In the old days of web development (think: 2012) building an application required at least two people - a front-end developer and a back-end developer.
Then just a few years ago the concept of a “full stack” developer emerged.. Thanks to the rise of frameworks, libraries, and other time saving tools a Full Stack Developer can capably do the work of both a front-end and backend developer.
This change brought about a huge leap in productivity in the tech industry. Today an employer can choose to have one programmer work on a full application by himself, or collaborate with a team that chips in on any part of the project.
Three years ago Full Stack Developers were unicorns.
They were in high demand and employers had a difficult time finding someone with both skill sets.
But recently the talent market shifted. Being a Full Stack Developer is now standard in our industry.
Job postings for front-end developers sneak in requirements for backend languages and tools. Backend programmers are expected to work on the UI of their applications, not hand the work over to a front-end specialist.
That’s why most coding bootcamps require students to take a Full Stack track, even if a you want to focus on front-end work. This is what the market demands.
Today the tech industry has a new problem.
Instead of the work being separated by front-end and backend programming it is now divided by web and mobile development.
Employers can find Web Programmers or Mobile Programmers, but it’s rare to hire someone who can do both. Even worse, mobile development is split between the two major operating systems - Google’s Android and Apple's iOS.
It’s common to find a dev team staffed with Full Stack Web Developers, Android Developers, and then separate iOS Developers. These teams do not share a codebase or tools - they may as well work in completely different offices.
The new unicorns are programmers who can create web applications and mobile applications.
We call these people Universal Full Stack Developers.
We believe the demand for Universal Full Stack Developers will follow the same trend line as the original Full Stack Developers. Today, possessing web and mobile development skills will make you a stellar candidate in front of any employer. However, soon every developer will expected to have multi-platform experience - it will become standard.
How Coder Foundry Can prepare You for the future
After every graduating class we examine how to make our curriculum better. We take feedback from students and feedback from employers then develop ways to make our program better for the next class.
Usually that change is small. All it takes is a tweak to how or what we teach to help students be more prepared for their coding career.
Today is different for us. In response to the future need for Universal Full Stack Developers we are making the biggest change to our curriculum since we launched our school over two years ago.
If you are interested in learning exactly what is changing, please subscribe to our email list and we will send you an alert with the announcement.