Are you interested in
becoming a full-stack developer in java? If yes, you are at the right place.
Some people get excited
by the designs and user interface (frontend developers), while some get curious
about how a website works (backend developers). Being a full-stack developer
has both qualities.
Full-stack
development includes developing a web application frontend and backend both. The back end is considered the
heart of the application, and the front end involves the part which the users
interact with. Let’s understand both in detail.
Who is a Full Stack Developer in Java?
A full stack developer
that uses java to build both the backend and frontend of a website or web
application is known as a full stack developer in java. Full-stack Java
developers know the complete Java suite of technologies, which includes web
architecture, databases, REST API, and servlets needed to create websites and
mobile applications.
Java is a simple language
to master and has many advantages compared to C and C++. Java is an
object-oriented programming language and is also platform-independent, which
makes it widely applicable.
Why are Full Stack Developers in Demand?
In today’s technological
space, companies benefit tremendously from hiring Full stack developers.
Developing one project requires more than 20 technical roles. Whereas a
full-stack developer has knowledge of various technologies across the stack of
website development.
Some direct advantage of
hiring a full-stack developer is as follows:
- Money and time are saved.
- Gives quick and rounded solutions.
- Provides greater exposure.
- Can resolve bugs for both frontend and backend
- Get more opportunities and learnings.
- Higher pay job.
- Fixes both frontend and backend bugs.
- They are in high demand.
- Have broad future scope.
Let us take a detailed
look at full-stack development in Java by understanding their roles as frontend
and backend developers in Java programming language.
Frontend development in Java
Front-end developers are specialists in creating and implementing the interface of
websites and web applications. They deal with the interface and the designing
part of the website. The front-end coders use coding languages like CSS, HTML,
and JavaScript to design highly interactive and easy to navigate websites and
applications.
Java applets were
initially used in front-end development but had various drawbacks.
Nowadays, Java is rarely
used in front-end development.
Are Java and JavaScript the same?
Beginners need to clear
up this confusion that JavaScript has nothing to do with Java. JS is a
scripting language used along with HTML to create dynamic websites.
The scripting language
was named JavaScript only to take advantage of the popularity of “java
programming language” back then.
Web services in java
A web
service is a software system
that supports interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. Web
service is an appropriate medium to propagate communication between the client
and server applications on the World Wide Web.
Web services are made
for web applications accessing data in the form of JSON, XML etc.
There are two types of
web services:
1. SOAP: SOAP stands for
Simple Object Access Protocol. It is an XML-based protocol.
It is a standard
protocol built on XML for creating and implementing web services. It is
platform and language-neutral because it is XML-based. As a result, our clients
may use .(dot) NET, PHP, or another technology, while our server may be built
on Java.
2. REST: REST is an
architectural style for developing web services. It’s gained popularity
recently because it has a small learning curve compared to SOAP. Resources are
core concepts of Restful web services, and their URIs uniquely identify them.
Backend development in Java
Backend development
means working on the server side of a website, which means the side which is
not visible to the user. This focuses on APIs, databases and the architecture
of the website.
Java has the benefit of
being a statically-typed language, which offers superior performance and
stability regarding its strengths. Java offers better security features, such
as the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which has memory isolation and safety.
Backend Frameworks in java
Java has been the most
commonly used programming language for over 20 years. It has many backend
frameworks, but their dependability and adaptability differ greatly. The most
widely used Java backend systems today are:
1. Spring Framework
One of the most reliable
and adaptable backend frameworks is the Spring Framework. It has several unique
modules that give coders a selection of application tools. This framework
configures application components in loose couplings using the ideas of Dependency
Injection and Inversion of Control, assisting in increasing the application's
responsiveness.
It is complex for junior
developers, and has difficulty learning graphs.
2. Hibernate
Hibernate, a framework
that offers an abstraction layer for interacting with your database, from
establishing connections to performing CRUD operations, is another well-liked
Java backend framework. It's important to remember that hibernate is not a
completely independent framework and is not intended to solve many of the problems
with Java Database Connectivity (JDBC).
Database Connectivity
In computer science,
database connectivity is a way for client software to communicate with database
server software, whether or not they are running on the same computer. A
connection is required to send messages and receive answers accordingly.
JDBC (Java Database Connectivity)
JDBC is an API
(Application programming interface) used in a java programming language to
interact with databases.
Java application that
needs to communicate with the database has to be programmed using JDBC API.
JDBC Driver supporting data sources such as Oracle and SQL server has to be
added in the java application for JDBC support which can be done dynamically at
run time.
ORM Frameworks
ORM (Object Relation
Mapping) is a middleware used to connect databases and online applications. It
combines the API with the implementation-specific information of storage
devices.
Data conversion between
Java objects and relational databases uses the ORM method. The ORM tool
performs mapping so that each instance of a model class becomes a row of a
database table. Some of its tools are:
- Hibernate
- TopLink
- EclipseLink
- OpenJPA
How to become a skilled full-stack developer?
The following points
will help you in being a good full-stack developer:
- Focus on both frontend and backend
- Learn languages that are in so much requirement by the clients
- Take courses through which you can learn.
- Test yourself by Doing projects.
- Practise the languages.
- Choose two or three items from your list and devote two or three hours daily to working on them (e.g., 1 hr before work, lunch break, 1 hr after work).
- Keep track of any errors so you can prevent them the next time you do.
Conclusion
Full Stack Developers
are said to have a T-shaped skill set. A Full stack developer in java has basic
knowledge of various technologies and has a strong grasp of one or two key
technologies, making a T-shaped skillset.
The
booming technological industry is looking for skilled Full-stack developers;
you can definitely be one!
Author Bio:
Disha Rathore is a professional content writer with 3+ years
of experience in the Edtech domain. With a background in technical education,
Disha has been an avid reader from a young age. She is super fond of reading
non-fiction and academic books and articles. Her quality lies in explaining
complex topics in simplified language with a tint of creative examples and
storytelling.