Main image of article What Specializations are Most Popular Among Developers?

Within software development, there are lots of potential specializations. If you’re just starting out as a software developer or engineer, you likely have lots of questions about your potential career path, and it’s potentially helpful to look at what your professional colleagues are doing.

To help answer that question, we have Stack Overflow’s latest Developer Survey, which queried 89,184 developers from 185 countries. As part of the survey, Stack Overflow asked developers about their specific focus. Here’s what they said (the full list is available on Stack Overflow’s Developer Survey microsite):

As you can see, many developers out there have decided to pursue the full stack. Effective full-stack developers must possess encyclopedic knowledge of programming languages, tools, and methodologies; while it’s hard to master this role, it also makes you extremely attractive to companies that want a tech professional who can efficiently carry out a diverse set of tasks.

Full-stack developers and engineers are also known for their versatility, especially at smaller companies where they might be tasked with managing front- and back-end processes simultaneously without a large team. Many full-stack specialists have mastered languages such as Java, Python or Ruby and database technologies such as SQL (MySQL) and NoSQL (DynamoDB, Mongo); those with a mobile focus are adept at iOS, Java, Kotlin and Objective-C.  

According to Glassdoor, full-stack developers make total average compensation of $108,803 per year, putting them ahead of back-end developers (who average $92,963 per year) and front-end developers (who average $102,308).

Many developers and engineers also choose to focus near-exclusively on the front- or back-end aspects of development. From a technical skills standpoint, many front-end developer jobs request candidates possess the following:

  • JavaScript
  • Front-End Development
  • Software Engineering
  • React JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • Software Development
  • Web Application Development

Meanwhile, back-end developers are frequently asked to have these skills:

Whatever developer path you choose, you need to internalize that mastering all the required skills will take time and patience. In addition, learning is a never-ending process; as tools and platforms evolve, you’ll need to take note of (and master) those changes.