5 ms·

Are full-stack developers really as rare as the book says?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
flukus 10y ago
They probably are now that front end tech is churning so much. Being full stack used to be easy, now it's a mess of javascript.
hakanito 10y ago
No I think all devs has to be more or less full-stack today.. When I think about a "full-stack dev" I think about someone with T-shaped skills. Aka specialist in one area (web/backend/devops), but knows a little bit about everything. Not an expert but knows enough (or takes the time to learn) about e.g. data structures, time-complexity or even css quirks to make educated decisions and participate in engineering discussions.
- AtheistOfFail 10y ago
  > T-shaped skills Ahh, the universal sign of someone who worked around IBM.
  - gtufano 10y ago
    I was just asking myself what the T-shaped skills were...
  - rukuu001 10y ago
    No, it's a thing now. Everyone's talking T-shaped people (let alone 'comb-shaped' people)
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - aedron 10y ago
      An important step on the path towards the conjoined triangles of success.
pritambarhate 10y ago
Quality full stack developers are rare. People who understand nuances of React / Angular / Vue who also understand nuances of MongoDB / PostgreSQL who also understand nuances of AWS / Azure / Google Cloud are rare. Generally they will be storng in one and weak in another.
- ktRolster 10y ago
  I don't know many front-end devs who understand the nuances of React, Angular and Vue (especially Vue). I don't know anyone who understands the nuances of AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
k__ 10y ago
Back in the JSP/ASP/PHP days, everyone was basically a full-stack dev. Because of server side rendering and direct DB access etc. I'd guess people who have more than 5 years of experience come from that direction. So they aren't that rare. But doing just one thing is easier. When I do back end stuff, I have to think about scalability and API design, which is hard enough in it self. When I do front end stuff, I have to think about information architecture and perceived performance. I can do both, but I don't have infinite time, so I focus on the things I like the most, which is the front end :)
- bshimmin 10y ago
  A lot of the people I knew doing "full-stack" (which just wasn't a phrase back then) 5-10 years ago basically were still much stronger on one side than the other. I knew a whole bunch of guys who could build you a beautiful - for the time! - Flash site and they could store data via PHP into a MySQL database and they could deploy it on a server (and then they could send you an invoice! Seriously, totally full-stack)... but my goodness would you not want to look too hard at the PHP, because little Bobby Tables would have cried.
  - k__ 10y ago
    This is true, but doesn't help in the discussion. There are always people who are good at something and bad at something different.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

They probably are now that front end tech is churning so much. Being full stack used to be easy, now it's a mess of javascript.

hakanito 10y ago

No I think all devs has to be more or less full-stack today.. When I think about a "full-stack dev" I think about someone with T-shaped skills. Aka specialist in one area (web/backend/devops), but knows a little bit about everything. Not an expert but knows enough (or takes the time to learn) about e.g. data structures, time-complexity or even css quirks to make educated decisions and participate in engineering discussions.

AtheistOfFail 10y ago
> T-shaped skills Ahh, the universal sign of someone who worked around IBM.
- gtufano 10y ago
  I was just asking myself what the T-shaped skills were...
- rukuu001 10y ago
  No, it's a thing now. Everyone's talking T-shaped people (let alone 'comb-shaped' people)
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - aedron 10y ago
    An important step on the path towards the conjoined triangles of success.

pritambarhate 10y ago

Quality full stack developers are rare. People who understand nuances of React / Angular / Vue who also understand nuances of MongoDB / PostgreSQL who also understand nuances of AWS / Azure / Google Cloud are rare. Generally they will be storng in one and weak in another.

ktRolster 10y ago
I don't know many front-end devs who understand the nuances of React, Angular and Vue (especially Vue). I don't know anyone who understands the nuances of AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.

k__ 10y ago

Back in the JSP/ASP/PHP days, everyone was basically a full-stack dev. Because of server side rendering and direct DB access etc. I'd guess people who have more than 5 years of experience come from that direction. So they aren't that rare. But doing just one thing is easier. When I do back end stuff, I have to think about scalability and API design, which is hard enough in it self. When I do front end stuff, I have to think about information architecture and perceived performance. I can do both, but I don't have infinite time, so I focus on the things I like the most, which is the front end :)

bshimmin 10y ago
A lot of the people I knew doing "full-stack" (which just wasn't a phrase back then) 5-10 years ago basically were still much stronger on one side than the other. I knew a whole bunch of guys who could build you a beautiful - for the time! - Flash site and they could store data via PHP into a MySQL database and they could deploy it on a server (and then they could send you an invoice! Seriously, totally full-stack)... but my goodness would you not want to look too hard at the PHP, because little Bobby Tables would have cried.
- k__ 10y ago
  This is true, but doesn't help in the discussion. There are always people who are good at something and bad at something different.