7 Skills To Become a Full-Stack Web Developer

A full-stack developer, or as I like to call it ‘A Web Development Ninja’ is a one-man army, the triumph card, the genuine generalist when it comes to web development.

A lot of the businesses are shifting online with an aim to reach out to a greater audience, the requirement of websites, and hence, web developers are at a high rise.

While one might think that specialising in either front-end or back-end might make them an asset, but being able to create both will definitely give one an edge while working with a team of developers.

You can give a variety of ideas and be able to deliver products that matter, products developed with a strong understanding of development tools coupled with users’ comfort and enhancement of your website’s performance.

1. Who is a Full Stack Web Developer?

A developer has the best of both worlds, front-end and back-end are known as a full-stack web developer. He is equally skilled at both making the websites enjoyable to look at for the user and at the same time can manage the data on the website and optimize the overall performance.

A full-stack developer is usually not the one who is well versed with all the front-end and back-end frameworks and libraries, a full stack web developer is the one who knows what goes on underneath the piles of code, the one who understands the essential processes and work that goes into developing websites and making them come to life.

2. How Will Reading This Blog Help You In Your Journey Of Becoming A Full Stack Web Developer?

You will definitely come across multiple blogs and articles on the internet that guarantee that if you will follow the exact steps they mention, you will become a full stack web developer in no time.

However, in most cases, these blogs and articles are essentially paraphrased and go around in circles on the same content which you, probably, already are aware of.

Now, to actually gain something out of advice, it is imperative for you to understand how you can apply that in your real life.

Remember, you are a unique human being amongst the seven billion on the planet and hence, you have different and unique needs when it comes to choosing a career and reaching your goal.

Makes sense? I’m sure.

This blog has been written in a way that will suit all developers and coders. It doesn’t matter if you are starting just now, or if you already are skilled in a particular domain and are seeking a direction.

This 10-minute read coupled with proper implementation will definitely get what you desire. 

Skill #1: Motivate Yourself. The Skill of Getting Skilled.

“Find the motivation”, “Embrace the journey”, “Don’t give up” etc. are some of the often-found phrases in a piece of advice.

But are you here for a motivational session?

No, you are here because you already have understood and developed a passion for the web, for putting your heart and soul and bringing out your imaginations and creativity together to create a beautiful and powerful website.

Re-read skill #1. It says “get skilled”. The first skill of becoming a web developer is getting skilled?

Sounds weird? Good.

Now that I have your attention, let me explain how this will work. Often, we believe that learning by doing means diving into the world of building projects and web applications without wasting too much time on the syntax and the concepts.

This might work well in the initial stages but later this will pose a huge problem for you given the fact that when you will be working on real websites and problems, for which you will be unable to find a YouTube tutorial or an article, you will definitely get stuck.

What you need to do is to understand what goes on underneath the hood of those seemingly never-ending lines of code.

Get skilled. Read the documentation.

Remember, if at any point you are getting a feeling that web development is easy, you are doing it wrong. Go back and analyse the concept you learned.

Look up its use cases and where you can incorporate those in your websites. Be curious about it. To call yourself a ‘developer’ you definitely need to understand ‘how’ to do it. And to do so, you need to spend hours and hours with a cup of coffee and some good music in front of your computer screen.

Skill #2: Earn a certification. The Skill of Retrieving Value from Peer-to-Peer and Mentor-Led Learning.

Never start a course just for earning a certificate. I repeat, never.

There are tons of courses available online which would showcase their USP as ‘getting a certification’. Now let us go over the primary goal of you starting as a web developer.

Do you want a certificate or do you want to build websites?

Keep reading if your goal is the latter.

There are very few educational enterprises like Coding Ninjas whose primary goal is to make their learners understand things ranging from fundamental concepts to advanced and complex designs.

If you are looking forward to honestly learning something, it is always advised to have a mentor and experienced doubt support which can assist you in your journey as a web developer.

You can check out the web development ninja course.

Skill #3: Build basic projects. The Skill of Building Clones of Popular Websites.

Once you are done with learning the concepts and the syntax, it is now time to make projects. Do not call tic tac toe and slot machine games and to-do lists as projects.

I call them morning exercises.

Your projects will be your most prized possession.

When you will be presenting your portfolio in front of someone, you want them to have something they are already familiar with and prove that you are capable and skilled enough to build something of a similar sort.

Start with building clones of popular websites like Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Spotify, etc. Prove that you can handle real-life scenarios.

If you are applying as a web developer in big companies, having made a clone of their already existing web application will definitely prove to be a plus point since you will be clearly suggesting that you can start working on their teams right away without the need of much training.

Skill #4: Keep building dummy projects. The Skill of Freelancing. 

Freelancing will give you a taste of the real world.

The development environment you have right now is controlled and you can use stack overflow to clear your doubts but when you are working as a freelance web developer, you will understand the needs of the clients and enhance your skills as a full-stack web developer.

Highly recommended, do it.

Skill #5: Sit at home and watch YouTube tips and tricks. The Skill of Participating in Hackathons.

Now that you have understood how you have to do things, move forward in the competitive world, join hackathons and build different projects.

Hackathons will give you a chance to work in teams and you might also end up in earning some money and a very cool schwag! (Just what a developer needs.)

Skill #6: Work from home. The Skill of Networking.

While attending hackathons and conferences, get involved with people in the industry and look for opportunities that might get you a job as a full-stack web developer.

In hackathons, often the mentors are industry experts and if you portray yourself as a promising and skilled candidate, the mentors will directly approach you for working with them on a project or maybe join them as an employee.

Super cool, isn’t it?

Skill #7: Keep your knowledge safe in your head. The Skill of Effective Communication.

Now that you have mastered the above 6 skills, it is time to increase your credibility as a full stack web developer.

Start a YouTube channel, start a podcast, take live sessions, mentor students (earn some side money if you prefer), document your learnings, and knowledge in the form of online blogs and articles, in short, let the world know who you are.

Make a mark for yourself. Get into open source and contribute to the world of development. Justify the word ‘developer’ associated with your name.

Never, stop, learning.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

By Pooja Gera