Yeah I feel like I want fullsreen almost never. Even on a 13" laptop, almost all of my workflows involve having at least two applications open and at least occasionally having both of them visible at the same time
Full screen and split screen have become my default modes of using almost everything on macOS. It's a pleasant, generally better focused, way of interacting. I just wish it were richer like the tiling WMs I used on Linux. Maybe not as useful on a laptop (due to screen size and my aging eyes), but when attached to a high res monitor it would be nice to be able to split the screen into quarters, at least, instead of halves.
This is also what I generally want and we're not alone. There are a few active projects to facilitate this. Personally I like <ahref=https://freemacsoft.net/tiles/">Tiles</a>
ummm, how? When I hit the green button for full screen, it takes over the screen like a Spaces screen. How are you able to have side by side full screen of 2 apps. That seems like you are breaking the definition of the word full. If 2 apps are "full" screen side by side, you either have "half" screen views or 2 monitors.
Open Mission Control and drag a window into an already full screen application. You can also drag two windows in a new full screen space, or drag a full screen space into another to merge them.