The 8 Best Tools and Frameworks for Full-Stack Web Developers

Full-stack web development jobs have increased over the past few years. As businesses grow and competition increases, the demand to generate customized web applications also increases. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, web developer jobs in the U.S. are likely to increase by 30% from 2021 to 2031. This includes full-stack web development jobs. Furthermore, integrating multiple technologies such as cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), DevOps, Blockchain, and serverless computing has made full-stack web development more popular. With that context, let’s understand what full-stack web development is and its tools, practices, and frameworks in detail.

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What is Full-Stack Web Development and Why is it Important?

Before learning about full-stack web development, it is essential to understand web development. It involves building and maintaining websites and web applications. Furthermore, a website functions in two aspects: The front-end refers to the client or user’s side of the website, and it includes images, fonts, content, and menus, among others. The other aspect is a website’s back-end or server-side that serves as a database and processes the user’s commands. 

For example, when you add a product to the cart on an e-commerce website, the front-end shows that the product is available in the cart as soon as you add it. On the other hand, the back-end processes the request to add to the cart, which is not visible to the user. 

Full-stack web development refers to building a website or web application from end-to-end. It includes designing, creating, testing, and deploying both front- and back-end web development. 

Full-stack web development is necessary for any website to function effectively. It focuses on the user experience of a website as well as its workflow and performance. Companies prefer to hire professionals with full-stack web development skills as they have an in-depth understanding of the project and can build an efficient app. Moreover, they can run tests and fix bugs easily, leading to time and cost efficiency. Additionally, full-stack developers are skilled in various programming languages and can help scale the website easily.

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What are Some Commonly Used Tools and Frameworks in Full-Stack Web Development?

The most common tools in full-stack development are:

1. Atom

It is an open-source code editor by GitHub which supports syntax highlighting, file viewing, and other handy features.

2. Visual Studio Code

Also called VS code, this tool is a powerful open-source, free coding editor mainly used for building and debugging cloud applications.

3. ESLint

This tool automatically identifies and fixes syntax issues. It is an analytical tool that runs JavaScript code to find syntax errors, bugs, or formatting issues.

4. Docker

It is another open-source tool for creating and deploying applications in a virtual environment.

5. Postman

This tool helps create, modify, and test Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

6. Codepen

It builds, deploys, and tests websites in a specific environment.

7. Slack

It is a cloud-based collaboration tool to enable seamless communication between team members.

8. WebStorm

It helps write JavaScript codes with ease.

In addition to these tools, you also need to learn the following full-stack web development frameworks:

9. Angular

It is a JavaScript framework that helps build single-page web applications. 

10. Meteor

This open-source, JavaScript-based framework helps build real-time mobile and web applications.

11. GitHub

It is a popular framework for storing, managing, and tracking code changes.

12. Django

This Python-based framework follows a model-template-view design.

13. FastAPI

Another Python-based framework, it is used for building APIs and allows easy integration of tools and libraries.

14. Electron

This can be used to build desktop apps using programming languages like CSS and HTML.

15. Ruby on Rails

It is a Ruby-based framework that supports the development of scalable web applications.

16. Flask

This simple and flexible Python-based micro-framework restricts the use of certain tools and libraries. 

How Do You Choose the Right Tools and Frameworks for Full-Stack Web Development?

A web development framework is a set of tools and libraries to build a website. It also comprises software for end-to-end web development. Frameworks provide a uniform structure or common set of functionalities during web development. This prevents the developer from writing codes from scratch multiple times. 

Here are a few factors to consider while selecting full-stack web development tools and frameworks:

1. Project Requirements

Selecting a web development tool or framework should largely depend on the project requirements. For example, you should consider if you need additional features, the targeted response time of the website, and the desired web page layout and structure.

2. Licensing Terms

Licensing agreement defines the terms and conditions for the usage of the software. So, before you select tools and frameworks for full-stack web development, decide whether you want open-source or paid software. Ensure that the license terms are acceptable and align with your requirements and who owns the intellectual property rights associated with the software.

3. Team Expertise

Next, assess your team’s skills and expertise. Ensure that you have the necessary resources to deploy a tool or framework.

4. Hosting Requirements

It refers to the hardware and software equipment required to install and run a web development tool or framework, such as an operating system and web server. Ensure that you select such a framework whose hosting requirements are easy to meet. The framework should be compatible with the web server and other components.

5. Scalability

As a business grows and more users access the website, scalability becomes essential to manage increased traffic load. Choose a framework that can adjust per the workload and demand without compromising performance.

6. Unit Testing

Unit testing is a process in website development that facilitates testing minor components called units. This process is essential to ensure that the program is free of bugs. Hence, developers should select a framework that supports unit testing.

7. Security

Security is the topmost requirement when considering a web development framework or tool. Ensure that the framework/tool meets minimum security criteria. You can also check whether it has any in-built security features.

What are the Best Practices to Follow in Full-Stack Web Development?

1. Selecting the Right Stack

Stack in full-stack web development refers to a set of programming languages, tools, frameworks, and libraries, required to build a website or web application. Hence, spending time on selecting the right technical stack is crucial for full-stack web development. For example, developers use LAMP stack when a website needs to update its content constantly and MEAN stack for a cloud hosting application.

2. Writing Clean Codes

This is one of the most crucial full-stack web development practices. It involves writing simple, clear, and concise codes that can be easily read and understood. This practice is essential to ensure that other developers can understand the code and modify it to fix errors.

3. Documenting Codes

In addition to writing clean and clear codes, documenting the code is also important because it helps developers keep track of all the features they have integrated into the application. It also helps identify and fix errors quickly. Moreover, it makes it easier for future developers to understand how the website was built and make changes.

4. Analytics and Monitoring

Another best practice for full-stack web development is regularly analyzing and monitoring the performance of web applications using tools such as Google Analytics, Pingdom, and Uptime. It allows developers to enhance the functioning of the website and rectify errors.

5. Learn Database Management Systems

Database Management Systems (DBMS) are an integral component of full-stack development. They facilitate easy data storage, management, retrieval, manipulation, and security. They also help verify the login credentials of users and display customized results. Hence, full-stack developers must learn the usage and implementation of various DBMSs such as Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis.

6. Testing and Debugging

This is undoubtedly one of the most popular and crucial full-stack web development practices. It helps identify and fix various bugs and bottlenecks in the website or application before launch. Testing and debugging ensure optimized website performance. Furthermore, it reduces downtime.

7. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)

Using CI/CD tools to automate website development, deployment, and testing is another best full-stack web development practice. It helps shorten the web development lifecycle and makes it easier to improve website performance by integrating new features effortlessly. Full-stack web developers must learn to use popular CI/CD tools like GitLab, Jenkins, and Atlassian Bamboo.

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Boost Your Coding Career With Emeritus

The roadmap to becoming a full-stack developer involves having technical knowledge, learning essential programming languages, the tools, and acquiring coding skills. You need advanced practical training to become an expert in full-stack web development. Though it is a tough and competitive field to navigate, it is highly rewarding, too: The average annual salary of a full-stack developer in the U.S. is $102,092.

Therefore, the best way to gain a competitive edge is by learning coding and programming skills. Emeritus’ online coding courses teach advanced programming languages to boost your career and get senior, well-paying roles. 

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