding the best examples of good UI to copy, and setting up social media accounts for their projects.

They also have a friend that is good with Canon/RED cameras and can help record a promo video.

Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#52

Post by Retric »

collyw wrote: post #48
casion wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP said "In my opinion "full stack" is what all developers actually should be." It's not what all developers should be. For a lot of us, it would be a complete waste of time to learn technologies that we do not use, let alone have access to.

You can be full stack with various different stacks. I use LAMP, so I am pretty out of date with any .Net technologies. But I would consider myself full stack to an extent.

I have no idea how knowing databases or HTML is going to help someone write embedded code for RC controlled drone. And I am mystified by the idea that knowing ARM asm is going to help but a website, MMO, or tax prep software.

At best full stack just means knowing one level deeper than necessary.

Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#53

Post by jdmoreira »

I'm an iOS Developer. For me going full stack looks like this...

* Develop the app. Let's say, swift + cocoa touch (front-end)

* Developing the backend services. Let's say, Django REST Framework (back-end)

* Setup and manage the PaaS. Let's say, Google App Engine or Heroku (infrastructure)

Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#54

Post by notacoward »

IgorPartola wrote: post #41

I define it in practical terms: can you start from scratch and deliver and maintain a product? This is a term that's often used to describe web or mobile development, so in this context I take it as being able to do things like platform setup and maintenance, write a backend, write a front-end, do the design, etc. This term really caught on with people who develop for the web because there actually is a divide here:…

Thank you. I'm sure a lot of people will say you don't really know some of that stuff, and they're kind of right, but it's always helpful to have a buffer of stuff you "kind of know" around the stuff you really know. That way you don't get lost as soon as you hit the boundary. You know which way to turn, how to recognize what's still relevant (to your original problem) vs. what's not, what phrases to search for if you need to find out where the real experts hang out. If you've been in the space before, even briefly and superficially a long time ago, it can really help. Without that you can't even know what "full stack" really means.

Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#55

Post by karmajunkie »

casion wrote: post #17
FooBarWidget wrote: post #8

In my opinion "full stack" is what all developers actually should be. 15 years ago, it was normal that, as a developer, you know how to administer a server, know how Unix works, know how to setup/debug the database. Maybe know a bit of C. Fast forward to 2015. Lots of developers are purely frontend developers and don't know how to setup a server, or don't know how to administer the database. This is now the norm. The…

You do realize that not all developers work with the web, right? A lot of us actually don't even touch the web all day long, not even for fun.

I've been developing professionally for 20 years and never encountered the term full-stack until it was used to describe a web developer who could implement design (not necessarily do the original design work), implement the front-end, and implement the backend. It seems to have now grown in scope to include mobile app development in at least one mobile platform as well as fully client-side frameworks like Angular, Ember, or React (which weren't in widespread usage when the term began to be used much more frequently, as I recall.)

This definition including hardware down to the transistor is just silly, and its the equivalent of non-web devs chiming in with a "Hey we matter too!"

Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#56

Post by vkjv »

IgorPartola wrote: post #41

I define it in practical terms: can you start from scratch and deliver and maintain a product? This is a term that's often used to describe web or mobile development, so in this context I take it as being able to do things like platform setup and maintenance, write a backend, write a front-end, do the design, etc. This term really caught on with people who develop for the web because there actually is a divide here:…

I echo this sentiment. Full-stack means that you can support all aspects of the stack, and here's the key, that need to be supported by a dedicated person.

For example, most people "out source" their network / system administration to a company like Rackspace or Amazon. I would still consider someone utilizing their services to deliver a product "full-stack".

Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#58

Post by awjr »

I call myself 'full stack'. 1) DevOps (provisioning, load balancing, infrastructure design, code deployment, db backup strategies) 2) Backend Dev (primarily APIs these days) 3) Frontend (primarily AngularJS) 4) Database Administration 5) Internet of Things IoT setup, design and deployment. 6) Language agnostic. 7) System Architect

What I don't do is draw pretty pictures. Don't mind UI design but the moment we start discussing changing the look and feel and PSDs you get somebody else cheaper in to do that.

Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#59

Post by agentultra »

It should be called, full heap developer. /snark

It's a pretty generic term watered down by its lack of concrete meaning. There are probably going to be a couple of hundred varying opinions and fifty or so disagreements about what it means before this post disappears off of the front page.

To me this makes it a meaningless term and one I don't feel bad poking fun at. It's a term used by managers and start-ups to get more for less from a single developer. We used to call "full-stack" developers, "generalists." Before that... I don't know, "whiz kids?" "Good with computers?" "Geeks?"

Many people agree that it means someone who knows how the whole technology stack works from keyboard and screen down to the processor. That used to be just, "programmer," but I suppose there is quite a bit more going on these days. I have my suspicions that few people actually know, "what's going on from keyboard and screen down to processor." Install just one software package on your machine and try to figure out how many dependencies it has, how many different languages and run-times, and "APIs" it uses. Then there's the operating system itself (often in the case of application developers). I think what we're really agreeing on is that "full stack developer" is a term for people who are capable of figuring out what broke when things go wrong and have a broad-enough range of experience to fix it.

Re: Ask HN: What is “full stack” actually?

#60

Post by VLM »

borednbearded wrote: post #15

When I hear the term "Full Stack" or someone working as a "Full Stack Engineer" all I can think is someone who can hack its way through the full development stack when need be in a multitier architecture. I sometimes joke around that when a company says they need a "Full Stack Engineer", they mean they want a "Software Architect" without the title,authority and a higher salary.

The full stack applicant only needs to know a slightly wider view than what the interviewer knows, which in situations with job ads full of stereotypes and cliches isn't very much. If the ad asks for a rock star ninja full stack expert, make an arduino blink a led, draw a pix of your cat in cubist style, bring both to the interview, its all good. In those situations its usually WAY more important to have gone to the same school, and match demographically.
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