10 Essential Skills to Look for in Full-Stack Developers

The software development industry is attractive and equally competitive as you’ll find about 31,000 senior developers in Latin America. Brazil has the highest number of senior full-stack engineers in the region with 15,000 of them while Argentina comes in second with 4,000 professionals. Other Latin American countries with the highest number of full-stack developers are Mexico and Colombia with 3,500 and 3,000 experts respectively. 

As the population of junior, mid-level, and senior full-stack developers continues to rise, many recruiters are wary about the quality of professionals added to their teams. Hence, these organizations wish to know the essential skills to spot when hiring new full-stack developers. Many beginners and experienced full-stack developers also want to learn the skills needed to upskill their careers, secure a better role, and command a higher salary. 

What Skills are Crucial for Full-Stack Developers?

Today, the demand for full-stack developers is at an all-time high. The most in-demand technical positions of 2024 are full-stack developers, which accounted for 41.07% of all recruitments during this period. You’ll also find that full-stack engineer job postings have also increased by 35% over the past two years. However, the majority of the Latin American full-stack development talent is hired by companies in Texas, Illinois, New York, California, Massachusetts and Florida. 

While this role is clearly prevalent, being a full-stack developer is more than a mere job title. Full-stack development involves creating a functional and visually appealing platform that users can interact with on multiple devices. Aside from ensuring that websites and mobile applications run smoothly, they must also ensure that its servers and databases are properly managed.

To succeed as a full-stack developer, these tech professionals must be adept at front-end development (designing visible website parts) and back-end development (designing non-visible website parts). Here’s a list of full stack developer skills to succeed in mobile and web projects: 

• Front-end Programming Languages: If you wish to build a stylish, responsive front-end, you’ll need to learn the fundamentals and in-depth aspects of Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets, and JavaScript. It would also help if they knew how to navigate the features of popular frameworks, such as Angular, React and Vue.js, to enhance their front-end development. If you also have your eyes set on becoming mobile full-stack developers, you may also need to be adept in Swift because they are useful in designing iOS apps. 
• Back-end Programming Languages: To manage website databases and servers effectively, developers must be adept at back-end programming languages such as Java, Python, and C#. They must also learn to use frameworks related to each of these programming languages. For instance, Django (Python), Spring Boot (Java) and ASP.NET (C#) 
• Cybersecurity Skills: Full-stack developers must also possess cybersecurity skills to learn how to secure their websites and apps to prevent hacks and data breaches. These experts must be familiar with web security basics, such as authentication and authorization, protection against code injection attacks, and system logging and monitoring. They must also exhibit advanced cybersecurity skills including secure coding practices, HTTPS encryption, and proficiency with security tools.
• User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX): Full-stack developers must know several UI/UX principles to ensure the website and application interfaces are enjoyable and intuitive for real people. They must also learn how to assess online processes and use the feedback to improve the website or mobile application. 

Further reading: Full-Stack Developer Job Description Template and Hire Full-Stack Developers

Critical Front-End Skills for Full-Stack Developers

As mentioned earlier, front-end development focuses on writing code for the parts of the website that users can see and interact with. While it may sound relatively simple, these tasks require problem-solving skills and creativity. To excel at front-end development, full-stack professionals must be adept at the following skills: 

1. JavaScript 

While HTML and CSS can help you create a responsive website with a beautiful layout, JavaScript takes things to another level. You’d know that most fancy and interactive web features, such as infinite scroll, video players, real-time refreshing, online games, and in-page chat, are a product of JavaScript. This language is referred to as the most popular programming language worldwide and is often found on modern web browsers accessible through desktops, tablets, and phones. 

Full-stack developers must be skilled at using JavaScript because it’s useful in interacting with popular front-end tools, such as React, Angular and Vue.js. These tools are useful in creating dynamic and maintainable interfaces. 

2. HTML/CSS

To build an attractive and responsive website, you need to learn how to use HTML/CSS. Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, is the fundamental building of many websites. Created in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee in the same year the web browser was invented, this markup language has come a long way with the latest iteration known as HTML5. The purpose of HTML is to ensure that web content is organized in a format that’s readable by computers. When using HTML, developers are expected to tag the content to ensure the computer understands every piece of content. Paragraphs are tagged <p>, headlines are tagged <h1>, <h2>, or <h3>, while images are tagged <img>. 

While HTML is the fundamental building block of most websites, its work is incomplete without Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). CSS is a style sheet language that converts boring HTML text into a beautiful website. Since its discovery in 1996, CSS has been responsible for organizing each page to prevent decluttering. Like HTML, this web technology has come a long way with the latest iteration, CSS3. This technology is responsible for beautiful fonts, animations, and responsive layouts. 

3. Responsive Design

In the early days of the Internet, the World Wide Web could only be accessed on desktop devices. However, there’s a widespread proliferation of mobile devices in different parts of the world. As a result, full-stack developers need to design their platforms to fit on the screens of mobile devices, but it’s easier said than done. Responsive mobile design ensures that the website’s interface changes based on the type of device and screen size. 

Responsive design is a front-end approach that involves using a similar codebase for a website’s web and mobile experience. It relies on using media queries, fluid grids and flexible images to create web layouts that are easier to maintain because there’s only one version of the website, and it changes to fit multiple screen sizes. While Ethan Marcotte discovered responsive mobile design in 2010, this design approach is found in most modern websites.

Essential Back-End Skills for Full-Stack Developers

While much emphasis is placed on the front-end of the website, full-stack developers are equally responsible for the smooth functioning of the back-end too. The back-end of a website or mobile application is its supporting framework that ensures all actions performed are successful and equally as important as the visual layout of the platform. The following full stack engineer skills are crucial to the successful deployment of a web platform: 

4. Programming Languages 

Aside from the coding used to set up the visual layout, the successful deployment of the backend of a web platform also requires extensive knowledge of programming languages and frameworks. Here’s a list of back-end programming languages that augment full stack web developer skills; 

• Node.js enhances full-stack developer skills by enabling JavaScript usage on both client and server sides, streamlining development, improving scalability, fostering asynchronous programming, and supporting real-time applications with high performance.
• Python boasts a relatively simple syntax alongside multiple features, making it ideal for advanced programming projects. 
• PHP is an efficient and versatile programming language with several valuable features for back-end scripting. It’s compatible with multiple operating systems, including Unix, MacOS, and Windows. 
• Java is a multipurpose programming language for designing web platforms for desktop and mobile devices. Many developers also use it because of its cost-effectiveness and security. 
• Ruby is a programming language with advanced features like object orientation, straightforward code, and dynamic typing. This framework also offers different methods for resolving errors while coding. 

5. Server, Network, and Hosting Environment

A full-stack developer must possess strong back-end skills to effectively manage servers, networks, and hosting environments. These skills include understanding server configuration, load balancing, and optimizing server-side code for performance and scalability. Familiarity with database management, including proficiency in SQL and NoSQL databases, is also critical for efficient data storage and retrieval. 

Additionally, knowledge of server security practices ensures the protection of sensitive information. Furthermore, mastery of cloud services like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud ensures full-stack developers can secure the website or mobile application’s data, ensuring that these platforms are reliable, secure, and scalable across various environments. They must also be able to utilize platforms like Docker for containerization, Kubernetes for orchestration and CI/CD for automated deployment.

6. Database Management 

All websites run on a database that stores the data input into the platform. However, the type of data stored by each platform varies. For instance, an e-commerce platform will have a database of the users (buyers and sellers) and the products displayed, while a news website will store information about the users registered on it and the articles uploaded on the platform. 

Full-stack developers are in charge of a website’s database and must be able to write queries to retrieve all the necessary data when needed. To recover data from a website’s database accurately, the developer must know the current data structure and how to manipulate it. The two primary databases web platforms use are SQL (relational) and NoSQL (non-relational). An organization may choose to use either alternative depending on their needs. 

As a result, a full-stack engineer must also be proficient in data management systems like PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis and MongoDB. These professionals are expected to excel at back-end languages, such as Node.js, that support server-side JavaScript and #C deployments especially in .NET environments. Additionally, the knowledge of frameworks, such as Django, Laravel, Ruby on Rails, and Spring Boot enhance database management processes.

7. Security Skills

To ensure the security of their websites and mobile applications, full-stack engineers must take the platform’s security seriously. If platform security is overlooked, it could result in costly data breaches that can damage your organization’s reputation. Full-stack developers are expected to be vast at error handling, encryption, input validation, authentication, and implementing API security measures.

Further reading: Full-Stack Developer Salaries

Full-Stack Developer Soft Skills

Succeeding as a full-stack developer requires more than the tech skills to design websites and mobile applications. Specific soft skills are crucial to help these tech professionals navigate complex projects and deliver satisfactory results. They include: 

8. Problem-solving 

Plenty of work and effort goes into developing fully functional mobile applications and websites, and problem-solving skills are crucial to ensure the project is bug-free. Due to their solid understanding of software development and architecture, these tech professionals possess all it takes to tackle complex challenges and adopt innovative tactics to complete the project when due. 

Full-stack developers must be able to optimize platform performance, identify bottlenecks, and troubleshoot any challenges that may threaten the successful deployment of the website. They should also be able to support project scalability when necessary. The best full-stack engineers are adept with debugging tools and are adept at navigating online resources, like Stack Overflow and GitHub, to seek solutions to complex problems. 

9. Communication

When working on a full-stack project, there’s usually plenty of information to communicate. The full-stack developer is tasked with ensuring that the product manager, designer, stakeholders, and other developers are all on the same page, but it’s easier said than done. When you have to interact and relay a progress report of your project to several people, things can get messy quickly. 

For instance, you may add a feature based on the recommendation of the product designer, but major stakeholders in the project may want something different. Your code may also overlap with other developers, leading to serious problems if left unresolved. When these scenarios occur, it’s essential to find an effective way to get both disagreeing parties to agree on a common ground or risk stalling the progress of the project in question. 

To avoid time-wasting mixups, these tech professionals must be experts at effective communication methods including the use of collaborative tools like Slack, Trello or Jira to keep all parties involved in the web development on the same page. They must also know how to conduct regular standup meetings to keep track of the project while also possessing the capacity to break down complex technical jargon to non-technical stakeholders. 

10. Project Management 

Full-stack development projects are bulky and often split into many parts, which can be difficult to organize simultaneously. As a result, developers need project management skills to organize these different aspects into a fully functional unit. The full-stack developer will need to examine and research the project before creating a plan to achieve the laid-down objectives. 

To ensure that each part of the website or mobile application is designed to the highest standards, the developer may adopt a milestone system where tasks are completed one after the other. Familiarity with project management technologies, like Agile, Scrum and Kabam, make it easier to track each milestone and ensure they are completed in time. You can also use these tools to review the project’s progress and check for errors after each milestone is completed. 

Furthermore, he will review the platform’s data structure to organize each component which is no doubt a challenging task. To simplify their work, they rely on project management systems, notably Asana, Jira or Monday.com for task organization.

Specialized Skills for React Full Stack Developers

According to a 2022 Stack Overflow survey, React is the 6th most popular web framework tool. As a result, many organizations use the web framework for their activities. Hence, it’s crucial for full stack developers to possess relevant knowledge about this technology to boost their employability. 

A Detailed Insight Into React and React Frameworks

React is a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces, especially single-page applications (SPAs), where the content dynamically updates without reloading the page. Created by Facebook, React emphasizes a component-based architecture, allowing developers to break down the UI into reusable pieces of code, known as components. React’s key feature is its virtual DOM, which efficiently updates and renders the components by only applying changes to the actual DOM when necessary, improving performance.

What are the Key Features of React?

The following features ensure that React stands out from other web technology tools: 

• Component-Based Architecture: React allows developers to create reusable components that encapsulate both logic and UI. Each component manages its own state and can be nested or composed with others.
• JSX (JavaScript XML): React uses JSX, a syntax extension that looks like HTML but allows you to write JavaScript within it. This makes writing and understanding components much simpler and more intuitive.
• Virtual DOM: Instead of directly interacting with the browser’s DOM, React creates a lightweight copy of the DOM, known as the virtual DOM. React updates this virtual DOM and only changes the real DOM when there are differences, leading to more efficient rendering.
• Unidirectional Data Flow: React uses a one-way data binding, meaning that data flows from the parent component to the child components. This makes the app easier to debug and reason about.

What are the Different React Frameworks?

Now, let’s review the different react frameworks available to full stack developers to design websites and mobile applications. Full stack developers must learn the significance and usage of these frameworks to use React efficiently. They include; 

Next.js

Next.js is a popular React framework that adds server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation (SSG) to React applications. This improves SEO and performance by allowing pages to be pre-rendered on the server. It also provides routing, API handling, and automatic code splitting. This framework is useful for building dynamic websites with server-side rendering, such as e-commerce platforms, where SEO and fast initial page load times are crucial.

Gatsby

Gatsby is another React-based framework that specializes in static site generation. It’s ideal for creating highly optimized static websites and blogs. It leverages GraphQL to fetch data from multiple sources like CMSs or APIs and compiles everything into static files. Full stack developers use Gatsby to create websites and blogs, where the highest performance and scalability are necessary. Gatsby’s plugins allow seamless integration with CMSs like WordPress or Contentful.

Remix

Remix is a modern React framework that focuses on server-side rendering and simplifying the full-stack development experience. It handles data fetching and mutations better than traditional React applications, offering enhanced performance for server-rendered React apps. This framework is useful for creating full-stack applications where both the frontend and backend are closely tied together for better SEO, performance, and user experience.

React Native

Although not a web framework, React Native allows developers to build mobile applications using React. It lets you create native mobile apps for iOS and Android using the same React principles, sharing components and code between platforms. React Native is useful for mobile application development where you want to reuse code across multiple platforms (iOS and Android) without sacrificing performance.

React Admin

React Admin is a front-end framework for building data-driven applications such as admin panels and dashboards. It abstracts a lot of the complexity of connecting to APIs and handling CRUD operations, allowing developers to focus on the UI. This tool is also used to create administrative interfaces for managing large datasets or working with APIs, making it ideal for CMS backends and enterprise-level dashboards.

What’s the Significance of Hermes to Full Stack Development? 

Hermes is an open-source JavaScript engine optimized for running React Native applications. Introduced by Facebook in 2019, Hermes is designed to improve the performance of React Native apps, particularly on Android devices. Hermes achieves this by reducing memory usage, speeding up app launch times, and optimizing JavaScript execution. It is an alternative to JavaScript engines like V8 (used by Chrome) or JavaScriptCore (used by iOS). 

What are the Key Features of Hermes?

The key features of Hermes include; mobile optimization, ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation, memory efficiency, reduced binary size, and smoother app performance

One of the exciting things to note about Hermes is that it’s tailored specifically for mobile platforms, focusing on minimizing memory consumption and enhancing app responsiveness. Unlike general-purpose JavaScript engines, Hermes prioritizes the performance needs of mobile apps, which often need to run smoothly on lower-powered devices. 

Another Hermes’ standout feature is its ability to compile JavaScript code ahead of time, even before the app is run. In contrast to the just-in-time (JIT) compilation used by other engines, which compiles code during execution, Hermes compiles JavaScript into bytecode at build time. This reduces the work the engine needs to do at runtime, leading to faster startup times for React Native apps. For instance, if a React Native app has a complex user interface, Hermes can compile the JavaScript bundle into bytecode during the build process. When the app is launched, the engine can execute the precompiled bytecode, significantly reducing the initial load time.

Hermes is also designed to use memory more efficiently than other JavaScript engines. It employs strategies like compacting garbage collection and precise memory management, ensuring that apps don’t consume unnecessary memory during execution. In scenarios where mobile apps need to run on lower-end Android devices with limited memory, Hermes minimizes memory footprint, allowing the app to perform better even on constrained hardware.

The bytecode generated by Hermes is smaller compared to the typical JavaScript bundles, which reduces the app’s binary size. This not only improves startup times but also reduces the app’s overall storage requirements, a critical consideration for mobile users with limited storage. By using AOT compilation, Hermes reduces the need for runtime parsing and compiling, which leads to faster JavaScript execution times. This improvement can be seen in smoother UI interactions and better overall performance for React Native apps.

What are the Benefits of Hermes? 

Since Hermes compiles JavaScript to bytecode ahead of time, React Native apps using Hermes start faster, especially noticeable in larger applications. For mobile users, this translates into a better user experience, as apps feel more responsive and snappy. Additionally, Hermes’ memory optimizations make it ideal for applications that need to run on devices with limited memory and processing power, such as older or budget Android smartphones.

Hermes is also fully integrated with the React Native framework, making it simple for developers to enable Hermes in their projects. In fact, for Android apps, React Native enables Hermes by default for new projects. Furthermore, Herme’s binary sizes allow apps to be downloaded and installed more easily, particularly in markets where data usage and storage capacity are constrained.

For instance, social media platforms built with React Native can leverage Hermes to ensure fast load times, especially when dealing with real-time updates, dynamic feeds, and interactive UI components. Also, an e-commerce app targeting both high-end and budget devices can benefit from Hermes by ensuring quick product browsing and checkout processes without compromising performance on lower-end devices.

It’s exciting to note that Hermes is a game-changer for React Native developers aiming to improve the performance of their mobile applications, particularly on Android. By offering faster app startup times, reduced memory usage, and overall improved execution speed, Hermes enables smoother user experiences even on lower-end devices. The engine’s seamless integration with React Native makes it an essential tool for developers looking to optimize their apps for mobile performance.

Specialized Skills for Ruby on Rails Full-Stack Developers

Ruby on Rails (RoR) is a popular web development framework known for its ease of use, speed, and flexibility. A successful Ruby on Rails developer must possess a variety of specialized skills that extend beyond basic knowledge of Ruby programming. These skills enable them to build scalable, maintainable, and high-performance web applications. Here’s a list of everything that Ruby on Rails developers need to master; 

Proficiency in Ruby Language

At the core of Ruby on Rails is Ruby, an object-oriented, dynamic programming language. A Rails developer needs a strong foundation in Ruby to efficiently work with Rails. Key concepts include object-oriented programming (OOP), understanding Ruby’s syntax, blocks, modules, error handling, metaprogramming, and garbage collection. For instance, a developer working on an e-commerce platform can leverage Ruby’s OOP capabilities to build reusable and extendable classes for product models, user management, and order processing.

Deep Understanding of the Rails Framework

Asides from a proficiency in Ruby Language, a deep understanding of the Rails framework is crucial. Rails follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, which promotes separation of concerns and organized code. Developers must be skilled in setting up models (data layer), controllers (business logic), and views (user interface), as well as handling routing, migrations, and database schemas. When developing a blogging platform, a Rails developer will create models for articles, comments, and users while leveraging Rails’ ActiveRecord to handle database interactions seamlessly.

Knowledge of ActiveRecord and Database Management

ActiveRecord is the default Object Relational Mapping (ORM) system in Rails. It allows developers to interact with databases without writing SQL queries directly. Rails developers need to understand how to create and modify database schemas, write efficient queries, and optimize performance.

A developer managing a large user database can use ActiveRecord to run complex queries, such as finding all users who have not logged in for six months, without directly writing SQL. Additionally, understanding how to index columns and create database relationships ensures better performance.

API Development and RESTful Services

In the modern web development landscape, Ruby on Rails developers are expected to build APIs that enable communication between different services or client applications. RESTful (Representational State Transfer) architecture is the most common pattern for designing web services in Rails. A Rails developer must understand how to create RESTful routes, controllers, and properly format JSON responses.For instance, a developer creating an API for a mobile application can use Rails to handle user authentication, data retrieval, and data updates through RESTful routes.

Testing and Test-Driven Development (TDD)

Ruby on Rails developers should be proficient in writing tests for their code. Rails comes with built-in testing frameworks like RSpec and MiniTest, which help ensure code quality and prevent bugs from entering production. Test-driven development (TDD) is a common practice in the Rails community, where tests are written before the actual code is implemented. A full stack developer working on a payment system can write tests for edge cases, such as invalid credit card numbers or failed transactions, ensuring that the system behaves correctly under all conditions.

Version Control with Git

Collaboration is essential in software development, and version control systems like Git are crucial for managing code changes. Ruby on Rails developers should be comfortable using Git to track changes, work on different branches, and resolve merge conflicts. A Rails developer working in a team can use Git to collaborate on features, review code through pull requests, and ensure that bugs are fixed without disrupting other developers’ work.

Conclusion

Identifying the essential skills of full-stack developers is critical to building versatile, high-performing teams. From mastering front-end and back-end technologies to strong problem-solving abilities, these skills ensure developers can handle diverse challenges. By focusing on these core competencies, hiring professionals capable of driving your projects forward with innovation and efficiency will be more accessible.

Read more: Full-Stack Developer Interview Questions

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Article author

Vit Koval

Co-founder at Globy

A top Global Hiring voice on LinkedIn, co-founder of Globy, and host of Default Global. Using deep expertise in global hiring, remote work, and global business expansion to help companies excel worldwide with innovative strategies.