A "stack" refers to the layers of technologies between the server hardware and the end-user's browser required for a complete web application. Within this somewhat simplistic definition, you can further divide the stack into two parts: the front-end and the back-end. A front-end engineer specializes in the interactive, user-facing portion of a web app: the look and feel, color scheme, animations, buttons, and all the rest that makes up the user interface ("UI"). A back-end engineer works with servers, queries databases, writes APIs, and developes algorithms to hand the appropriate information back to their front-end counterparts.

A "full stack" developer is one with experience and knowledge of both the front-end and the back-end. There are several popular stacks to choose from, and the more exposure you have to different technologies, the more versatile and in demand you'll be as a developer. Javascript, though historically a front-end language, recently made the leap to the server-side as well (thanks to Node.js). Think of this exciting shift as "one language to rule them all." Python is a powerful programming language that's excellent for beginners and highly sought-after in the job market. Python is also known as one of the most popular languages in the quickly growing field of "big data" analytics.

By covering two programming languages and our rotating elective workshops, our students are better equipped both as builders and job seekers. They're more versatile and better able to tackle new technologies in a constantly evolving industry. They're able to turn their ideas into fully-functional web applications without missing components. In short, they're full stack software engineers.