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What does a full stack developer mean?

The term full stack refers to a developer who is able to work on both the back end and the front end. He can help a team understand all the stages of an agile project thanks to the plurality of his skills, as well as work himself on all the aspects of a site or an application. Concretely, a full stack developer can manage the entire creation and maintenance of a website or an application.

When you apply for full stack developer jobs, the recruiter must specify in the job title the language required. Otherwise, you will have to find it in the offer.

We often speak of a Java full stack developer: it is a developer who masters the Java language and who is also able to act on the front end, especially by handling development platforms (or frameworks), such as Angular or VueJS.

What is the difference between front end and back end?

Every website has a front end and a back end development. The front end acts on all the visible aspect of the website, what the user can interact with directly, that is the interface. The back end is what includes the structure of the site and all the manipulations related to the databases and the server, that is to say the invisible background for the user.

Thus, a full stack developer knows how to intervene at all these stages! The word “stack” perfectly illustrates the versatility that the full stack developer must show in his job.

What does a full stack developer do?

Creating a website, software or application from scratch, performing regular maintenance on them, coding and developing, doing code review... The tasks of a full stack developer are varied and numerous.

They can include, among others:

• Code, development, content integration;
• Analysis and development of software products;
• Test automation;
• Improvement of written code and coverage of unit tests to avoid technical and functional errors as much as possible;
• Analysis and solution of problems encountered;
• Creation and maintenance of databases underlying the product;
• Quick correction of bugs reported by customers or users;
• Unitarily tests and functionally tests to verify the modifications that are added along the way.

The full stack developer, if he can design by himself an application, a website or a software, must most of the time interact in a team within the scope of a project. We often talk about agile projects. Thus, he may have to interact with:

• A product owner (commonly nicknamed PO);
• A scrum master;
• An SEO expert;
• A software tester.

Full stack developer skills

A full stack developer is a real Swiss Army Knife, and must demonstrate a wide range of skills. We already expect him to be able to adapt to the numerous tasks required, to be rigorous in order to complete them in time and above all to love the field of technology. Because without a minimum of interest in the field, it can be complicated to survive in the business!

• Often, mastering the Java language is highly valued, as well as knowledge of the associated frameworks - that is to say, databases that are ready to be used.
• Knowing how to manage a database: the SQL language, for example, or Oracle, MongoDB, etc.
• Mastering the Git management software is often required. Indeed, Git is a decentralized control system, which allows you to keep a history of any changes made to the project.
• Resilience and good communication skills: a full stack developer often depends on a team, and must at least adapt to the restrictions and specifications of the customer or the hierarchy.
• Liking to solve problems and having an analytical mind.
• It is a job where it is very important to keep an eye on the latest developments in the field, the tools that are currently available and the modifications.

How to become a full stack web developer?

Ideally, you should have a university degree, or at least a college education. In fact, most developers in Quebec have at least a DCS.

You can actually still stand out even without a degree, because the developer profession requires mostly up-to-date skills.

It will always depend on the recruiter and the hiring company, but IT is a field where you can be noticed by your work more than by your diplomas. Thus, a developer can attach to his CV a portfolio with achievements of websites, applications, and present his previous projects in order to justify his knowledge acquired on the job, provided they are up to date.

Full stack developer's salary

Count on a median salary of $72,000 per year in Canada. The average salary for a full stack developer in Montreal is estimated at $80,000. And if we crosscheck the figures between junior and senior profiles, we estimate between $55,000 and $75,000 for a junior against $95,000 to $125,000 for a senior profile.

Full-stack developers often have a junior profile, and few are more experienced. How much full stack web developers make really depends on the profile!

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