Backend vs front end developer vs full stack
The title of this blog may sound like a group of tech talent squaring up to go at each other in the ring, it's really not. What we want to understand is the individual skill set of these tech developers and the different parts they play in website and app development. Developers are highly skilled individuals who develop and write code for web applications but with a different focus. How do we know which one to recruit?
Let’s dig into what each one of these important individuals does.
Front end developers
A front end developer creates the user interface website. They would use web languages such as HTML, JavaScript and CSS to conceive a design that maximizes user experience and interaction. Part of the skill set is thinking about site navigation, where to place images and conceiving the appearance and layout for the user. It’s not just writing code, it is about understanding how users arrive on a site and where to place key features that take them to another area that makes sense on the customer journey.
Back end developers
The role of the backend developer is to look after the operational side of a computer system website. These individuals are responsible for security, data store and coding for a web application. It’s a job that means keeping everything running and ensuring the infrastructure functions correctly. They also manage databases ensuring backup and retrieval systems as well as finding and fixing bugs in the coding.
Full stack developers
These individuals are essentially the complete package. If that’s the case however, it begs the question as to why you would need a separate front and back end developers. Well it largely depends on the business organization and what its requirements are but there is no question, the skill set of working with both ends makes full stack developers appealing. This is especially relevant in tech startups because keeping labor costs down is important as well as the knowledge of development from the ground up. This is why in tech recruiting full stack developers are much sought-after.
Tech recruiting and start ups
The job of a tech recruiter in the first instance is to identify need in their clients. For example a business benefits from recruiting that understands the challenges for tech startups, local market forces and where to find tech talent. For Austin based tech startups, fortunately emNge have been working in the Texas tech sector space for a number of years. Headed up by Nick Thornton, in emNge not only do you benefit from that understanding of the market but you have the qualities to react to your ever changing needs:
Flexibility
Resilience
Reactive
Proactive
It is this understanding and knowledge that has led emNge to specialize in providing full stack developers for startups. As these businesses grow there is no doubt they will need individual front and back end developers alongside other tech talent but when processes are being built and workforce needs to be kept tight, full stack developers are the perfect solution.