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General Discussion

Posted by Haley Young
Haley Young
Courses Plus Student 3,845 Points

Afternoon, I'm seeking information on the titles full stack web developer vs full stack javascript developer? Thanks!

I'm transitioning into IT with minimal IT background but a lot of soft skills in customer service, problem solving and manual labor. I am currently learning digital literacy as of now and would like to design and edit websites for others becoming a Website Designer, Website Developer, Website Application Developer, also Digital Marketing or Business Systems Analyst. Just trying to see which path is the best path to take.

1 Answer

Jennifer Nordell
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STAFF
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Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher
Jennifer Nordell
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! The term "full stack" refers to doing both front-end web development (what the user sees on the webpage) and backend development (what the server needs to do to serve up the front-end to the user). The front-end languages are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, JavaScript can also be used as a back-end language. It is not strictly for front-end. But there are other languages you can use for the backend to serve up webpages such as Java, Python, PHP, C#, and Ruby.

So you could do HTML, CSS, and front-end JavaScript and then pick another backend language. That would make you a "full stack web developer". But if you pick JavaScript also as your backend language, then you would be a "full stack JavaScript developer".

Hope that clarifies things! :sparkles:

edited for additional clarification

Just to clarify: the primary difference between "full stack web developer" and "full stack JavaScript developer" is that in the latter you are specifying which language you are using for the backend. In the former, there is no specification about which language you're using on the backend... only that you do both front- and backend development.

Haley Young
Haley Young
Courses Plus Student 3,845 Points

Jennifer, YOU ARE THE B-E-S-T!!!! So much clarification, understanding and peace of mind. Thank you so much, I don't think you have any idea how much this helped me. Your are freaking awesome!!!!

-Haley