I can't be the only person who thinks "full stack" translates to "master of nothing." One of the best career moves I ever made was shrug off the pressure to go full stack, and dedicate myself to backend only.

[–] joyjoy@lemm.ee 109 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Full stack means we do it because nobody else will.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 14 points 8 months ago

I feel seen.

I might get that sentence embroidered on a pillow.

[–] firelizzard@programming.dev 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You don't have to be a full stack dev for that to happen to you

[–] joyjoy@lemm.ee 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No, but when it does happen, you'll probably turn into one.

[–] firelizzard@programming.dev 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

When it happens? That happened to me a long time ago. I’m still a backend developer. I can create UIs and I can spin up and manage docker CI infrastructure but I sure as hell don’t want to. A properly run company team should have separate professionals for UX, front end, back end, sysadmin, etc. Just because I am capable of doing those things does not mean I should.

[–] DreadPotato@sopuli.xyz 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Just because I am capable of doing those things does not mean I should.

This is the crux of why so many companies, especially smaller and medium sized ones, are a hot mess. capable of << good at, but of course it's cheaper to just get johnny to do everything.

[–] Fal@yiffit.net 27 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I think knowing about frontend is important for a senior or higher level engineer. I would expect someone at that level to be able to contribute where necessary, and know enough to make sane decisions and know when those decisions impact backend/frontend. But to be equally good at both isn't reasonable

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 15 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

A backend engineer that has adequately put in the time to operate at a senior level, will more than likely have worked closely enough with FE to check those boxes. They should be familiar with technical design and processes, which if done effectively, teach an engineer to ask those questions.

[–] firelizzard@programming.dev 2 points 8 months ago

"I'm capable of not making a fool of myself with UI" does not equate to "I'm a full stack developer"

[–] Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 23 points 8 months ago (3 children)

As someone who likes to dip their toes into everything, I feel a bit called out by "master of nothing".

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 28 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

My apologies. My intention wasn't a dig at engineers themselves, but rather the trend of employers seeking "full stack" engineers, and the implications of them shopping for a singular engineer willing to do the job of multiple engineers-- IE be taken advantage of, and the first to be let go, because of a lack of specialized domain knowledge, etc.

[–] Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 1 points 8 months ago

No worries. Wasn't really offended. ;)

Fuck that employer behavior, though.

[–] Username@feddit.de 6 points 8 months ago

The truth is that there is value in both a generalist and a specialist.

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It just means he can't do it by himself.

Yours won't be perfect, but you can do the whole thing by yourself.

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 8 months ago

Why would I want to do it by myself, in a professional team setting?

[–] ImWaitingForRetcons@lemm.ee 17 points 8 months ago

In my case, it was to increase the number of available job opportunities rather than any genuine interest.

[–] sheogorath@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

My company started with full stack devs only and we've transitioned to specialized back end and front end since we realized that 1 specialized BE Engineer and 1 specialized FE Engineer can work faster with better quality than having 2 Full Stack Engineers.

[–] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz 3 points 8 months ago

Thank goodness issues respect the FE/BE break out.