It is a prospective and good-paid career for today. Web programming languages are intended to deal with Internet technologies. How long does it take to learn web development?
Developers have tools and knowledge to create websites from the start. Many businesses and companies need web development for different purposes. Knowing how to create a website opens up a world of opportunity for you. It is an ability to work from the office or from other comfortable places all over the world.
- Front-end developers are responsible for the parts of a website that people see and interact with;
- Back-end developers are responsible for the behind the scenes code that controls how a website loads and runs;
- Full-stack developers do a bit of everything.
My name is Sergei Yakzhyk, I’m a middle full-stack developer at SolveIt. I would tell you a story about my journey as a full-stack developer from the beginning.
What is a Full-Stack Developer?
First, we need to explain what a full-stack developer is. A full-stack developer is a developer who is directly involved in all stages of web application development — from the creation of the client side (visual part + UX) to the implementation of the server side (databases, server architecture, program logic).
Advantages of Full-stack Developer profession:
- The ability to run an entire project yourself;
- High speed of development, the ability to make your own decisions, minimal time wasted on unnecessary communication;
- The ease of finding a freelance job;
- Great career opportunities.
Disadvantages of Full-stack Developer profession:
- Lots of time to study;
- It’s hard to follow new trends;
- Too much responsibility;
- Challenging tasks;
- Large workload.
How and why I started to do it
Four years ago I finished the Epam course, which lasted 5 months. It was a really good course: we dealt with a lot of real projects, we practiced and we were given a lot of materials to study on our own. Also, I had experience in working with a team and with passing interviews.
After that I learned by myself and I got a three-month internship at a outsource IT company. The company gave me feedback about my knowledge and great advice on how I can grow as a full-stack developer. I had my first job after this internship.
Challenges I encountered:
- to delve into new technologies;
- it takes time to learn and understand hard skills;
- to keep a lot of small details in your mind.
How did I come to this
A lot of practice is the most important criterion for success. It is better to read more professional books to get the necessary knowledge and understand all the technical meanings. Codecademy gives practical tasks and Udemy video — lectures. I follow Medium and Dev.to to check trends and news.
What Does a Full Stack Developer Do?
- Create websites using HTML, CSS and JS
- Develop front-end applications using one of popular modern frameworks (React, Vue, Angular)
- Understand how to use preprocessors and transpilers (ex. Babel)
- Choose the most suitable application architecture according to customer’s requirements
- Develop secure, scalable and flexible back-end and front-end applications using appropriate programming languages and technologies
- Understand different types of databases, know how to create and debug related queries
- Know best practices in API design, be able to create one that fits project’s needs
- Communicate with the Client
- Write tests to validate the application features
- Troubleshoot web application with an accurate resolution, monitor and optimize the performance
The 5 best full-stack development books that I recommend reading:
Learn Red — Fundamentals of Red: Get up and running with the Red language for full-stack development;
How long does it take to learn web development?
- Study by yourself with online-courses and books. Choose the ones that include a good amount of practice. First, learn HTML and CSS;
- Learn how to create some simple web pages using these skills, try other different techniques;
- Learn programming basics;
- Study JavaScript and learn how to use it with web pages;
- Learn one of the popular frameworks (React, Vue, Angular), try to create a simple web application to better understand its approach.
It is a very frequent question “How long did it take to study?” If you manage to stay motivated it will take around six months. As a result of this knowledge you can join an internship or even get a full-time job in one of IT companies. You will be constantly in the process of learning so you can’t become a web developer fast. It will be easier and much more effective for you to gain experience when you’re constantly surrounded by a team of professionals.
From that moment, you’ll see lots of roads to choose from, you’ll select your own path and will be able to receive a lot of help from experts surrounding you on the way to your great professional future.
What is the future of a full-stack web developer?
In my opinion, full-stack web developers will be more demanded overtime. They are like the universal soldiers who can understand the front and find a solution in the back. These specialists will have respect, value and be in high demand.
So, I want to be up to date, follow the news, be on the topic of development events and I want to be a professional in this sphere. Yes, it is difficult to work on two sides, but it is also exciting and entertaining.
When you take the hard path and try to become better, always remember, that theory without practice is useless. You should constantly struggle to learn more, trying again and again, making mistakes before you reach your goal. Pass your interviews and do test tasks for experience, talk to experienced professionals to consult about your questions, find ways to realize your ideas.
My advice is to appreciate your mistakes and don’t be afraid of failure, they make your path much more exciting. Experience going through errors. Focus on your personal and professional growth in development.
Conclusion
Full-stack developer is a universal web developer who combines the power of Front-end and Back-end directions. There are pros and cons to being a full-stack developer and it’s a hard way, but if you choose this career path, you will have an excellent future and interesting tasks. How long does it take to become a web developer? It depends on your nested resources. So all in your hands!
I was satisfied to choose this way. I had much motivation because it is very interesting. You always have where to go, what to study, because trends appear.
It is a very dynamic and promising route with new directions and technologies. It was morally difficult to join the team with professionals without much knowledge at start. It motivated me to know more about my work.
Originally published at https://solveit.dev.
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