Full Stack Web Development – What you need to know and how you can do it? By James Tredwell on September 18, 2019 Full-stack web development consists of both front end and back end part of the application. It combines three layers under one umbrella. The presentation layer (front end), business logic layer (back end), and the database layer. From idea to the finished product, all of these layers play an important role. Hiring a niche-specific web developer for each category is not just difficult; it’s also expensive, which is why companies are demanding full stack developers who can handle multiple stacks without the support of anyone else. Additionally, hiring just one person who can manage a team is better than hiring 2-3 individuals that will do the same job. A full-stack developer is responsible for the entire flow of the website. From back hand-coding, that includes saving data in the database to front end presentation of the site, which includes load time, layout, and structure of the website. Benefits of Full Stack development Full-stack development will help you to keep the system running smoothly. A full-stack developer can help both the front end and the back end developer reducing time, communication, and technical costs. Troubleshooting problems in the code is made easy with quick problem resolution. You need to hire one full-stack developer that can control the front-end and back-end code which makes it budget-friendly. Project ownership is transferred to just one person. No one will question anything from other people because it is the full-stack developer that will handle the internal communication and project operation. If one person can fulfill multiple job roles, it will save operational cost and infrastructure of the company. Mostly, a professional website design & development agency prefer hiring full-stack developers instead of front-end or back-end developers. Must-Know Skills for Full Stack Web Development Front-end Development A full-stack developer must master front-end development technologies like CSS3, JavaScript, and HTML5. Additionally, learning about libraries like LESS, React, Angular, and jQuery are a must. Development languages The minimum requirement of a full stack developer is to learn a few languages that include: Java, Python, Ruby, and .Net. Database & Cache As a full-stack developer, it is necessary to learn MySQL, MongoDB, Oracle, SQLServer, and how various caching mechanisms work. These include varnish, Memcached, and Redis. Basic Design Knowledge Since full-stack development contains both Front end and back end development so its necessary to gain knowledge about UX/UI design. Server A little bit of exposure on how to handle Apache or Nginx servers is a must. Background knowledge of Linux helps in administering servers. Version control system (VCS) A VCS system allows the full stack developer to know precisely when there were changes made in the code. The knowledge helps the developer get an update on the most recent code, update that particular part, and alter the code without affecting or breaking any other code. Working with API (REST & SOAP) A full-stack developer should also know the API of various web services. Additional knowledge of SOAP and REST is a bonus. Full-Stack website engineer Myths Myth: A full stack developer can write every type of code. Reality: A full-stack developer is only bound to learn various technologies but writing each code themselves. Myth: The job of a full stack developer can write both frontend and backend codes. Reality: At times, freelance full stack developers code entire websites, both front end, and back end, but it’s quite rare. In reality, full-stack developers have a stronghold on both front end and back end, which gives them the ability to edit the code rapidly. Their perspective on design and architecture is quite impressive. Myth: If you work freelance for a company, you automatically become a full stack developer. Reality: This is not a position; it’s a mindset. Being a full-stack developer means getting a hold on a combination of technical knowledge. Essential steps on how to become a Full-Stack developer Stick to one language: As a full-stack developer, you must know a little bit of every language, but master one language. Be it Ruby, PHP, or Python. Grow your skills in that language. Know Thy Stuff: A full-stack developer is someone with a stronghold on both front-end and back-end. That’s why it is necessary to be clear about servers, programming, database, algorithms, and data structure. If you’re weak in any area, polish that skill. Take a course: If you’re new to this, take an online course: CodeAcademy, Udemy. These resources will help you to kickstart your career in Full-Stack development career. Join a community: Don’t wait for inspiration to come to you. If you’re stuck, join a community. Join Slashrocket community and build your network with other developers. Make something on your own: A full-stack developer knows everything. That’s why it’s necessary that you develop something on your own and understand every aspect of full-stack development. Wrapping it up Just like every other field, being a professional full-stack developer will take some time. The goal is to stay updated with front-end and back-end technologies. Get a firm grasp on both of these technologies in detail. You’ll need much patience to start from scratch and reach the level of mastery. Learning never stops if the website developer is passionate enough to grow every day and learn new things.
How Technology Can Transform Performance Appraisal By James Tredwell on September 13, 2019 Information Technology (IT) has penetrated into each sector of the industry and is trying to reach innermost of the processes followed by organizations. If it has not reached some sectors, it has at least reached their doors and is knocking hard to enter in. Those who have not adopted technology in their business operations are only paying a deaf ear to the immense changes it is bringing in the world around us. Technology is massive and is the monarch of the world around us. Yet, some people will find it astounding that it can also impact this one of the most important HR processes called PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL. Technology and Performance Appraisal Well, I believe almost every one of you has a clear idea of what performance appraisal is. For those who are new to it, it’s an evaluation of employee’s performance, over a period of time, on various parameters set by the organization. Many of us, employed by private organizations, wait for it all through the year to get that desired hike both in post and pay. A number of tools and technologies are utilized to conduct this process of performance evaluation. The thing which we are going to deal with in this post is how technology can impact the overall way performance appraisal is conducted or takes place. Admittedly, each of the traditional performance appraisal methods such as Ranking method have used technology in one way or the other, the upcoming IT changes can surely transform the way the arena of performance appraisal. Why Use Technology for Performance Appraisal The amount of effort and energy the human resource department invests in the process of performance evaluation can only be imagined due to the herculean nature of the task. Implementing technology in various areas can take major burden off the shoulder of HR executives and thus, leave them with more time to focus on the core areas of their job. Automating different processes, the HR personnel can reduce time and efforts needed for paper work and other mundane yet necessary tasks. Also, because the performance evaluation has mostly been done through an automated process, there is less scope for errors whenever numerical data is in question. This instills trust in the mind of employee about his appraisal being non-erroneous. How Technology Can Transform Performance Appraisal: 1. Recording Data: A lot of data goes into measuring the performance of the employee. The basic step in the process of performance evaluation is gathering data. Technology can be utilized in this very foremost stage to collect the relevant data. Data about employee absenteeism, customer complaints received, recorded appreciations, participation in knowledge-oriented activities, etc. can all be stored using the latest technology. Automating processes can help record, gather, and sort data as per the set parameters. Implementing latest technology to capture employee log in and log out times, absenteeism, etc. can directly present the HR professionals with the required figures rather than loads of data that needs to be analyzed. With the application of technology, a single page can give all the basic information needed to measure an employee’s performance. 2. Implementing Electronic Performance Appraisal Systems: With the installation of electronic performance appraisal systems, the HR department can easily gain online access to wide variety of information with ease. No matter which location of the office they are operating from, they can view the information related to all employees of the organization. At the same time, team leaders can be empowered to input data about performance of employees on a monthly or regular basis in these systems. Take for instance, 360 degree appraisal method, all the people participating in the appraisal process can input their feedback at the same time during the day through an online appraisal system. Imagine the amount of time each one saves by not filling paper-based form or waiting for their turn to give feedback. In the same way, the process also needs the input of the employee whose performance is being evaluated. With online appraisal systems, the employee can answer certain questions or give the desired information to the HR department with minimum time and cost investment. 3. Goal Setting and Tracking: With the development of apps and software, it is possible for the human resource department to implement such systems wherein employees can set short-term and long-term goals. Later, superiors can approve these goals and can also quantify their value in terms of contribution towards the growth of the organization. Each goal can have points so that at the end of the term, the HR executive can easily retrieve data about the number of goals achieved or the value delivered to the organization in a jiffy. These systems can also help valuing the employee achievement with the standard set by the organization and easily show the gap between expected and achieved performance, if any. Just compare this with, collecting data from different superiors under which the employee worked, meeting the team managers to know the value of each contribution for the organization, and blah blah. Even imagining it is tiring me out! Thank You Technology! 4. Application of Technology in Other Areas Admittedly, the output of all these systems can be implemented in fastening the performance appraisal and make it simpler. The information gathered from these IT tools can further be utilized to take major decisions like shuffling departments for employees based on the data about performance in various areas, succession planning, giving more challenging tasks, or identifying training needs where there is dearth of high performance despite amiable conditions. You can choose between a licensed software package and a customized software package for putting a system in place to make the performance appraisal process easy. Many organizations like the idea of official mobile and web apps so that data can be captured without any delay. Some apps can even capture and sort the data even without employee involvement. It totally depends on you to what extent you wish to avail of the available technology and automate the existing processes to simplify the performance appraisal process and make it less time-consuming. About Author: Ankit Patel is a Project/Marketing Manager at PeppyOcean, a leading on demand app development company. As a hobby, he loves to write about new and upcoming technology, mobile development, web development, programming tools, business, social media, and more.
Selecting the Right Content Management System By James Tredwell on September 24, 2018 Now days Content Management Systems are becoming one of the most powerful web developing tools after PHP. In the present scenario when every business person is running to have his own website many web developers have turned to Open Source CMS to get their work done in less time. But unfortunately there are thousands of CMS available in the world of web designing and it becomes really difficult which one is good for you. In this write-up we will discuss about how one can select a good CMS for developing their website and will also discuss about some useful and effective CMS that might help you for getting a responsive website. Let us discuss what a CMS is first. CMS stands for Content management system and it is a web application that makes use of the database or some other methods to design, edit and store HTML coding in a meaningful manner. Content is created and edited on the website only in the administration panel of the web application. The resulting content will then be displayed to the viewers on the regular site. Why there is a need to use CMS for designing your website? There are various reasons for using Content Management System but the one reason that is considered as the prime most is that use of CMS has made creating and editing of the content very simple and very easy. Often people forget that this is the actual reason for using a CMS for developing a website and they start searching for more functionality but could not find anything. Content not only include the text however. Sometimes the content that you need on your website is the contact from the user authentication system. The best way to find a good CMS system is that the CMS you chose should provide more functionality without sacrificing the ease of editing and making changes with the system either by you or by the customer. A good CMS will always allow you to spend some more time letting you focus on the designs of the front end and then implementing the functionality. When you are searching for a good CMS, what should you look for? There is a list of things that you have to look for while going for a Content Management System but here are the most prominent ones: Easy and Quick installation Simple interface for the admin Quick and easy extension of the CMS for extra functionality Simple manipulation of the template Helpful user community Always look for the CMS that gives you the best feel. Having an appealing design will make sure that the interface is going to be user friendly, but do not forget to do your research before you invest your precious time and money to any of these particular system. The topmost CMS that you can rely on easily are: Drupal WordPress Magento Radient CMS Silverstripe These are the five major platforms for Content Management System on which most of the web developers rely. They offer amazingly good features to design an attractive and appealing website.
