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All You Need to Know When Hiring Full Stack Developers

MODIFIED ON: November 29, 2022 / ALIGNMINDS TECHNOLOGIES / 0 COMMENTS

The demand for hiring full stack developers is rising every day.

In LinkedIn top emerging jobs of 2020, full stack developer is featured in the 4th position. The role of full stack developers has grown 35 percent every year, compared to 2015.

Many companies are now viewing full stack developers as a critical asset for the company’s core operations. Such companies include software developers, IT and related services, and financial services.

Full stack developers can write both front and back-end code. They know how to create a minimal viable product with little to no support from others. Hiring Full Stack developers can provide a high-level specialty in a variety of technologies. Hiring a full stack developer instead of hiring a team of developers helps you save investment, managerial cost and other indirect costs like benefits and taxes.

What is a full stack software developer?

There is a general disagreement over the definition of full stack. It is somewhat a controversial subject in the technological field. Various organizations have different definition for who is a full stack developer and what kind of skills they should possess.

But all the definitions have something in common.

As per general sentiment, a full stack software developer is someone who knows how to create a fully functioning web application, and their knowledge of both the back end and front end is valuable to the organization. One of the best qualities of full stack developers is the amount of help they need from outside, which is very little.

This is because generally applications would have two major components; back end and front end (also called server side and client side).

While it is the backend that “powers” the applications, it is the front end that helps users to interact with an application. Since the approach, methodologies and technologies varies from front end to back end, their developments parts are assigned to different teams who are experts in their own fields (front end or back end). As a result, a single application would need at least two developers hypothetically.

But, if the same company hires a full stack developer, it can save up cost on human resources since a full stack developer would be an expert in both front end and back-end development.

MEAN stack developer vs. Full stack developer

A MEAN stack developer is someone who has knowledge in a specific technology. The term MEAN in MEAN stack developers refers to MongoDB, Expressjs, AngularJs, NodeJS.

Since these technologies are based on JavaScript a good MEAN stack developer should have extensive JS knowledge. Using these technologies together, a MEAN stack developer can develop a full stack application just like full stack developers. However, the knowledge and exposure of a MEAN stack developer will be limited to these four technologies unlike a full stack developer.

Similarities between MEAN stack and full stack developers

Both MEAN stack developers and full stack developers can create full stack applications. Both will be able to tackle client side and server-side development using their own knowledge and expertise.

Differences between MEAN stack and full stack developers

Area of expertise

A MEAN stack developer and full stack developer will have different set of expertise.

A MEAN stack developer will have knowledge on MongoDB, Expressjs, AngularJS, and Node.js.

Whereas a full stack developer will be an expert on technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Angular JS, PHP, ASP, Python, Node.js, and databases such as MySQL, SQLite or MongoDB, etc.

Framework

A MEAN stack developer uses AngularJS to accept requests and display results to end-user. They use NodeJS to handle client and server requests.

On the other hand, a full stack developer may be using HTML and CSS to power the front end and PHP to power the backend.

Database

Mean stack developers use MongoDB to store data. A full stack developer may use SQL MySQL, or Oracle, etc. to store data.

Scalability and flexibility

MEAN stack development is limited in a sense that it leverages only JavaScript based technologies. So, scalability becomes an issue since to upgrade an application, we must totally depend on JavaScript based frameworks.

On the other hand, full stack development offers better scalability and more flexibility as the developers will have the options to choose from several frameworks.

Popularity

MEAN stack development is less popular compared to full stack development. It is mainly due to the limited flexibility and scalability offered by MEAN stack.

Pros and cons of hiring full stack developers

At first, we will go through all the pros of hiring a full stack engineer.

Pros of hiring full stack developers

Scope of development

A full stack developer can take care of client side and server-side development. Since he has knowledge of both the front end and back end, the application will be simple, less buggy and offer better experience.

Range of skills

A full stack developer will have a variety of skills under his belt. It is mainly due to what the position demands in terms of technology expertise and product planning. Since the same person will be responsible for both front end and back end, he must have variety of skills to complete the application and have a better understanding of the user case and development roadmap to avoid development conflict.

Experience

Full stack software engineers are well versed in multiple phases of software development, covering fields such as front end, back end, testing, QA, and coding. The knowledge in all the areas comes over time, and full stack developers have the experience under their belt, making them more appealing to the companies. They can use the occasion to face challenges quicker without any hesitation.

Framework

Since full stack web developers know multiple technological stacks, they can be put to work on several frameworks instead of hiring different developers for different frameworks.

Cost

Since a good full stack developer can take care of front end and back-end development and even unit testing, hiring them over technology experts are more economical for companies. Hiring full stack developers helps companies to save up cost on infrastructure investment, office space, taxes and benefits and on managerial tasks since the size of the companies can be kept small.

Performance

Hiring Full stack engineers ensures better performance since the responsibilities are well defined. There is less dependability between team members and the complexities due to misunderstanding and lack of teamwork is also less. The project progress can be easily monitored and the performance to progress ratio can be calculated more easily.

Trouble solver

Experienced full stack engineers will adapt to the changes at any stages of the project development. They can easily identify problems and easily overcome them due to their familiarity with different development stacks and programming methodologies. So, by hiring full stack developers, companies can mitigate uncertainty and incorporate more flexibility to their development process.

Cons of hiring Full stack developers

Keeping up with technologies

Full stack engineers have expertise in multiple technologies. However, it become a hassle to be kept updated on all these technologies due to the rapid advancement happening in the software development industry.

Less performance

Being a jack of all trades comes with its disadvantages. A developer who works or specializes in a single technology or platform will perform better than a developer who doesn’t spend too much time on a single stack. Full stack developers have a large area of expertise to justify their profile. Still, a developer who has experience in only one specific field will have better output than a full stack developer.

Switching languages

Suppose a project demands the developer to work with multiple languages. It can be cumbersome for the full stack engineer, as they will constantly have to change the programming language on the fly. They can change the field, but they will need some time to brush up on the small things to get a grip on the language.

Transitioning between programming languages can slow down the process; hiring a specific individual who knows their way around one language will help smooth the transition from one language to another faster, requiring hiring another developer to fasten the process.

Types of Full stack developers

Having expertise in various programming languages makes full stack engineers heavy-on-demand in the market. But the demand and supply vary depending on what type of full stack developer you are looking for. Depending on the use case, we can categories full stack developers into different groups.

Full stack web developer

A full stack web developer is someone who can develop the front end and back end for a web application. The person will be an expert in web related stacks such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, Vue, PHP, ASP, Python, Node, SQL, SQLite, or MongoDB.

Full stack Android developer

If you’re planning to develop a mobile app for the Android platform, a full stack android developer will help you complete the project. Android development focuses on Java, React, Python, HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

Full stack Python developer

A full stack python developer has the expertise in the python suite of language to develop various applications. Python is become popular day by day and a lot of AI and data science related applications are made using Pythons.

Full stack Java developer

Most mobile apps and computer software heavily depend on the Java programming language. Java is a popular server-side programming language for AI development. It is also the native programming language for the Android platform. A full stack Java developer will be able to write codes in Java and help you with developing applications for different use cases. 

Full stack JavaScript developer

A full stack JavaScript developer can use programming languages such as JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, or Vue to program the front end and then use languages such as Node.js to create the server side.

When it comes to JavaScript full stack development, you have several options such as you can hire a MEAN stack developer (MongoDB, Express, Angular and Node.js), MERN stack developer (MongoDB, Express, React, and Node.js) or MEVN stack developer (MongoDB, Express, VueJS and Node.js).

Full stack cloud developer

Full stack cloud developers uses HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Node.js, React, Python etc. to developer cloud applications. He is most likely to be familiar with DevOps practices, containerization, microservices etc. A good full stack cloud developer uses various Cloud Native tools and technologies to develop, deploy, run, and update applications on cloud platforms.

Full stack PHP developer

PHP alone can’t be used to develop full stack application. It must be used with front end languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, or Vue etc. to create a complete application. A full stack developer can also use Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) to accomplish this task.

Full stack mobile developer

A full stack mobile developer uses several programming languages such as Swift, ObjectiveC, Java, Kotlin, Node, JavaScript, TypeScript etc. They also use software like Android Studio, XCode, Ionic and APIs to complete the development.

Full stack AI developer

A full stack AI developer has extensive knowledge of various technologies related to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Programming languages such as Python, Java, Nodejs, etc., will come in very handy, connecting the machine learning model.

How to hire a full stack software developer?

It has more to do with the qualities than anything else. A full stack software engineer must have an interest or passion for new things, and they should understand different technologies and their best-case scenarios. Their decision-making abilities will also come into play as they must develop complete applications for different use cases and industries.

Depending on nature of employment, we can divide full stack developers to below categories.

Freelance full stack developer

A freelance full stack developer is someone who is self-employed. She creates applications for different clients and get paid based on hours worked, tasks completed, or projects finished. The scope of work, estimate, roadmap, and delivery terms are usually finalized before starting the project.

Pros of hiring freelance full stack developer

  • Low investment: You don’t have to invest on infrastructure, tools, and training
  • Fixed pay: Pay only the negotiated amount
  • Flexibility: You can hire multiple developers to shorten the development time. You can also terminate the agreement once the tasks are completed.
  • Large pool: Freelance full stack developers are available globally making it easier to hire them.

Cons hiring freelance full stack developer

  • Limited scope: The resource may not be available once the project is completed.
  • Compatibility: Not the right choice for huge projects.
  • Hard to find a quality developer
  • They will not share the same enthusiasm for the project as the organization.

Hiring in house/full-time developer

A full-time developer is someone who works at a specific role permanently for the company. Along with salary, she also gets other benefits and allowances that is borne by the employer.

Pros of hiring in house full stack developer

  • They are more likely tool invest time and effort in your idea and work for a better product to ensure a permanent role and better appraisal.
  • Less likely to bail out
  • Act as a long-term player
  • Availability

Cons of hiring in house full stack developer

  • Tiresome hiring process
  • Limited pool of talent if you are hiring locally
  • The time it will take to find the right developers
  • A lot of indirect cost related to hiring and maintaining talent
  • Difficult to upsize and downsize the team
  • You must invest on infrastructure and tools

Outsourcing full stack development

Outsourcing full stack development is the act of hiring an outside party, preferability an agency, to perform the development of an application.

Pros of outsourcing full stack development

  • Saving money. Outsourcing always leads to a cheaper method to get the work done for a quarter of the cost or less compared to hiring a permanent team.
  • Short-term commitment.
  • Away from office noise can help them to work better.
  • Access to expert talent pool
  • No need to invest on infrastructure
  • No indirect cost involved

Cons of outsourcing full stack development

  • Quality may dwindle
  • Trouble in communication can hinder the performance
  • Sometimes it is harder to monitor the progress of the project
  • The outsourcing agency may be working on other projects at the same time

Outstaffing full stack development

Outstaffing full stack development is the act of hiring remote developers to take up the development. Usually, organizations approach outstaffing agencies to outstaff the work. Such agencies will already have a pool of pre-vetted developers with them. The salary and benefits are paid by the agency to the developers and the organization must make a one time or task-based payment to the agency.

Pros of outstaffing full stack development

  • Work can get done at a faster rate
  • The outstaffing agency will be responsible for the quality of the final product
  • Training is provided by the agency
  • Pre vetted developers means you are getting the right person for the role
  • No indirect costs
  • Affordable
  • Easy to monitor the progress of the progress
  • You get dedicated resources

Cons of outstaffing full stack development

  • Miscommunication
  • Adding remote employees may slow down your team
  • It will take time for the developer to fully understand the project

Conclusion

The demand for full stack developers is on rise due to companies seeking an all-in-one solution for their software development requirement. Instead of hiring individual developers for different roles, companies are hiring people with variety of skills and knowledge to take up multiple roles.

AlignMinds has a wide pool of expert full stack developers. We make sure that all our developers have the right expertise, have high exposure to industry standards and ensure best outcomes for simple to complex projects.  If you are looking for pre-vetted full stack developers for your next project, contact us now.

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