When I hear 'Full-Stack Developer', I reach for my revolver.

May 9, 2014 2:33 AM

What does 'full-stack developer' really mean? We prefer a candidate who knows everything about everything?

I've been poking around the dev/se job market a bit and consistently see the term 'full-stack developer' as a key part of job descriptions. Well...any fool can hack about in all the tiers and make *some* progress. *But* the guy who knows IE6 CSS is not the same guy who can optimize queries across highly-normalized rdbms, or the guy who knows numerical methods, or the guy who can actually implement JavaScript GOF patterns, or the guy who can *really* implement PKI for your enterprise, or...

If my experience with HR guys and Project Managers means anything, 'full-stack developer' could mean that the company:

• desires mediocrity across all tiers.
• is unwilling to exert any effort towards coordinating expertise across tasks.
• does not see any opportunity cost to mismatched skills/tasks.
• doesn't really know the skills required for each 'stack' component.
• wants someone *just* capable enough to not fuck up a middle-of-the-road data-driven website
• will interview anyone savvy enough to know that's a bullshit term, but applies for the job anyway. Then, sort out the tasking later.

So...HR guys, devs, project managers: Thoughts?

posted by j_curiouser to Computers & Internet