If you are an applicant, you may already have encountered a job post with exceedingly high qualifications and a very vague job description. Oftentimes it will say something like : Hiring Frontend Developers but then the job description asks for the applicant to be expert in MySQL or even AWS. You as an experienced applicant will most likely find it hilarious.

Clueless applicants or those who are just out looking for any kind of jobs will click apply, but those who truly know the job will shy away from clicking that apply button. So we decided to create this short post to describe the most common developer roles in order to help applicants and employers in their match making process.

Front-end Developers

A front-end developer’s task is mainly to design and create client-side/client-facing web applications and web sites. Client facing or visitor facing are parts of a web site or application that focuses more on the looks, feel and and the overall visual presentation. The common technologies used are html, css and javascript. These technologies change most often which is a challenge for front-end developers. That is why frontend developers need focus on this field of expertise in order to get the latest updates. But it doesn’t end there, a frontend developer needs to know the trends in different devices with different screen sizes to make sure that a web application is compatible with these different devices.

If you are an employer looking for the best and skilled frontend developer, you don’t need to put in “MySQL expert” or anything that’s not related to frontend. You will look like you don’t know what you’re talking about and you don’t know what skills you are looking for. Skilled frontend developers will usually shy away from this type of job title and description combo. You will only look for a front-end developer when you already have an existing infrastructure that can run a website in a private or cloud hosting environment.

Read on if you are interested in hiring someone who is good with databases.

Back-end Developers

Before a website content gets delivered to the client/visitor’s browser, it has to be processed on the web server / application server first. The person responsible for making sure that the server, application and database communicate with each other is called a backend developer. The common technologies and skills needed for this role are PHP, Ruby, Python, Java for server communication and MySQL, Oracle and SQL for database solutions. This is the part of the website that is more focused on data manipulation using the technologies mentioned above. This role may, from time to time require security oriented skills depending on the type of data being manipulated.

If this is the role you are looking to fill in your company, then provide the most appropriate job description. Most backend developers know some frontend technologies but they usually lack the eye for identifying whether a website looks good or not. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t mean that frontend developers don’t know backend technologies because there are those who know and have experience with both worlds. They are called Full Stack Developers.

Full Stack Developers

The jack of all trades in the web/application development world. Working in both client and server side technologies, most full stack developers know how the whole stack works. They are the go to person when a client side application does not coincide with the backend works. But, being a full stack developer is not without its own challenges, someone may know how to drive a car but driving a truck is totally different, mastering one at a time is the safest way to go but it will require time.

Most full stack developers usually need 3-5 years of experience to be truly called full stack. Although I’m not saying that you can’t achieve it in a short period of time, there’s only a few who can do that. If you are an aspiring developer, we suggest that you start with either backend or frontend development role and then learn the other skills from there.

If you are an employer, and are looking for the best all around talent, hiring a full stack developer is the way to go. But this comes with a higher salary range. Although again, this does not mean that you can’t hire someone with your current budget. Salary and job responsibilities are not the only reason a prospective applicant would want to join your company. There are other perks you can offer to make the job more attractive.

Of course all these roles and positions are just a reference to give a little more information on the job roles and responsibilities. If you are an aspiring developer, there’s a lot of jobs waiting for you. There’s no better time to start learning web development than now.