A full-stack web developer is a multi-skilled professional well-versed in frontend and backend technologies. In other words, such a developer can develop both client and server software.

A full-stack developer masters HTML and CSS. In addition, he knows how to programme a browser, a server and programme a database using SQL, SQLite or MongoDB. A full-stack developer needs to know at least one programming language. Java and Python are the most widely used programming languages. To support the backend server side framework, one must master object-oriented programming, data structures, algorithms and database design.

HTML helps you create a webpage. CSS sets the layout of the webpage. JavaScript makes the page dynamic and interactive. JavaScript is the dominant programming language in web development for more than two decades. To begin with, it was a client-side language (browser). Later, it could be used for web server (with Node.js). Today, we cherish full-stack JavaScript programming. Programming in C will decline slowly. Programming in JavaScript will be more important.

A full-stack JavaScript developer can develop both client and server-side software.

People who create websites and web applications are called frontend developers. It refers to client-side. Backend development refers to server-side. Frontend decides how the web page looks and backend decides how it works.

HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. WWW is communication between web clients and servers. This is established through HTTP Requests and receiving Http Responses. Clients are browsers and servers are computers in the cloud. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It describes how HTML elements are to be displayed. Responsive Web Design is about making a website look good on all devices.

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It is used to access databases. It is in vogue since 1987. SQL statements are used to access data bases. There are database tables. To support the frontend, one must master HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Angular JS/React JS.

In addition, one must know cloud computing fundamentals, Python basics and SQL.

Some popular stacks are;

LEMP stack of JavaScript, Linux-Nginx, MySQL, PHP.

LAMP stack of JavaScript-Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP.

MEAN stack of JavaScript, MongoDB, Express, Angular JS, Node.js.

Django stack of JavaScript Python, Django, MySQL.

Ruby on Rails stack of JavaScript, Ruby, SQLite, Rails.

Front-end client software consists of HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, XML, j Query, Angular, React, Storybook etc. Backend server software consists of PHP, ASP, C++, C#, Java, Python, SQL, MongoDB, SaaS, PaaS etc.

Full-stack developer is useful in a project and prototype development. He is able to assist all team members. It results in cost reduction and facilitates communication. It is useful in understanding all aspects of new and upcoming technologies.

However, there are certain drawbacks of full-stack development. A solution chosen may not suitable for a project. It could be dependent on the developer’s skills. There could be a key person risk. Full-stack development is complex.

Second Life officially appeared in 2003 as the first metaverse. Videogames such as Active Worlds and Fortnite have long used metaverse like components.

In fact, metaverse as a concept was drawn from the 1992 novel Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. It denoted a 3D virtual world with avatars of real human beings.

Today it is a mix of 3D world and immersive social connection, and is facilitated by advances in virtual and augmented reality (AR and VR) and mixed reality (MR).

Internet has limited ability to be truly immersive. Thus it is passe. Immersive experiences of metaverse will mix the real and non-real. Marketers and engineers would facilitate human transition into metaverse providing unprecedented UI and UX.

Metaverse will attract people to shop, travel, trade, play, and socialise in the virtual world. Brands will be embedded unobstrusively in the alternate world. There will be retailing of virtual goods to digital avatars. Thus there would be virtual brand revenue.

A full-fledged metaverse is still some distance away. The hardware must become economical. Opponents call it a passing fad. Proponents call it the future.

Agencies have to promote new age digital economy brands. An increasing portion of revenues come from new age brands. Some such brands are Meta, LinkedIn, Etsy, Force Motors and Sleepyhead. There are several digital-first brands such as Spotify, PhonePe and CarDekho..

Companies approach agencies to exploit a business opportunity or solve a problem or to understand how best they can achieve a defined business objective. Brands expect agencies to go beyond campaigns and communication tasks. They seek integrated solutions.

Agencies now offer expertise spanning content, e-commerce, design, influencer marketing, celebrity management, media, data etc. Agencies do consulting work for several brands.

They can roll out regional units who do research across specific markets to understand consumer behaviour. The solutions are thus customised.

Crypto boom and bust would tell upon on the real-world financial markets. There is rapid expansion of cryptos and fintech. DeFi platforms offer decent returns to investors, who invest in some of these startups. There are no banking intermediaries here. Crypto mania touches the real economy at fast speed. There could be losses which could lead to the next subprime crisis. Crypto ownership is U-shaped. It is likely that top and bottom-income households own cryptos. Their links with the financial system are growing. The investor community is guided by the maxim of dipping the toes. There are DeFi loans and there are stablecoins. There could be demands of redemption for which assets would be sold. If managed algorithmically, there could be spillover effects. The effects are not confined to crypto universe but spill over to the real economy. These activities would be highlighted by regulatory focus. DEFI lending could be supervised by big centralised funds.

Brands use AI and Deepfake to personalise ad campaigns. Mondelez leveraged AI for its Not Just a Cadbury Ad. AI recreated Shah Rukh Khan’s face and voice in every retail commercial. They created more than a lac hyper-localised ads during Diwali helping small business owners to improve their sales. Zomato leveraged Deepfake technology to get endorser Hritik Roshan to name dishes and restaurants in different cities based on viewer’s location.

Deepfake is a kind of AI used to create convincing images, audio and video hoaxes. It is a 21st century version of photoshopping. Pepsi used this technology to bring alive a younger Salman Khan. LIC used its brand endorser Sachin Tendulkar’s child avatar to record a message of being fearless.

The celebrity not only remains a part of advertisement, but becomes a part of a consumer’s journey.

AI has been used to create a digital Diya Mirza and Tiger Shroff.

Gaming is a good career opportunity in segments such as content creation, streaming and organisation of e-sports.

Indians were into mobile gaming, but there is a shift now to PC-based gaming. In fact, India is becoming a PC gaming hot spot.

Gaming has become a part of lifestyle now, especially for the youth. Gaming has spread from metros to smaller places. Gaming provides the downtime in a virtual environment. It provides opportunities to meet new people . Gaming reduces stress and induces positive feeling.

Gaming has created a huge market for gaming notebooks. India is among the top three markets in the world.

Gaming technology is advancing — innovative thermal technology and winning horsepower, breathtaking visuals, larger screens, great accessories. It creates remarkable experience for the users.

ASCI 1.0 was just a complaints redressal forum. ASCI 2.0 is more relevant to our times. It adds value to the industry. Its aim is to motivate ad professionals to be responsible with advertising communication. A thought leadership must be introduced. There should be constant education of people. They should discourage the irresponsible advertising.

Besides this, there should be focus on emerging areas in advertising. The complaints management system must be more robust and nimbler. Education and edtech is an important focus area. Surrogate advertising is another area. Endorsements must be a focus area too.

One recent specialisation for Gen Z is Product Design and Technology (PDT) which is a mix of computer and engineering skills to create designers who are technology-focused and yet creative. The main objective of this course is to train manpower in developing product prototypes, new product design, applied research and product testing. The manpower must have knowledge of materials, components and processes used in product creation.

PDT plans the accuracy and quality control for prototypes. It also focuses on waste management.

Product design is a response to the real life problems and offers a suitable solution in terms of design. This is a dynamic response as consumer demands keep on changing. It is all the more challenging when there are more alternatives of components and materials that go into making of the products. Thus the existing technologies must be used to build digital tools that facilitate the design function. These tools use autonomous skillsets from diverse fields — data refinement, AI, analytics, cloud , IoT etc. There is an interface of electronics, programming and mechanics for product designing.

There is an appreciation of digital tool visualisation through AR and VR, and using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D printing. PDT also uses CAD and CAM.

AI, as we know, is being trained by feeding real images, but the danger is that it could turn biased. To make it less discriminatory, AI could be trained on synthetic images. Gartner estimates 60 per cent of all data used to train AI will be synthetic by 2024, and it will overshadow completely the real data for AI training by 2030.

Synthetic images market has two types of companies — those who use GANs and those who design 3D graphics from scratch.

Fake data is not used only in computer vision systems but it is also used for predictive software. Banks use the fake data to decide the loan eligibility. To illustrate, to design algos to distribute loans to minority groups. Here database is made of artificial people from minority groups with average credit rating. Thus they are closer to other groups. It is akin to manipulating data that algos are trained on. It facilitates positive discrimination.

The use of fake data is a step in the right direction. However, synthetic data would not eliminate the bias 100 per cent, since such bias is innate in the people who develop these tools.

There are several approaches to genome editing. One popular approach is called CRISPR which stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and Cas9 or CRISPR-associated protein 9.

In short, CRISPR is a family of DNA sequences found in genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. These sequences are derived from DNA fragments of bacteriophases that have been previously infected by the organisms.

On subsequent infections, these are used to detect and destroy DNA from similar bacteriophases.

The repeats match viral sequences. Bacteria transcribe these DNA elements to RNA upon viral infection. The RNA guides a nuclease or protein that cleaves to the viral DNA to cut it. Thus protection against the virus is provided.

Immune System of Bacteria

Let us understand the natural immune system of the bacteria. These are infected by a virus and become bacteriophase. Small pieces of virus are captured by the bacteria and these are inserted into their own DNA. A pattern is formed called CRSPR arrays. It enables bacteria to remember viruses or closely related viruses.

When there is another attack, bacteria produce RNA segments from CRSPR arrays which recognise and attach to specific regions of the DNA of viruses.

Bacteria then use Cas9 or similar enzyme to cut DNA apart, thus disabling the virus.

In short, bacteria’s DNA gallery stores the genetic code of any virus that attacks it. The bacteria checks this gallery and when it finds a match, it activates a CRISPR-associated enzyme called Cas9 to cut it and disable it.

Editing Tool

CRISPR has become a highly precise gene editing tool. It is used to remove, add or alter section of the DNA sequence. It is a genetic manipulation tool.

The immune system, we have discussed, has been used to edit DNA.

How CRISR Works

A small piece of RNA with short guide sequence is created. It attaches to specific target sequence in the DNA of the cell. The guide RNA attaches to Cas 9 enzyme. When introduced into the cells, guide RNA recognises the intended DNA sequence. Cas 9 enzyme cuts the DNA at targeted location. It snips the DNA. The cells then repair the broken DNA. Scientists can insert replacement DNA into the cell to stitch the broken cells together. The existing segment has been replaced by a customised DNA sequences. The genetic material can take additions or deletions or alterations.

Thus this is a mirror work of bacteria’s immune system. Bacteria have a natural editing system to have an immune defence. It has been adapted to develop CRISPR.

Genome editing is a group of technologies that give scientists an ability to change an organism’s DNA.

CRISPR is faster, more accurate, more efficient approach to genome editing.

Uses

CRISPR is used to prevent and treat diseases. It is more useful in single cell diseases, and promises to be useful in complex diseases.

Genome editing is limited to stomatic cells, and is isolated to certain tissues. It could be used to edit early embryos or germline cells or eggs and sperms. However, this affects progeny. It is a moot point whether it could be used to produce designer babies, say more intelligent and beautiful. It is illegal in the US and elsewhere. CRISPR can be used to produce mice where 80 per cent, or 100 per cent are females. Mosquitos can be made to produce male mosquitos and thus the disease producing female mosquitos could be avoided.

How Used

CRISPR injection is administered into the eye directly. It consists of a non-pathogenic virus called AAV carrying Cas9 protein and its guide RNA.

Virus are used in gene therapy and editing as they have the ability to get into the cells.

Attachment

History of CRISPR-Cas9

Crispr-Cas brings find and replace function in text files to the complex task of altering DNA.

It was launched in August 2012. US scientist Jennifer with her European collaborator Emmanuelle published a paper on CRISPR — Cas9. In January 2013 MIT and Harvard researchers adapted CRISPR-Cas9 to edit genes in mice and human cells. In August 2013, CRISPR was used to engineer plant genomes. In March 2015, scientists in the US and China explore CRSPO on stem cells to engineer human organs from genetically altered pigs. In February 2016, the UK allows scientists to alter human embryos using CRISPR. In June 2016, the US allows CRISPR for treating patients. CRISPR is used to alter T cells for treating cancer patients. In May 2017, CRISPR is used by the US and Chinese scientists for HIV treatment. It was also shown that cardiac ailment can be treated using CRISPR. In March 2018, gene editing of two human embryos was done by a Chinese scientist to disable a gene that allows HIV to enter cells. In March 2020 for childhood blindness a patient was treated using CRISPR to alter photoreceptor genes in the US. In September 2020, a Covid test was created called Feluda using CRISPR. In October 2020, Jennifer and Emmanuelle got a Nobel for their work on CRISPR. In October 2021, there are trials of CRISPR-based cancer treatment.