Venturing into the world of full stack web development (Part 2)

 What does Full Stack Web Development mean?

If you haven't read the introductory part of this article, I suggest you do so before continuing to get the full picture. However, if you're already caught up, let's dive into the second part of this exposé!

One might ask, "What is full-stack web development?" The answer is quite simple and basic, and I'll try to break it down as much as I can.

When you visit a website like Google or Facebook, you're directed to a page with pictures, buttons, text boxes, and more, all arranged in a pleasing and attractive format that makes the site not just easy to use but enjoyable. These pictures, text, and images make up the frontend. The frontend doesn't affect how the website works - it's just concerned with how the website looks.

Another way to think about the frontend is like the body of a car. The doors, the color, the company logo, the seat covers, the hood, the shape of the booth, even the windshield - all those things make up the frontend of the car. The shape and color don't determine how the car works, but they make it beautiful and attractive. That's frontend!

The frontend designer takes their time and comes up with the design, incorporating color therapy & combination, functionality, and the company's theme to give you a design that is both aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. The languages used for this are HTML (for structure), CSS (for styling), and JavaScript (for interactivity). This article only focuses on explaining what full-stack web development is, so we won't delve into these languages in detail.

Now, let's take a look at the backend. The backend is the functional part of the website; it's basically the engine that controls what you can do on the website. Let's use the Google website again as an example. When you type a value in the search bar and click the button, it triggers a series of events that take the content you typed, go to the Google database, search for all possible results, and show them to you. This action is the core function of the site, making it the backend.

Referring back to our car analogy, the backend is like the car's engine. When you put the key in the ignition and turn it, a series of events start the car. When you put it in gear and press the accelerator, another series of events make the car move forward or backward. That's backend!

The languages used here are quite diverse, but some of them include PHP, JavaScript, and Python.

So, now that we understand what frontend and backend are, what is full-stack web development?

A full-stack web developer is someone who can do both frontend and backend development. Basically, you can handle designing the front to be beautiful and user-friendly while also designing the back to perform the basic functions the site is meant to do.

Side Note 1: The truth is that frontend is more than just writing code that makes the site look good; it's much more than that, even though most people don't realize it.

Side Note 2: Even if you choose to focus on backend development alone, the reality is that you need to know a decent amount of frontend so you can understand how the site works as a whole.

Side Note 3: Most full-stack web developers are actually backend developers at heart. They can implement a frontend for you, but they're not necessarily big fans of aesthetics. They love the thrill of being logical thinkers who can solve problems with code, but they don't always enjoy spending time and energy on beautification. So, if you find yourself in a position where you don't like the frontend stress (which is common for backend developers when they start dealing with a lot of CSS), don't get discouraged - it's perfectly normal.

With these few points, I hope I haven't confused you further, but rather helped you understand what full-stack web development is. In simpler terms, full-stack encompasses both the frontend and backend of a website!

Please look out for the third installment of this article.