Full-stack development is like creating an entire dining experience. On the front-end (or front-of-house for our example), you have to handle the meal’s presentation. How does it look? Which table is it going to? Is the customer happy with the food? On the back-end, you need to handle the behind-the-scenes work. You need to prep the ingredients, cook the food (don’t forget the seasoning!), and make sure it’s ready on time. Full-stack development is both of these things and more. From start to finish, it means you’re a developer who’s ensuring a complete and satisfying experience for your user.

Full-stack development is a hybrid that combines both front-end and back-end development, covering front-end development (generally the visible parts of a website, webpage, or app) and back-end development (the hidden elements of a web app that users don’t necessarily see). Full-stack developers have to use a blend of artistic design and technical skills to build the user-facing parts of an app while managing the server-side logic. And how they do that is heavily influenced by what’s #trending in full-stack development.

Trends ebb and flow in all industries: different tools, technologies, and practices constantly circling. If you want to hop on the most current trends, start here!

In this article, we’ll cover eight of the most popular full-stack development trends in 2024.

#LetsGo!

Table of Contents

1. AI and Machine Learning
2. Low-code/No Code Development
3. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)
4. Serverless Technology
5. Mixed Reality
6. JAMstack Architecture
7. Blockchain
8. DevOps
9. Honorable Mentions
10. #BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for Full-Stack Development  

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AI and Machine Learning

If you’re not up on the hype of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, there’s a chance you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years. I mean ChatGPT and Gemini and Midjourney…hello?! While you’ll usually hear of AI and machine learning in conversations about generative AI and large language models (LLMs), they’re rapidly becoming central to all tech. Developers are harnessing both to not only improve full-stack development but also redefine processes, systems, and applications.

While the uses are changing and growing every day, AI isn’t going anywhere. As its popularity grows, so does its usage and importance in fields like full-stack development. How are developers planning to use (or already using) AI and machine learning?

Code assistants and auto-completion tools allow full-stack developers to streamline their development process faster and with more accurate code. You can leverage machine learning to build apps that learn and adapt from their users. For example, a full-stack developer could use machine learning algorithms to help create a music app like Spotify that’s able to personalize content, optimize your user interfaces, and provide tailored recommendations. And we can’t forget about chatbots! Instead of the traditional — read: boring — support of static help and FAQs pages, we’ll likely continue to see the growth of AI-powered chatbots that offer real-time customer support.

Ultimately, #AIandMachineLearning are trending in full-stack development because they’re rapidly growing and they help developers create smarter apps more easily.

How to hop on the trend: Start by checking out the Skillcrush Break Into Tech – Full Stack Developer Career Track. It’s an online course that teaches essential AI programming languages — like Python and JavaScript — and lays the foundation you need before for a deep dive into AI and machine learning processes, integrations, and tools.

Low-code/No Code Development

Companies want their processes to be faster, easier, and more efficient. But don’t take my word for it, listen to the experts.

According to IBM, “The demand for hyperautomation and IT modernization has grown, but enterprises have been struggling to align with these trends because of the current limited availability of developer talent… To address these challenges, low-code and no-code software development solutions have emerged as viable and convenient alternatives to the traditional development process.”

Low-Code/No Code (LCNC) is a shift from traditional coding that allows developers to build apps with…you guessed it – minimal coding! Low-code platforms require some coding but largely consist of platforms where developers can drag and drop elements and use pre-built templates to streamline their processes.

No coding experience? No problem! No code platforms require little to no programming experience. Instead, creators use visual tools and templates to build applications.

We can’t stress enough that LCNC development isn’t meant to replace full-stack developers and their work by any means. Instead, it’s meant to enhance the workflow, speeding up processes so developers can quickly create prototypes and new iterations. LCNC platforms often offer version control and automated testing to make it much, much easier to manage and update apps. They even connect to popular services and APIs so full-stack developers can integrate them with their existing systems.

#LCNC platforms won’t replace full-stack developers, but by hopping on this trend, developers can save time on routine, simpler tasks and turn their focus and skills towards large-scale, complex ones.

How to hop on the trend: Explore LCNC platforms! Look at their features and capabilities, and match them to the specifics of your project. Some of the most popular platforms include Appian, Microsoft Power Apps, Mendex, OutSystems, and Salesforce.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

Move over, Hannah Montana! In tech, the “best of both worlds” comes in the form of progressive web apps (PWAs). A PWA is a web app that uses web technology to deliver a native app experience by combining its features into one package. TL;DR: It’s pretty much a webpage that functions as a mobile app.

There’s a reason why #PWAs are on the rise. Adobe reports that PWAs can:

• Boost overall engagement by 137%
• Increase the number of mobile sessions on a site by 80%
• Increase page views by approximately 134%

Here’s why.

PWAs have responsive designs that easily transition to different screen sizes and orientations. This makes them look *pretty* (and usable!) regardless of what device you’re using, whether you’re on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. They’re also available offline so users can access them if they have no or slow internet connection. PWAs have some robust web features, like being installable and using push notifications and GPS location.

From the user-side, PWAs are extremely friendly. They have quick load times, and they use web-based servers that allow immediate updates so users don’t have to download or install them manually. All these features improve user experience (UX), but #PWAs aren’t trending just because of these benefits.

Instead of developing separate projects for web and mobile apps, developers can create a single app that works across both, saving time and money. And, like websites, PWAs can be indexed for search engine optimization (SEO), increasing their organic reach and making them easier to find than native apps.

How to hop on the trend: Familiarize yourself with popular PWAs — like Spotify, Uber, and Pinterest — and their features. To get started with progressive web apps, you’ll need to brush up on your basic front-end programming languages (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) before diving into web app manifests, responsive design principles, and more.

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Serverless Technology

Don’t let the term “serverless” trick you – there are servers involved in serverless technology, it just means that the developers don’t have to manage them! It’s a simple workflow where the developer writes the code (from front-end to back-end) and the cloud provider — who provides the serverless technology — takes care of the rest. And this simplicity is why #serverlesstechnology is growing in full-stack development.

So how are developers employing this serverless advantage?

Serverless architecture simplifies both front-end and back-end development, because developers can build and deploy front-end functions independently from back-end functions. Since these features aren’t tied together, it makes the code cleaner and more manageable.

Since developers don’t have to worry about server management in this model, they can focus more on writing the code and building features instead of configuring or scaling servers. Cloud hosting means these platforms are able to automatically scale up (or down) in response to incoming traffic, reducing downtime and actual time managing server infrastructure.

At the end of the day, it always comes down to money, right? Specifically, in this case, saving money. Developers can manage project costs more effectively because serverless technology platforms typically use a “pay as you go” model. This means you’re only paying for serverless computing that you actually use.

How to hop on the trend: Learn more about serverless architectures and building your first serverless web app using providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, and Azure Functions.

Mixed Reality

Think back to 2016 when it seemed like the entire planet was playing Pokémon Go. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the entire planet, but by the end of the year, the game had been downloaded more than 500 million times. Now, think about new games where you strap on a headset, and it immerses you into a world where you’re “riding” a rollercoaster or “visiting” the Amazon rainforest. These are some of the most popular examples of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) — both examples of mixed reality.

Mixed reality (MR) brings together the physical and digital worlds by combining elements of AR and VR. Augmented reality enhances the real world with live digital overlays, like Pokémon GO or basically any of the filters you can use on Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat. Virtual reality, on the other hand, aims to immerse users in a complete virtual environment.

Software like HoloAnatomy marries AR and VR together. Designed for medical students and professionals, the app provides detailed 3D visualizations of human anatomy overlaid live in a real-world environment. (So yes, you could virtually poke at a brain if you wanted to. For science.) In this instance, the mixed reality function enhances learning and makes the education process a lot more interactive and interesting, along with allowing medical students to have more practical ‘hands-on’ practice in the classroom.

Gaming, education, and healthcare have a huge demand for MR developers and technology. The reason #mixedreality is trending in full-stack development is because it’s bringing about massive changes in how we, as users, interact with our physical and digital worlds. So it’s only natural that it’s also changing how developers design and deploy apps.

Since mixed reality apps can use AR to overlay digital information onto real-world objects, we can boost our ability to understand and interact with a product. If developers want to get fancy, they can combine MR with another popular full-stack development trend — AI and machine learning. By combining all these technologies, full-stack developers can create mixed reality systems that understand and respond to user behavior. Very sci-fi and very cool!

How to hop on the trend: Start by brushing up on — or learning — C#, the most commonly used programming language for MR development. Then continue building your skills in 3D modeling and design, getting experience with video and sound production, and familiarizing yourself with software like Autodesk Maya and Blender.

JAMstack Architecture

Jamstack architecture is an approach that focuses on making web development faster, more secure, and easier to scale. The JAM in Jamstack stands for JavaScript, APIs, and (HTML) Markup. These are the only components that go into creating a website or app with Jamstack architecture.

With Jamstack, “the entire front-end is prebuilt into highly-optimized static pages and assets during a build process.” JavaScript creates the dynamic layer of the application, handling added functionality and features, while also being used for API calls to third-party services. APIs are the backbone of a Jamstack app and handle the server-side operations from the back-end. And lastly, markup refers to the HTML used to build the static files.

Full-stack developers are all #Jamstack for a few reasons. The approach::

• Minimizes server processing time
• Reduces security risks
• Handles sudden spikes in traffic with ease
• Allows developers to use modern tools and frameworks
• Costs less than managing traditional server-based architectures

Developers are integrating Jamstack with headless content management systems (CMS), like Contentful, to create dynamic sites with static rendering — data fetching that happens when you deploy. They’re even using them to build PWAs and leveraging platforms like Shopify to build fast, headless e-commerce sites. And you can too, if you know where to start.

How to hop on the trend: Familiarize yourself with Next.js, a common front-end framework for Jamstack. Get started with Jamstack by building the frontend of your app, creating your page components, and developing your back-end services.

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Blockchain

Blockchain has been (is?) a buzzword for a few years now, but it’s still confusing, so here’s a quick crash course.

Blockchain is how we refer to the technology that records transactions across a network of computers. Each transaction is a “block” and those blocks are linked together in a “chain.” Blockchain decentralizes transactions and boosts transparency. This is a key differentiator for those who use it (like for cryptocurrency, as a primary example). Instead of being controlled in one place, it’s distributed across the network. Blockchain also creates a permanent and tamper-proof record because once data is recorded, it’s nearly impossible to delete or edit it.

Let’s break it down even more. Imagine you’re in a group chat with your friends. In the group chat, you keep track of your decisions — who pays for meals, who calls the Uber, etc. Each time you make a decision, you send a message to the group chat. Your message is a “block” that records the details of the decision.

For example, “I spent $321 on our meal at the restaurant.” Every new message is added after the previous one, creating a sequence. This creates the “chain” of blocks where every message is linked to the one before it. Every person in your group chat sees all the messages (decentralizing the information), meaning that everyone has the same record of your decisions. This makes it hard for someone to change the information without anyone realizing. And once a message is sent, it can’t be edited or deleted. If someone wants to correct something, they have to send an entirely new message, e.g. “I actually spent $383 on our meal, including tip.”

#Blockchain is trending in full-stack development because of an increased demand for security, transparency, and trust, especially in financial and supply chain services. Companies don’t want to worry about data breaches and cyberattacks. And with the massive rise of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain is basically mandatory for creating and managing these digital assets.

Blockchain developers build decentralized apps (dApps) for financial platforms and even social networks. They’re using blockchain to create identity management systems that boost privacy, reduce fraud, and streamline user authentication.

Full-stack developers need to get into blockchain (or at least learn about it) because it’s a powerful solution to security and transparency issues.

How to hop on the trend: Learn more about blockchain transactions and technologies, including web3 architecture and tools like Ganache and Truffle.

DevOps

DevOps is one of the most essential skills for full-stack development, and it’s currently on the rise. It brings together software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to streamline and automate software delivery. Rather than a program or specific piece of software, DevOps is a set of practices and tools that help full-stack developers bridge the gap between creating and running applications, making sure that every line of code transitions smoothly from development to production.

How are developers using DevOps for their full-stack projects? They use:

• Version control to manage and track code changes
• CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous development) pipelines to automate integrating and deploying code changes
• Containerization to package apps for easy deployment across different operating systems
• Monitoring and logging tools to track app performance and identify potential issues
• Automated testing frameworks to test code before deployment

Full-stack developers are jumping on the #DevOps train because using these practices means faster delivery and deployment, increased communication and collaboration with team members, better quality, increased efficiency, and improved scalability.

How to hop on the trend: Master the fundamental programming languages (HTML, CSS, Python,and JavaScript), familiarize yourself with major operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS), and learn the ins and outs of DevOps through courses or certifications like the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer certification.

Honorable Mentions

While they may not be the #trending topics in full-stack development, we have a few more trends and technologies worth mentioning.

Closely tied to the push behind blockchain, we’ve definitely seen an increased focus on cybersecurity. Developers need to keep up with security best practices and processes like authentication and authorization to safeguard apps and protect user data. It’s also worth mentioning that neglecting proper information security can have some serious legal consequences.

Instead of the traditional code-first approach, full-stack developers are turning to API-first development. Traditionally, development starts with coding an app and defining its features before later integrating the API. This new strategy starts with designing and developing the API first, reducing integration issues and creating a faster development process.

Microservices is an approach where developers use smaller, more manageable components to build an app. Instead of building some large, complex app all at once, they build a suite of small, independent services that are each responsible for a specific function. Because one component won’t bring down the entire system, microservices can make full-stack development more scalable, flexible, and easier to maintain.

According to Statista, JavaScript is the most used programming language (62.3%) among developers in 2024. While HTML/CSS, Python, and SQL come next, TypeScript rounds out the top five, surpassing Java and all the other “C” programming languages — C, C++, and C#. TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript that comes with extra tools and features, and it’s starting to make a splash with full-stack developers.

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#BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for Full-Stack Development

Full-stack development is constantly evolving. Trends like these reshape how we build and deploy software. But remember, things that are popular today could very easily change tomorrow. Keeping track of full-stack development and its trends will keep you on your toes, and it’s the best way to scope out new tools and technologies that’ll make designing and delivering apps much easier.

In the meantime, you can brush up on your full-stack development skills with the Skillcrush Break Into Tech – Full Stack Developer Career Track. It’s an online course that teaches you the most important programming languages for full-stack development, like HTML and Python. And the program doesn’t stop at teaching! It gives you the tools to turn your new skills into a career. With personalized resume reviews, mock interviews, and career counseling sessions, it’s your all-in-one ticket to learning and landing a job in tech.