{"id":2499,"date":"2023-02-07T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theforage.wpengine.com\/?p=2499"},"modified":"2024-08-01T10:19:34","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T14:19:34","slug":"full-stack-engineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theforage.wpengine.com\/careers\/full-stack-engineer","title":{"rendered":"What Is a Full-Stack Engineer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Full-stack engineers are the renaissance people of software engineering<\/a>. They do it all, from working with clients to understand their vision of software, to developing on the back end, to testing and releasing the software. So if you\u2019re interested in being a software engineer<\/a> who works on a broad spectrum of tasks and types of work, becoming a full-stack engineer might be right for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is a full-stack engineer, what do they do, and how do you become one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definition of Full-Stack Engineer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A full-stack engineer is a type of software engineer who works on both the front and back end of software. This means they\u2019re concerned with both what users see (the front end) and the parts of the software that make that user-side view possible (the back end).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFull-stack developers are crucial players in building amazing software applications,\u201d says Dario Zadro, owner and web developer of Zadro Web and full-stack developer with over 20 years of experience. \u201cThey have expertise in a wide range of technologies and can work on the design and functionality of a website or app.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Stack Overflow\u2019s 2023 Developer Study<\/a>, about a third of respondents identified themselves as full-stack engineers, the most popular position in the study, followed by back-end (about 18%) and front-end (about 6%) engineers. Before the internet was invented, every software engineer was full-stack, according to Tech Crunch<\/a>. However, as technology developed and became more complex, there was a need for more specialization \u2014 and more software engineers began to narrow in on specific parts of the software development process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full-Stack Engineer vs. Software Engineer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Full-stack engineering is a subset of software engineering. This means that all full-stack engineers are software engineers, but not all software engineers are full-stack engineers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main difference between a full-stack engineer versus a software engineer is what part of the software they work on. A full-stack engineer works on multiple parts of the software, while software engineers might work on just one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard this often described as breadth vs. depth of skills,\u201d Kathy Zhou, CTO and technical co-founder of Queenly, a search engine for formalwear, says. \u201cDomain-specific engineers have the depth of knowledge to understand a specific programming language or framework at a more granular level of architectural or field-specific knowledge. A full-stack engineer is often described as a \u2018generalist\u2019 and can dive into newer tech stacks, but might not have the years and years of experience working deep in one specific tech stack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A full-stack engineer is focused on the entire software development process and is skilled across different software parts. However, this means they\u2019re not often a master of one part of the software, like a front-end engineer<\/a> is with the user side or a security engineer<\/a> is with the software\u2019s cybersecurity<\/a> solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

>>MORE: <\/strong>Types of Software Engineers (and How to Know Which One\u2019s Right for You)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full-Stack Engineer vs. Full-Stack Developer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What’s the difference between a full-stack engineer and a full-stack developer? Sometimes, there’s no difference at all. Many people in the tech world use these terms interchangeably; even people within the same company might use the different terms to mean the same thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

>>MORE: <\/strong>Software Developer vs. Software Engineer: What\u2019s the Difference?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both full-stack engineers and full-stack developers work on both front-end and back-end development. When there is a distinction, full-stack engineers may focus more on the engineering side of the software, specifically the architectural and infrastructure aspects of web development. Full-stack developers may focus on skills beyond coding, like UX design<\/a>, project management<\/a>, and system administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re unsure if a specific role is using the terms interchangeably or specifically, take a look at the job responsibilities and skills to understand if the role focuses more on engineering or general web development<\/a> skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does a Full-Stack Engineer Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A full-stack engineer\u2019s job is to work on both the front and back ends of software and how those parts communicate. Some of their everyday tasks might include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n