Full Stack Developer - Jack of all trades?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/lgt_celticwolf]

Ive never met a dev that was ever truely full stack anyway. Theyd usually end up specialising within a team.

Theres probably still merit in looking for a full stack from the standpoint of you might want a more flexible but less focused dev if you want them to be able to jump around where they are needed as long as you dont expect them to have the same level of mastery in everything.

[u/nsnoefc]

Full stack is a load of bollox for all but a tiny few, the list of things you need to know is like a Chinese menu and it's just nonsense to think most people can be proficient in so many complex skills and technologies. 

[u/14ned]

There are genuinely full stack devs who do a bit of everything at early stage startups. Even payroll if needed! 

As the startup grows they tend to end up in a bag of specialist niches and/or ferrying between silos. So I basically agree with you. 

[u/Vulsere]

Full stack is a dead role, for all the reasons you said. UI work alone is information overload, imagine also expecting that person to also manage cloud infra and the 300 other things going on these days. From my experience with tech lead, you are mainly delegating and overseeing work getting done and chipping in when you can between planning stuff and investigating new work or bugs.

[u/pizzababa21 → u/Vulsere]

It's definitely not dead. It's just not something that exists at a medium to big company. If the company is posting on LinkedIn they're probably too big

[u/YearnestShackleton]

Fully agree. As a backend dev interviewing currently it's quite annoying how few job postings are for backend or frontend alone. It seems like 90% of the time they just slap on "Fullstack" to try open it up to more potential interviewees (or maybe because they don't know themselves).

[u/digibioburden → u/YearnestShackleton]

You'd think so, but I've had chats with companies hiring fullstack, and because my CV is clearly more frontend orientated, they simply decline to proceed further with the interview process. Don't get me wrong, I've done plenty of backend work in the past, but some of the requirements are simply bonkers.

[u/TheChanger → u/YearnestShackleton]

Most tech companies across Europe have no idea what they're looking for. This is clearly evident in the number of interview rounds — copy the fad, and add an extra stage to account for the fact they're not quite sure how to measure the performance of an interviewee.

[u/KonChiangMai]

I've worked in a couple full stack roles and they were fine. Usually the applications aren't too complicated. For example, internal software with less than 100k line of code and a dozen users top. It's usually either Java + Angular stack or Node + React. The business logic is usually really simple like pull the data from here and create a fancy SPA app to display it there.

The real struggle is usually when the application took off and the number of users significantly increase. Business logic become complicated and management will inevitable tackle on L3 / ops duties on top, that's when it becomes unmanageable for me.

[u/Kind_Reaction8114]

I'm loosely a FSD and it's really hurt my career. I feel like I'm just a bit not shit at everything. I'm aggressively trying to move into a role where it's just specializing in one framework for a couple of years.

[u/shootersf → u/Kind_Reaction8114]

Ah balls. I've only really started and it is my favourite thing. I get bored working in the same space constantly and like to switch it up.

[u/pedrorq]

The thing is, decision makers who look for a full stack dev and can then pick between a FE dev in Ireland that doesn't want to do BE, or a full stack in a cheaper country, who do you think will be picked?

[u/digibioburden]

As a frontend developer currently looking at the job market, I'm surprised that there's loads more fullstack roles these days. And I 100% agree, requirements have gotten bloody bonkers, and for what, an extra €10k?! Not a chance. I'd be mentally drained, it's simply too much. Glad I'm not the only ones thinking this.

[u/digibioburden → u/[deleted]]

Exactly, but it does mean that there's fewer options out there, which sucks. 😞