Oct 9, 2020

Web Development - Full Stack & MEAN

You would have probably read somewhere on a company hiring a MEAN stack web developer or a full stack web developer, and you probably would be wondering what they are and who they are. What is the difference between a MEAN stack developer and a full stack developer? What is the meaning of this full-stack and MEAN stack web developers? Is there any difference in skills needed, and what are the salaries? Etc and many more such questions.

We'll be answering all such questions here today and hopefully we clear any doubts that you've had about them.

To understand the differences between what a full stack developer or MEAN stack developer is, we first have to know how the web is structured.

There are two majorly two important components in web development. They are:

Frontend Web Developer
Backend Web Developer

Frontend Development: Frontend development is made from everything that a user or a client can see or click on. This means that all the buttons, forms, text, alignments, images and other media. These things are usually done using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, put together with their respective libraries.

Backend Development: The second component is the backend development. This is made from everything that the server does. Backend development includes anything a user cannot see and doesn’t need to know how it is done. Backend development is completely based on logical processes and all the behind the scenes functionalities of the web applications. This stores and retrieves data and calculates results, makes the website more responsive in its own way.

These two components are entirely different because they require knowledge on various different programming languages for backend and frontend development and different database systems to store data in. These tools and techniques are the difference between the full stack nd mean developers. Let’s go ahead and know more about these.

Full Stack vs Mean Stack Developer

What is the meaning of full stack?

A full stack developer is a web developer or a web engineer who deals with both frontend and backend of a website or applications which means that they can tackle projects that involves databases, building a user-facing websites, or can even work the clients in the designing process and later on complete the projects as per their wish.

There’s no doubt that you still might be wondering who a full stack developer is? What is his job roles and responsibilities etc. Well here you can get the clarity. Here is the list of skills required for someone to be considered as a full stack developer:

Thorough knowledge in languages such as HTML, CSS and Javascript.
Specialisation and knowledge in at least one backend language like Ruby, PHP Python etc.
Project management, visual design, UI/UX knowledge however this is optional though.

In today’s world, a lot of employers are looking for developers who know how to work on both frontend and backend of a website or an application which simply means full-stack development. The main reason for this is that if an employee has knowledge in these then they can be used for different designations in the company. We will look into the responsibilities, requirements, roles and salaries of a full stack developer.

Full Stack Developer - Skills, responsibilities, requirements

Now a days, companies are looking for a highly skilled computer programmers who are comfortable with both frontend and backend programming skills. It is the duty of the full stack web developers to see through the project from its concept phase to the finishes product and for the product to be ready, it requires full attention to detail and also have an excellent organisational skills.

Responsibilities:

Developing frontend website design.
Designing a user interactions on web pages.
Making a website more interactive using all the backend applications.
Store all the data by creating suitable servers and databases for proper functionality.
Designing a website in such a way keeping in mind the mobile-first view.
Designing and developing APIs.
Meeting upto the technical and consumer needs.

Skills/Requirements:

Proficiency in fundamental front-end languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Great knowledge in JavaScript frameworks such as Angular JS, React and Amber etc.
Proficiency with server-side languages such as Python, Ruby, Java, PHP and .Net.
Familiarity with database technology such as MySQL, Oracle, and MongoDB.
Other basic skills such as good verbal communication skill, problem solving skills, attention to minor details, etc.

What is a MEAN Stack developer?

The MEAN stack developers are those who have knowledge in only some particular areas alone such as MongoDB, Express JS, Angular JA, Node JS. In other words, they are the one who developed the process that are JS based application.

MEAN Stack is a set of technologies that can be used to make a full-stack application.

M in MEAN stands for MongoDB
E in MEAN stands for Express
A in MEAN stands for Angular which I s a frontend framework
N in MEAN stands for Node, a backend framework

The scalability and the fact that the MEAN stack developers use only JavaScript, it stands as the two advantages of MEAN stack. Since most of them use JavaScript, a good MEAN stack developer is required to have an extremely good knowledge in JS.

Primary function of MEAN stack technologies:

Angular JS: This requests and display results to the end users.
NodeJS: Handles requests from the clients and the servers.
ExpressJS: This itself makes requests to the Database and returns the response obtained.
MongoDB: Stores and retrieves the data.

To make it more complete and understand better, a MEAN stack developer is a developer who only uses a certain set of technologies to create a Full Stack application.

Skills required for a MEAN Stack Developer:

A MEAN stack developer should be able to contribute individually.
Thorough knowledge and expertise in complete MEAN, Node js, Mongo DB, Angular js and Express js.
Expertise in other languages such as: PHP, jQuery, MySQL, Symfony, OOPS.
Server Management experience and AWS knowledge is mandatory.
Should be able to manage and lead a team of developers.

Conclusion:

As per various research and talks by industry experts, it is quite understandable that this field will pick up in the near future at a rapid pace and gain a never seen demand. The demand for a Full Stack web developers and MEAN stack developers and other related developers will be sky-high.

Full Stack developer and a MEAN Stack developer has its own importance in its own way. Full Stack developer and a MEAN stack development is like having a key which can help you open any door of a house i.e., you will be able to work on both frontend and backend development. Full Stack developers use all the tools and on the other hand, MEAN stack developers uses certain technologies and creates a Full Stack application.