Information Technology landscape has been changing so rapidly these days. With the emergence of new technologies with each passing day, the Tech world has been revolutionized like never before. The Youngsters are coming up with innovative ideas and trying hard to make big in the industry, and the best option is to conceive a startup and put forth the idea for the world.
Startup is among the most used buzzwords of our time, and it is heartening to learn that most of Tech Czar’s of today were indeed a budding startup a few years back. Be it Google, YouTube, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, or Infosys, all were started in either a garage or a backyard, but with their conviction and dedication, they have attained the immense popularity and following.
The concept of Startup has been gaining an immense traction, and currently we have more than 500 Million startups in the world today and several million launched every year. With a huge number of technology trends popping up every year, we see different programming languages, innovative frameworks, and exceptional tools being launched every now and then. It is important for a Startup to cope up with this dynamism of the Tech world, while keeping a tab on Budgets and Finances to survive in this cut-throat competition.
For this very reason, a start must make a wise decision of either building a team of developers experienced in a specific skill set or simply go ahead and hire full stack developers. As expected, most of the startups prefer to choose the latter option. In this article, we would be finding out the reason behind this decision, also we would like to explore the advantages one startup can expect by hiring a full stack developer.
Who is a Full Stack developer?
First, we must understand the term Full Stack Developer to understand the context here. A full stack developer is a technology enthusiast who can work on both front-end and back-end aspects of a software solution simultaneously. We can say that a full stack developer is certainly an all-rounder professional, who possesses the knowledge of all aspects of website or web application development.
A full stack developer has the necessary skill to make the whole product functional on their own, and should have high degree of familiarity with each layer of a 3-tier model:
- The Presentation Layer
- Business Logic Layer
- Database Layer
Right from assessing the requirement specification to handle designing aspects, programming the server-side and client-side aspects of an application, creating and managing databases, a full stack developer certainly can handle it all.
Why does a startup need a Full stack developer?
A startup is obviously a small organization, which has numerous constraints as far as budget, resources, finance are concerned. As a startup we certainly cannot afford to hire a developer who possesses expertise for only one skill, we certainly need a person who can solve multiple problems and carry out a wide variety of tasks.
If I own a startup, then I would hire a developer who can handle both HTML/CSS and have some level of expertise in handling the database and other backend technologies, rather than hiring a person who is expert only in HTML. There is a popular idiom “Jack of all trades, master of none”, however in startups, this has become “Jack of all trades and master at one” because as the startup grows, the developers attain specialization in different areas, while working on multiple areas simultaneously.
Such an approach could be extremely beneficial for a startup. Here we have listed some reasons, why a Startup needs to hire a Full stack developer, and what kind of advantages they can expect out of it.
- Budget Friendly – This is among the biggest reasons behind hiring a full stack developer. Startups usually have shoestring budgets and to deliver a full-fledged project, we must hire a full stack developer, who can handle multiple aspects of a project, without increasing the burning cost of an organization. We can even think of hiring a remote full-stack developer for the project.
- Effective Problem-Solving skills – While hiring a developer, an organization always looks for the resources who have effective problem-solving skills, and who can support the multiple facets of a project. Full-stack developers are well versed with backend, frontend and database aspects of a project and can handle every aspect of the project. It is important to understand that a person who has knowledge of all aspects, can offer a better solution to the clients.
- Availability of a wide range of skills – A startup can gain immensely and sustain if they have developers with a wide range of skill sets and expertise. Organizations hire full stack developers not only for their current knowledge, but for their potential. With time, organizations invest in training and teach them the skills, which may be utilized in the future projects. This approach helps a lot, as developers will learn different technology skills and become future ready as the organization expands.
- Availability of Experience developers – Full stack developers can initiate the project from the scratch and develop it into a final product, due to their vast experience in different aspects of technology stack. Full-stack developers can offer better solutions and additional features to the final product, which helps a startup to create ripple in the market. A startup is certainly going to gain with their experience and their ability of putting the 360-degree perspective about the probable solution.
- Better Project Management skills – Organizations prefer to hire the resources who have a better understanding of the project and who can offer their expertise towards the overall management of the project. A full-stack developer possesses the experience and in-depth knowledge of all the aspects of front end, back end and middle architecture layer. This gives them an advantage over an individual developer with limited skill sets. A startup can utilize a full stack developer for project management as well.
- Rapid development process – As we mentioned above, a full-stack developer is very much aware of different technologies, frameworks, and tools. This ensures that they can handle the project single handedly and complete it faster. They will certainly spend less time collaborating and discussing with other teams over different issues about the project.
- Versatility – Don’t you think it will be good for a startup, if the same developer can build exceptional UI/UI using Angular, and then he does server-side scripting using JavaScript and manages the MongoDB database as well? A full-stack developer is certainly capable of managing frontend, backend and database for a website or an progressive web application. Full stack developers can help a startup to put more focus on understanding the customer’s expectations and come up with complementing solutions on their own.
- Services beyond the Development – We hire the developers for coding and development of a software solution. However, a seasoned full stack developer can help a startup in certain areas, which are beyond the usual software development. An experienced full stack developer can offer valuable input for project improvement, can handle client interaction, and devise the solution as well, credit goes to his expertise in all the aspects of software development. Full stack developers can even help you with representing your software product to the stakeholders or the probable clients at Technology conferences or Business meets.
- High Degree of flexibility – Full stack developers can be utilized in multiple projects simultaneously. They can be moved from one project to other one and can handle the wide range of operations with ease. They offer the required flexibility to the organization to streamline the overall development process.
- Implementation of Innovations and Technology upgrades – In today’s era, the technology is changing with each passing day. Be it a website, web application or mobile application, the end user expects the best of the features and latest innovations to be incorporated in the final product. This is extremely critical, as this is where the end-user can love or reject your final product.
For example, if you are building a photo editing software, then you must incorporate the Artificial Intelligence aspects, as that is what is loved by the customers these days, any photo editing application without AI features will be rejected by customers straightaway. Here, full-stack developers come as a big helping hand, they always keep themselves ahead on the learning curve, they always keep themselves up to date with the emerging technology innovations and trends. They can offer better features and innovative solutions to the customer, by implementing the smart features in your project.
- Better Troubleshooting of issues – Full-stack developers can offer better and quick troubleshooting of complex issues, if we compare them with developers with a single skillset. Due to their experience with various aspects of solution designing, they are better positioned to identify the issues that may come up during the project development. Based on their findings, they will come up with long-term solutions to ensure the website or application functions optimally.
- On-time Project delivery – Delivering the project on time is one of the biggest critical success factors for any startup. It is certainly a make or a breakpoint for a startup. If we employ full-stack developers, it is easy for us to share the responsibilities between different resources and coordinate among themselves, which help us to meet the project deadline.
- End to End Project ownership – Taking the project ownership and work to provide an end-to-end solution is a key for any Startup’s success. A full-stack developer can work right from the scratch and can remain engaged until the final product is delivered. If we engage a developer in the middle of the project, even then they can join the project flow smoothly, and we do not have to spend too much time to bring them onboard. Full stack developers can help us with quality control and designing activities.
Important aspects to keep in mind, while hiring a full-stack developer for a Startup
We have understood the advantages a full stack developer offers to a Startup. But there are certain aspects that one need to consider while hiring a full stack developer for a startup. Let us have a look at them.
Good knowledge of JavaScript – JavaScript is unarguably the widely used object scripting language, which is utilized on HTML to add a certain behavior to the website and web app. JavaScript is used for writing client-side and server-side code. It is always advised to hire a full stack developer with good knowledge of JavaScript, associated Frameworks and features.
Knowledge of Git and GitHub – Git is a version control system that helps us to keep a track of code changes and manage them effectively. Whereas GitHub is a cloud-based hosting service that helps us manage the Git repository. It is always advised for any full-stack developer to have a good understanding of Git and GitHub. This is important when the developers are working alone or in small teams, which is a usual scenario in buddying startups. It helps them to keep a track of any change made to the application.
Knowledge of Back-end language and Framework – It is important to hire developers who have a strong foundation in Back-end languages and Framework. It will help us fulfil other important activities like managing the user authentication process and database operation. Backend languages also perform various important functions by interacting with front-end languages, good knowledge of these languages will certainly be a boon for the startup.
Knowledge of Web Storage and Databases – An application is nothing without data storage. While hiring a full stack developer, we must keep this in mind that potential candidates must have a good understanding of memory storage and relational databases. A full-stack developer should also possess knowledge about the relational and non-relational databases available in the market.
Knowledge of Web architecture – While hiring a full stack developer, it is important to know if they understand how the code structure is formed and how the data is placed in the databases. They should have good knowledge of file operation and other computational tasks, which come handy while developing a web-based solution.
Knowledge of REST and HTTP – HTTP is an important protocol that acts as a communication channel between servers and clients. On the other hand, the REST is an interface that utilizes HTTP to perform various kinds of operations on the data. It is important for a full stack developer to have good understanding and experience of both HTTP and REST.
Conclusion
As we have said above, a full stack developer is certainly an asset for any organization, and when it comes to the Startup, it is a big necessity. Full stack developers are worthy candidates as they are efficient with both frontend and backend technologies. Full stack developers are a perfect match for any startup, as they have a specific set of requirements, keeping finances and budget constraints in mind, while delivering the projects which maintain the quality.
It is critical to keep focus on hiring full stack developers, as they can help us in keeping the resource count in control. They provide the necessary room for flexibility and help us adapt to the complexities of project development. We do not have to shell out moolah to train them, as they are already having the knowledge of various aspects of software development.
It is important to state that full stack developers have become an essential component for startups as it helps them to leverage the emerging technologies. With powerful grasping ability, in-depth knowledge and experience, a high degree of learning aptitude makes them a very valuable asset for a startup.