This article will share some full-stack developer tools to help you level up your web development skills and become a better web developer.
Full-stack web development is a complex job that requires building complicated applications from scratch. Full-stack developers work on both frontend and backend projects and need to use both frontend and backend programming languages and tools. Besides having fundamental web development skills, every aspiring full-stack developer should master various tools and technologies. Knowing which tools to use will make their work easier and enable them to provide high-quality work, land higher-paying jobs, and faster career growth in web development.
The number of full-stack web development tools available on the Internet is overwhelming, and finding the best ones can sometimes be challenging. To help, we’ve created a list of some of the best tools you can use and master to become an effective full-stack web developer in 2022.
What are full-stack developer tools?
Full-stack developer tools are programs, apps, and software designed to increase the productivity and efficiency of web development projects. They allow web developers to work with numerous frontend and backend technologies, frameworks, and libraries to create a fully-functional, visually appealing, and user-friendly websites.
Why are they important?
Although tools don’t make the programmer, they can be a game-changer in the development process. The right full-stack development tools aid in developing, testing, designing, and maintaining the websites. They speed up the development process, eliminate redundancies, automate processes, and lower the project’s cost. Learning powerful and advanced tools will empower developers improves their skills and productivity.
List of useful full-stack developer tools:
- Visual Studio Code – code editor
VSCode, a Microsoft product, is one of the most popular web application development tools among full-stack developers. It is a fast and lightweight code editor used for writing modern web and cloud applications and is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS. The best thing about Visual Studio Code is that it is free and open-source and that it encompasses tons of features like code refactoring and syntax highlighting, along with many more. It is easy to use and beginner-friendly. It is also customizable, including many extensions that range from debugging, connecting, or deploying into the cloud. Plus, it integrates with GitHub and can be utilized with various languages and frameworks, such as Ruby, JavaScript, Typescript. Rust, Node.js, etc.
- Chrome Developer Tools – debugging tool for web developers.
Browser developer tools are built into most modern browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari and are a preferred tool of most developers. Google Chrome Developer Tools or Chrome DevTools are debugging tools built into the Chrome browser designed to help you in front-end development. These are some of the most useful tools that allow web developers to edit their code in real-time, diagnose issues, and debug their code quicker, thus building better websites faster. Visit the Google Developers YouTube channel regularly to keep your skills up-to-date.
- Docker– an open-source containerization platform
Another excellent tool for full-stack developers is Docker. It is an open-source software platform used for creating, deploying, and running applications in a lightweight virtual environment called a container. Packing up application code and all the dependencies used in the application into a single package improves application performance and allows it to run efficiently in different environments. It also makes your applications more portable and scalable.
And why every software developer should learn Docker in 2022?
Docker is a technology that transformed the tech industry in the past years by making containerization the new norm. As organizations are moving toward the Cloud environment, the use of containers is growing rapidly and is now part of the standard architecture for businesses with a cloud-first approach. According to Gartner, 85% of organizations will be using containers by 2025 (up from less than 30% in 2020.) Undoubtedly, the container model will be critical in the coming years, meaning tools like Docker are a must for modern-day developers.
- GitHub – code hosting platform
GitHub is the world’s largest online software development platform used by software developers to store, track, manage and control changes to their code. As of November 2021, it has over 73 million developers and more than 200 million repositories, making it the most extensive web-based hosting service for IT projects. By using GitHub, you’ll simplify the process of developing code and mitigate errors. GitHub also works as a social networking site with a large active developer community where developers can collaborate on projects in real-time, network, and help each other. Whether you are new to coding or have solid coding experience, GitHub is a tool you should leverage.
- Postman – API testing tool
Postman is an open-source collaboration tool for API development used to create, test, design, modify, and document APIs. With Postman, you can create and save complex HTTP/s requests, inspect responses, build and manage collections, and support every stage of the API lifecycle. It supports manual and automated API testing and all kinds of APIs like REST, SOAP, etc. Besides a testing tool, Postman is also a collaborative tool. You can invite team members to communicate and work together on your API work.
Of course, this is not an extensive list, and there are many other tools full-stack developers can learn to sharpen their skills and stay ahead of the curve. Other tools worth mentioning include collaboration tools like Slack and Asana, which are essential in every developer’s job, and online learning platforms like Codecademy, Freecodecamp, and Dev Challenges.
Conclusion
Building a website takes time and involves a large number of tools. The above-listed full-stack development tools are designed to help you and your team be more productive in the long run and develop full-fledged web applications.
Choose the tools that work best for you and enjoy the process of learning and designing web applications and websites. They have the power of helping you stay up-to-date as a developer and take your full-stack development career a bit farther.
Ready to join Cosmic Development?
Cosmic Development is your place if you want to join a professional team to work on big and exciting projects! We have several open positions for software developers and engineers, including Full-Stack Software Engineer. Go ahead and apply.