The difference between a full stack developer and a software engineer is a software engineer focuses on the entire lifecycle of software development, such as planning, design, front-end and back-end development, mobile development, and more. In contrast, a full stack developer focuses on both the front-end and back-end solutions. In other words, a full-stack developer is considered a subset of a software engineer.
Software engineering can include full-stack developers, but full-stack developers do not always provide software engineering because software engineering roles are broad and more complex. Furthermore, full-stack developers only focus on the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) of websites and mobile apps on the front end, in addition to servers and database engineering on the back end. A software engineer’s purview expands beyond the front end and back end.