User:Berniemonette/Full stack web developer
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Full Stack Web Developer
The "stacks" for this term come from the backend and the front end of a Web site. The backend is the database, the server, and the code that joins the two. For example we would see the use of MySQL as the database, Apache as the server and PHP as the code that joins them. Since this group of software usually resides on the Linux operating system this has been called the LAMP stack. On the front end we would typically see HTML, CSS, and Javascript as the main coding technologies that creates the "page" the visitor to the Web site would see.
Source of the term "full stack"[edit]
This may be apocryphal but within the Web Development world the source of the term "full stack" came from an article by Carlos Bueno on Facebook called "The Full Stack Part 1" [1]. He talks about the full stack developer as a "generalist" and because of that broad way of seeing the application can "see" how the application works along the stack. He also makes a reference to another article on forge38.com which is no longer available. He goes on to explain: " People who develop broad skills also tend to develop a good mental model of how different layers of a system behave. This turns out to be especially valuable for performance & optimization work. No one can know everything about everything, but you should be able to visualize what happens up and down the stack as an application does its thing."[2]. This is a reasonable way of thinking about the stacks. A developer should be able to visualize how the data moves from one end to the other and provides something useful to the user. One thing to keep in mind is that the stacks are joined and are not separate.
The demise of Flash and the rise of Javascript[edit]
Where this becomes important for Web Development is the demise of the Flash as a means of building Web interactions. Flash used vector graphics and a scripting language, called Actionscript, to create interactions. The downside of Flash was it required a browser plugin in order to work. This situation worked well for a number of years to the point that Adobe bought Macromedia the company that made Flash. At the time this was seen as Adobe becoming one of the most powerful and distributed software companies in the world since it owned PDF and now Flash. [3]. The situation remained stable for a while - Flash was an integral component in many Web sites (Youtube for example used Flash video almost exclusively until January 2015 [4]). Then in April 2010 Steve Jobs penned his article "Thoughts on Flash"[5] where he explained why Apple no longer supported Flash for many reasons and concluded: "Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short...New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind."[6].
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