this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2024
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If someone were to call you a "full stack" developer, would that feel like a complement or an insult? (lemmy.sdf.org)
submitted 5 months ago by xia@lemmy.sdf.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
29 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I know managers love that term, but I think I've come to hear it as an insult... Sorta like being called an unprofessional "jack of all trades" budget handyman that does everything mediocre...

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[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 29 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Nah, code is code. I've done a good chunk up and down the stack. DB specs, angular, no SQL, sql, react, jQuery, c#, node, infra, k8s, pho, java, blah blah blah

Fact of the matter is if you really want to be marketable you have to learn everything thrown at you, and usually fast. I say my number one skill is being able to pick up new tech, and recognizing where I need to learn more.

Not trying to sound arrogant, there is a ton I don't know, but to be employable now as an engineer you pretty much have to say yes when they ask if you know something, or prove you can learn it.

I was rejected for one job because I hadn't learned python fully.

Oh yeah but I can pick it up, probably before starting. I've done C++, C#, NodeJS, Go, Ruby, what's another language haha

" Sorry we really need someone who can code in python"

:| k well bye, guess it's just impossible to fathom that I could learn yet another scripting backend language. 15 years into my career I'm pretty sure I can just go learn another language now. If you bothered to test my skills at all you'd see in qualified, but sure. I learned it anyway just to spite them.

[–] CodingCarpenter@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Many languages today share so many common roots that if you know one you know enough of the others to get the ball rolling. I went from strictly front end to suddenly working in Python and PHP and similar languages. If you know the basics you know enough

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 2 points 5 months ago

it's very rare that I learn something that I can't pull some knowledge from somewhere else. I think moving to frontend was the largest leap as a whole, just that I'm not coding purely for efficiency and that things are reactive, where on servers most times you want to not be reactive. (Oversimplification). Overall yeah, code is code, every language and framework has it's quirks, but learning your first one is the hardest, second one is the biggest one that you realize how languages differ, and then after that it just gets easier. I haven't learned Go though... should probably do that at some point

[–] walter_wiggles@lemmy.nz 27 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If the salary is right, you can call me whatever you want.

[–] neidu2@feddit.nl 22 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Not an insult, just.... highly inaccurate. I can do everything from hardware, via databases, to coding against said databases. But for your sake, I hope you're not looking for UX/UI beyond (ab)using STDIO.

EDIT: What I cannot do is spelling, it seems.

[–] i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca 21 points 5 months ago

My company has everything, but the titles are usually self-assigned.

Back end developers tend to write weird front end code, so their front end PRs usually need extra scrutiny.

Front end developers tend to write careless back end code, so their back end PRs usually need extra scrutiny.

I am a full stack developer, so all of my PRs need extra scrutiny.

[–] dragnucs@lemmy.ml 10 points 5 months ago (3 children)

That is a compliment. The separation of front end developer and back end developer is obsolete and untrue. Either you are a developer or not. If you work on web, then you must, now or in the future, know how web browsers work, how APIs work, how to write and consume them, etc. The browser is just an API we consume from JS. There are many others.

[–] cdipierr 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I'm not going to write .Net, you can't make me do it. I'm not going to write Python, you can't make me do it.

Is your backend Node?!? Let's go baby, I'm a full stack dev.

[–] dragnucs@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 months ago

Node and JS is just an example of how easy it is to write code for the back and front ends. You may employ as much langues as you want like PHP, Java, Rust, Python or even Elixir. Does not matter.

[–] Cratermaker@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 5 months ago

If you're not being sarcastic, why limit yourself to only one thing? If you're working on some amazing UI with tons of CSS animations and a full audiovisual experience, and it takes intimate knowledge of everything frontend, I guess it would make sense. But if you're just making internal CRUD apps, I don't see a reason why a given domain is special enough to have its own job title.

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 months ago

100% agree. Programming is programming, and these divisions are arbitrary and restrictive.

It'd be like if someone wanted to learn a language, but refused to learn vocabulary about an important topic.

[–] howrar@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 months ago

I agree that back end dev and front end JS are pretty much the same skillset, but HTML and CSS (especially so if you include design and UX) are very different and not something I would expect any dev to be able to pick up easily.

[–] Ilflish@lemm.ee 7 points 5 months ago

I think it depends on the context. Calling me a full stack is an acknowledgement that I can work on every step of the system and usually every part of the system. I don't consider it to mean equally good.

However if it keeps getting brought up when I am not supposed to be working on those other steps, that signals to me that maybe they are trying to push more work into me that I shouldn't be do.

I can appreciate that when someone says "Our X Expert". It definitely feels like more praise and more value.

[–] chahk 6 points 5 months ago

"Are you a full stack developer?"

"No, I specialize in ..."

[–] Cratermaker@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I think it's a complement. We're not in the dark ages anymore where you had to be intimately familiar with each target platform and have different people who each know everything about their little part of the stack. Nowadays it's feasible for one person to be productive in devops, database, backend, frontend, etc. because so many people have gone to great effort to get us there. I personally get a lot of enjoyment out of being able to stand up an app by myself without necessarily needing to work with six other teams. That way we can have an actual vision for an overall user experience rather than getting caught up in compatibilities and discussions of ever changing best practices.

[–] bloodfart@lemmy.ml 5 points 5 months ago

Repeat after me: full stack of deez nuts!

[–] Unmapped@lemmy.ml 5 points 5 months ago

As a new dev who is still working on a "full-stack web dev" course. I would definitely take it as a compliment.

[–] fubarx@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 months ago

Times have changed.

In the olden days, being 'full-stack' also involved memorizing resistor band colors and huffing solder fumes.

Kids these days.

[–] urist@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 5 months ago

I’m an hourly customer service worker going to college part time as a statistician, so mostly I’d just be concerned at what sort of operation this person is running but accept the promotion.

[–] redcalcium@lemmy.institute 4 points 5 months ago

I think every programmer should know how to write frontend and backend code, and how to deploy their code. Sure, everyone has their own specialization and things they like to do, but that doesn't mean they should be ignorant of all aspects of software development.

[–] amio@kbin.social 3 points 5 months ago

I'd assume they were trying to pimp me to some buzzwordoholic. I don't see any reasonable interpretation of it that's insulting, though.

Having it be (perceived as) the norm is absolutely stupid - but the issue is with ignorant management and recruiters, not people who get into entire stacks honestly for fun or profit.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 2 points 5 months ago

It’s kind of meaningless - there’s only really development. If I was being brutally honest I do think a bit less of people who only work inside their one little niche of software, particularly if is just something like react, Salesforce or a CMS.

[–] Artyom@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

I would assume you were misinformed and promptly point you to my previous JavaScript projects to dissuade you of such illusions.

[–] belated_frog_pants 2 points 5 months ago

"Full stack" is a way to devalue front end work.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago

Neither