This assignment involves choosing a relatively complex term that is used in my profession and devising three different forms of definitions: parenthetical, sentence and expanded. The purpose is to explain the term to a specified non-technical audience with minimal understanding of the subject. The term I have chosen is “full stack developer”.
Reading situation: A full stack developer from Salesforce is explaining this term to senior high school students at a career fair event.
Parenthetical definition: Full stack developers (engineers that work on both the client side and server side of an app or site) are proficient in multiple programming languages such as Java and Ruby.
Sentence definition: A full stack developer is an engineer that works on the back-end, or server side of an application as well as the front-end, or client side. They have a wide range of coding niches, from databases to graphic design, and managing user experiences.
Expanded definition:
The term “full stack developer” has existed since the beginning of programming, but the definition has evolved since then. In the 1970’s and 80’s, technology had not advanced enough to pave the path to creating distinct jobs in the programming field. Back then, a programmer could operate both the hardware and software ends of applications because of its simplicity. As advancement took place in the following decades, the need for distinguishing between a front-end and back-end developer arose. By the mid-2000’s, technologies became more efficient and streamlined which meant a single developer could execute an entire project from front-end to back-end. At the time, the “full stack developer” regained popularity and has become one of the most in-demand jobs of present times.
A full stack developer is an engineer that handles and operates an entire application, from servers, databases and other internal architecture that drives the application to everything that a client can see and interact with on the external side. This is unlike a back-end or front-end developer who focuses solely on the server or client side of an application respectively.
A popular full stack known as MERN stands for the four key technologies it compasses which are MongoDB, Express, React and Node. These technologies together provide the entire front-end to back-end development components.
FIGURE 1 Depiction of a Full Stack Developer’s Roles
Source: (Rahman, 2021)
As depicted above, a full stack developer has knowledge of a range of softwares that include HTML and React on the front-end to SQL and Ruby on the back-end.
Citations:
Frederick, D. (2021). The Strange Politics of the “Full-Stack Developer.” Retrieved 31 January 2022, from https://blog.hackerrank.com/full-stack-developer/#:~:text=Per%20the%20history%20of%20the,project%20end%2Dto%2Dend.
Full Stack Developer Job Profile – What Does A Full Stack Developer Do? | Le Wagon. (2021). Retrieved 31 January 2022, from https://www.lewagon.com/tech-jobs/web-development/full-stack-developer
History and Future of Full Stack Web Development -. (2021). Retrieved 31 January 2022, from https://blog.imarticus.org/history-and-future-of-full-stack-web-development/
Rahman, H. (2021). Full Stack Developer Roadmap 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2022, from https://dev.to/hidaytrahman/full-stack-developer-roadmap-2021-92h
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