Do you want your boss's job? Learn to work like a full-stack developer first

It's as though everyone in tech is on the hunt for a full-stack developer! It all began with Facebook wanting to hire only full-stack developers a couple of years ago, and now this persona is on the verge of becoming a 'prized possession' that all technology companies want to have.

In the last decade, the wave of agile methodology (scrum, Kanban, etc.) revolutionised the traditional software development methodology. The earlier phase-based approach or 'waterfall model' started graduating towards a more optimised model which warranted regular communication between all teams working on the solution and followed an 'iterative' development cycle to manage changing business needs. Add to this the 'start-up' revolution that required companies (big and small) to substantially reduce the 'time-to-market' for products and solutions, and the stage was set for a full-stack developer.

Juggling both speed and quality required a technologist having the breadth and depth of knowledge as well as an end-to-end awareness, right from the business need to user experience and everything in between. As team sizes began to decline, the go-to guy became a master of one technology who was familiar enough with other aspects; system administration, front-end and back-end technologies, web/mobile development tools, UI/UX and testing to be able to lead a team to deliver solutions from ideation to execution.


The best way to begin acting like a full-stack developer is to create something of your own. (Image: Getty)

Today, avenues for employability of full-stack developers are flying off the charts. Everyone is clamouring to do what it takes to don the hat of a full-stack developer; and the ones who are not, are in a dilemma about where their career is headed.

Let's look at it this way. Are you ready to become a full-stack developer?

Be a Master of One: In your haste to master as many languages and technologies as possible in the shortest possible time, don't lose focus on your 'core' expertise. Be a 'true master' of one technology and gradually familiarise yourself with high-level concepts of the others. The goal is not to be able to single-handedly design and develop the entire solution, but to know enough to guide team members in the right direction.

Have a passion for learning: As technologies evolve at a rapid pace, the 'in' thing today may get obsolete a year or two later. Add to this, the fact that we are talking about almost the entire gamut of technologies that exist, your ambition to become a full-stack developer, is primarily driven by your desire to learn and explore anything new that comes up.

Start with your favourite stack: There is no 'one' stack that fits all business requirements. Your best bet is to leverage your current knowledge and work with a stack you are at most ease with. A few projects, months, trials and errors down the road, you will eventually discover what works best for you.

Get your hands dirty: The best way to begin acting like a full-stack developer is to create something of your own. It could be something as simple as hosting your own website. The point is that you try to understand the nuances across all the stages of development, right from look and feel, hosting to testing for code bugs. Network with similar souls: And finally remember that you are not the only one in this dilemma. Take active interest in becoming a member of relevant online forums, connecting on professional platforms and joining meetups to meet like-minded individuals. From which technology stacks to adopt for specific projects to common mistakes to be avoided, you will only stand to gain from these interactions.

With devOps and cloud integration being adopted as key components of software solution delivery, the importance of the full stack developer is bound to increase. However, this by no means implies that specialists will not be wanted anymore. My advice is weigh the pros and cons, analyse opportunities and choose what suits you best.

Rightly said by Buddha, "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."