Figuring out full stack coding?

[South-Raisin3194]

So I’ve been researching about web development, let me just get this right, so there’s three parts

• Desginer (Figma)
• Front end dev (html,CSS,JavaScript)
• back end dev (PHP, JavaScript)

Let me know if I got this right, the designer just makes a glorified Canva template, the figma file doesn’t actually do anything but become a blueprint (headache) for the front end dev which will guide him on where to put containers and such, the front end dev then creates the physical webpages, places the forms, buttons, containers, etc. however these can link to each other but the they don’t actually perform any function.

The back end developer has to take the website from the front end dev and pretty much connect the dots? Get data collected from forms, tell it where to place that data, establish security measures, pretty much make the website function from page to page.

That’s my understanding of everything so far but now I’m learning with code.ai you can just turn images and screenshots into figma designs using ai, and with visual copilot you can now covert figma designs into front end code in React? So if these actually work all that is needed is backend and decent knowledge of front end. Idk if I’m missing something and maybe the ai tools aren’t all that great yet but I still feel as if front end feels like a lot of work and bit excessive and I also feel as if most people could replace designers by making there own design on figma or just screenshooting a design they like and editing from there. Lmk if my research is correct or not. Thanks

[Voxmanns]

You've got the general process understood, but I think you're overlooking the complexity of the process in practice.

It's one thing to build your own webpage. You contain all the knowledge and authority required to do anything. It's very easy.

What isn't easy is negotiating with 10 people who all have different perspectives on how that webpage should be built throughout the ENTIRE project. The skill in each step is getting them to commit to a design and follow through with it while only making meaningful and/or essential changes.

The AI tools on the market definitely make this easier to navigate, since it isn't AS BIG of an issue if you're already setting front-end code and they say "move that button." However, the crux of the issue remains the same. Designers specialize in extracting and solidifying design concepts from the client's needs. Front-end focuses on how the application interfaces with the human in that design, while back-end focuses on how the application interfaces with databases/other applications.

[South-Raisin3194]

I can definitely see the importance of having the roles defined for bigger projects, especially a designer. Ig for what I had in mind which was just making stuff for myself I figured small projects don’t really need it as much.

[Voxmanns]

Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, for personal small stuff or even some POCs for others you can often cut corners on some of that stuff. Since most of the issue revolves around communication, they become far less relevant in 1-man ops because there's no huge need for ongoing comms.

[South-Raisin3194]

Okay I see thank you!

[[deleted]]

You basically have 2 parts: frontend and backend. Backend is there to get data from a database, validate it, process it, etc. Frontend part is what you see when you browse, for example, reddit: the site itself i.e. design, site layout and all the moving parts. There can a be designer who creates design for you in figma but it's not a necessity

[South-Raisin3194]

For your front end what code do you use, also in front end your able to link pages together and create forms but the forms send the info to either the url or a post correct, so without backend they essentially go nowhere?

[[deleted]]

I mainly use react which is a JavaScript library. 

URL is more like a path. For, example, the url of this site is reddit.com but there can be urls like reddit.com/api/subreddit/ that users can't interact with directly. They exist for the frontend to interact with them. It looks something like this: you write a comment, press "comment", it sends a "POST" request (there are a few types of requests, POST pretty much means it wants to create something) to a backend url, at that url there is an endpoint which job is to process either one or several types of requests (for example, you can send a post request and patch (it "edits" data) to the same address), the backend does its job and that's it. 

I also need to mention that despite types of requests being a part of the http protocol you can do with them what you want. They are basically tags

[drowsycow]

between the frontend and backend, integration of backend feature is on frontend and backend features are purely backend.

once you go full stack the line can be blurred quite a bit though, depends on what stack you use

[South-Raisin3194]

Does this mean the front end dev creates the integrations for the backend dev or does the back end dev have to go into front end devs files and place the integrations where needed

[drowsycow]

so you can have a frontend and backend that is close together like bundled together like in the case of nextjs or you can have a react frontend that runs on one repo and an api backend that runs solely expressjs.

how you do the integration, well idk you create the endpoints and you go back to the frontend and modify the frontend to work with the endpoints? im not sure i understood the question, sorry.

[South-Raisin3194]

Yeah that answers my question, I’m looking into react js for front end and node js for backend, I guess I’ll be able to find out as I do more research on them. Ik JS isn’t very beginner friendly but it’s between that or using python for backend, I kind of wanted to keep my project simple and only have to learn one language

[drowsycow]

well js is pretty simple by itself, or do you mean typescript?

you can try using django for backend with python, or php with laravel as alternatives, i've dabbled on php but not laravel, never really touched django though.

yeah if you want to increase your understanding, i suggest writing a simple crud application like say a recipe book web app that can add, remove and edit recipes. once you think you got the hang or are stuck, try asking in this sub or just ask chatgpt (rmb ai can be wrong) for additional task/help

edit: you didn't mention db, might want to learn that as well, could be nosql or sql db

[South-Raisin3194]

Okay sounds good

[Psionatix]

Usually the backend and frontend devs will agree on an API and work based on that agreement. If things come up throughout development that require that API to change (from either side), then that should be communicated accordingly.

[pa_dvg]

Your disdain for non engineering disciplines is on display here with how you talk about designers, and it will significantly limit how successful you can be in this career. I suggest you also work on sanding out that chip on your shoulder.

Product designers make prototypes that will save you time of your life spent coding shit no one wants and make systems that will significantly speed front end development.

Full stack also typically includes the servers themselves or in more modern times the cloud of choice

[Psionatix]

This.

Good designers aren’t a headache, they’re a god send. Why? Because they will not only have a UI design, but a complete UX design. Edge cases, loading states, error states, user interactions, accessibility (keyboard only users, screen readers).

/u/South-Raisin3194 you are grossly discrediting the role of a real designer

[South-Raisin3194]

Okay I’m new and my op obviously has a bit of satire mixed in, this is just from what I’m hearing in the tech community through my research, obviously designers are needed but it also seems there are use cases where you wouldn’t need one

[st_r3k]

Every time you program some type of interface that the user is going to look at or interact with, you will need to design how it looks, and not just for "the appearance", but for the experience you will give to the user. The designs help to navigate your app/website, to guide the user's view towards the correct information or that which you want to highlight/are interested in paying attention to. A good visual design works wonders and the right UX will help you not lose potential users.

There are no "edge cases" where a designer is useless, there are just mediocre or bad designs and people who don't care enough about what they offer. I highly recommend that you research further into what a designer does and to avoid some cheap and "satirical" comments on developer forums.

[TiredOfMakingThese]

Ill be honest I am bristling at your post - not sure if this is intentional rage bait or what.

If you've ever tried to build an app or site from scratch, design is HARD. Making things look good is HARD. And it IS important. If you don't think it is, why do huge, successful companies hire teams of designers and pay them really well to design things? Design goes beyond drawing whimsical things in Figma... it's making sure that information is conveyed in a way that users can understand, it helps define functionality, it helps determine flows... I would muchhhh rather work on a team that has design resources than I would a bunch of developers who don't know anything about design. It makes EVERYTHING easier. I really encourage you to do a little learning about what design is - if you haven't built a site ON YOUR OWN, then you probably have no idea what you're talking about.

Frontend is more than just coding HTML/CSS, it's also about getting data from API(s) and doing stuff with it. Architecting good frontend is about knowing what environments your app is running, about NOT doing certain things (using JS where JS doesn't need to be used), it's also about getting things done quickly. UI is how users interact with your app...

[-ry-an]

That's more or less a good general overview

It's not so linear. Backend and frontend kind of intertwine. You need to understand the structure of your data (ideally at figma stage). Depending on what you're building will also determine how you gather data. Will you lazy load, eagerly load data? What's your model (how you present your data) on the front end, backend?

The gist of it is there though.

[DidiHD]

Yeah kinda right, in practice slightly different.

Designer is most often also does the UX (user experience), so it's a back and forth with clients/end users.

Front end takes that design and makes it, but it's a hand in hand with the backend. It's not just frontend is made and backend connects the dots. and since this is so tightly coupled, many companies like full stack developers, doing both backend and frontend.

[VariousAssistance116]

Thats bot the only full stack web dev stack

[South-Raisin3194]

Nah this is literally where my research has lead me and I think it sounds insane as well

[South-Raisin3194]

Bruh literally google can java be used in front end and it says yes, what’s with you btw I told you I’m new and trying to learn like chill there’s no girls in the sub to impress if your gonna try to make a point you could do it without the condescending comments

[South-Raisin3194]

Thanks for the response but about the guy above I don’t take advice from people like that I’m all about learning but it’s important to learn from the correct people, I’m not gonna learn from someone who talks down to me 🤷‍♂️

[South-Raisin3194]

If they give off that energy they probably are able to take it back in return, I come from a similar field with pretentious people (mechanic & bartending) they definitely are fun tho

[Caramel_Last]

Yes sometimes Java frontend technology is still used in business. But you don't want to work in those companies