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> We often hear Full Stack in the context of a complete distributed web application, but for many the stack goes down to the metal. This emulator literally boo

> We often hear Full Stack in the context of a complete distributed web application, but for many the stack goes down to the metal. This emulator literally boots up from the real BIOS of a Playstation and emulates the MIPS R3000A, a BUS to connect components, the CPU, the CD-ROM, and display. As I say probably too often, the modern usage of "full stack" basically equates to "iceberg tip".

jsingleton 7y ago
My background in Electrical Engineering has really helped me as a developer. Too often we ignore the computer in computer science. If you are unfamiliar with how you get from silicon to transistors, to logic circuits, to CPUs, then it's worth reading up on.
- bigredhdl 7y ago
  I've had the same experience. Understanding how the thing you are programming actually works can really help, at least in certain domains.
wyldfire 7y ago
>As I say probably too often, the modern usage of "full stack" basically equates to "iceberg tip". I'd never heard it prior to five or ten years ago. It's always been a pretty ambiguous term IMO. I think it may have been coined to make some genuine distinction but just how broad was it intended to mean? The question is moot because it was quickly spread to mean very different things. You need a lot of context to make a good guess what it refers to.
- nineteen999 7y ago
  I've only ever heard the term relating to web or mobile applications programming, and more often than not, where the application is cloud hosted. See the following for an example: https://hackernoon.com/6-essential-tips-on-how-to-become-a-full-stack-developer-1d10965aaead https://hackernoon.com/6-essential-tips-on-how-to-become-a-f... Important bits almost always left out: provisioning of hypervisors, network switching/trunking/routing, security, embedded on the backend, etc.
alkonaut 7y ago
"Full stack developer" is short for "Full stack web developer". Outside of web development it's rarely used. For other areas, we usually talk about "Systems programming" or "Application programming". I suppose the full stack there would be to do both?
- scarface74 7y ago
  And I hate the term there. I’ve seen too many “full stack” Microsoft developers who couldn’t troubleshoot the simplest database or IIS issues. Let alone figure out why their web app wasn’t communicating with a back end dependency. Even if they don’t have the authorization to fix it. They should at least be able to tell the ops folks what they need.
- nineteen999 7y ago
  It's just that outside web programming, very few developers/programmers I know would refer to themselves as being able to program the "full stack", presumably meaning from the ISA level up to database programming, GUI and network programming etc etc. although there are plenty of people who can do all these. Even the omission of the word "web" as you have pointed out, seems to have the smell of arrogance, as if web programming is all there is worth working on these days. But the web programming world, IMHO, is full of this kind of CV inflating jargon, lingo and buzzwords, whether it's "full stack", "Agile", "devops" etc. Obviously, there is an element of old man "get off my lawn" that I am invoking. I am almost certainly projecting here, but it still grinds me the wrong way.
pjc50 7y ago
Some copies of my CV say "full stack developer from the transistors upwards", which is partly a joke and partly a reference to actually having written everything from web applications to IC design. (Should I link my professional life to my HN account in my bio? Is that the "done thing"?)
- ljf 7y ago
  You can do - but then I found myself being discussed and doxed on a forum once, from a very uninteresting or controversial comment I'd made. So up to you...

jsingleton 7y ago

My background in Electrical Engineering has really helped me as a developer. Too often we ignore the computer in computer science. If you are unfamiliar with how you get from silicon to transistors, to logic circuits, to CPUs, then it's worth reading up on.

bigredhdl 7y ago
I've had the same experience. Understanding how the thing you are programming actually works can really help, at least in certain domains.

wyldfire 7y ago

>As I say probably too often, the modern usage of "full stack" basically equates to "iceberg tip". I'd never heard it prior to five or ten years ago. It's always been a pretty ambiguous term IMO. I think it may have been coined to make some genuine distinction but just how broad was it intended to mean? The question is moot because it was quickly spread to mean very different things. You need a lot of context to make a good guess what it refers to.

nineteen999 7y ago
I've only ever heard the term relating to web or mobile applications programming, and more often than not, where the application is cloud hosted. See the following for an example: https://hackernoon.com/6-essential-tips-on-how-to-become-a-full-stack-developer-1d10965aaead https://hackernoon.com/6-essential-tips-on-how-to-become-a-f... Important bits almost always left out: provisioning of hypervisors, network switching/trunking/routing, security, embedded on the backend, etc.

alkonaut 7y ago

"Full stack developer" is short for "Full stack web developer". Outside of web development it's rarely used. For other areas, we usually talk about "Systems programming" or "Application programming". I suppose the full stack there would be to do both?

scarface74 7y ago
And I hate the term there. I’ve seen too many “full stack” Microsoft developers who couldn’t troubleshoot the simplest database or IIS issues. Let alone figure out why their web app wasn’t communicating with a back end dependency. Even if they don’t have the authorization to fix it. They should at least be able to tell the ops folks what they need.
nineteen999 7y ago
It's just that outside web programming, very few developers/programmers I know would refer to themselves as being able to program the "full stack", presumably meaning from the ISA level up to database programming, GUI and network programming etc etc. although there are plenty of people who can do all these. Even the omission of the word "web" as you have pointed out, seems to have the smell of arrogance, as if web programming is all there is worth working on these days. But the web programming world, IMHO, is full of this kind of CV inflating jargon, lingo and buzzwords, whether it's "full stack", "Agile", "devops" etc. Obviously, there is an element of old man "get off my lawn" that I am invoking. I am almost certainly projecting here, but it still grinds me the wrong way.

pjc50 7y ago

Some copies of my CV say "full stack developer from the transistors upwards", which is partly a joke and partly a reference to actually having written everything from web applications to IC design. (Should I link my professional life to my HN account in my bio? Is that the "done thing"?)

ljf 7y ago
You can do - but then I found myself being discussed and doxed on a forum once, from a very uninteresting or controversial comment I'd made. So up to you...