Do you know what the engine of the apps and processes that revolve in the everyday life of businesses is? Back-end developers. Businesses know that when they hire tough back-enders, they will help their teams deliver efficient and appropriate services to their customers and themselves either. That’s one of the reasons why in the US they agree paying five-figure monthly salaries to back-end developers. The other reason is that the demand for senior experts is exceeding supply, but we’re not too surprised about that, are we?
Back-end developer job descriptions will usually mention multiple technical and soft skills they want from candidates. The role we’re talking about has to collaborate with front-enders, data scientists, system engineers, and other technical experts, so he/she better feels comfortable in human interactions. This roadmap will introduce, one by one, the major fields where an aspiring back-ender needs to seek excellent skills in.
A carefully tailored list of courses for best experience developing your skills, including only the essentials and skipping the usual college surpluses.
Improve your skill set with proven tools, and take opportunities to practice with realistic tasks.
Make additions to your résumé to secure your dream job with high pay. Send applications anywhere in the world!
Even if you choose to stop midway, you’ll have acquired skills that you’ll be able to use in many other fields.
The graph shows the average of Back-end Developer annual salaries in different markets. Senior devs hit five-figure monthly wages in the US, so it’s worth working hard for it! For more details check https://www.glassdoor.com
Even if you don’t find every job board overcrowded with specific offers to back-end developers, these skills are needed as air for anyone working at the back end of websites, software, databases, and servers, so you’ll be required forever! And you need to invest your time into a solid foundation.
Back-end development languages are used to create dynamic and fascinating sites. You may not need to know them all, but being an expert in just several of them will definitely increase your chances of getting the job you’ve always dreamed of.
For your back-end building operations, you’ll need to master a coding language. And not just one. PHP has been there for ages, backing hundreds of millions of websites.
Start with the basics to find out what PHP operators, PHP for loops, PHP arrays and classes are, and how to write a tidy and readable code in an interactive course.
See Learning PathsAlong with different functions of PHP, you’ll also get an introductory understanding of HTML, CSS, and PHP/MySQL environments.
See Learning PathsThe “batteries included”, open source, free programming language used by many tech giants, Python will help you build vibrant and reliable web-based programs.
A good starting point for beginners where you’ll learn the basics and immediately begin writing code right away.
See Learning PathsLearn from a best-selling author and an experienced programmer to master the red-hot language and make an impact in your career.
See Learning PathsThanks to Node.js, we have two-way, real-time connections in web applications which allows the client and server to exchange data freely.
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See Learning PathsLearn to build real-world applications with Node.js working on Node apps, MongoDB, and deploying applications to production like a real back-end developer.
See Learning PathsAll the discussions about the Java decline are ridiculous. It’s been there, it’s still right there, and just any back-ender needs it as air for work. So you better learn it as a fundamental skill.
Java is the backbone of popular games and applications. Join in to learn how to code with Java and build server-side elements for websites. Learn the basics and start programming with Java.
See Learning PathsLearn how to write efficient code and create software programs and functions using object-oriented programming in Java in this hands-on introductory software development program.
See Learning PathsWith Scala, you have the chance to explore functional and object-oriented programming simultaneously.
Learn the language which is at the back of infrastructure of Twitter, Tumblr, and Coursera.
See Learning PathsLearn Scala for programming and Spark for processing large sets of data.
See Learning PathsAn integral part of a Back-end Developer’s day is testing, and automated, repeatable tests will help you catch bugs early in the software development cycle.
A quick tutorial describing how to write unit and integration tests, showing examples from unit tests.
See Learning PathsA step-by-step guide to get things done with unit testing. Learn to write clean and maintainable tests.
See Learning PathsData needs a database to store and process data quickly and Backend Data science must know how to do it. There are several options, learn one, and other will look much easier.
MySQL, an open source relational database management system, is a popular database platform because it’s simplicity, fast, secure, and inexpensive.
A complete course where you’ll learn the database development process with MySQL in cooperation with PHP.
See Learning PathsLearn how relational databases work and build a portfolio of data queries with a focus on the realistic business environment.
See Learning PathsUnderstand how Unity interacts with other systems while learning SQL and PHO basics.
See Learning PathsExpand your expertise learning more than one relational databases. MariaDB is free and beginner-friendly, open-source database management system.
Learn the essential functions and practice with querying MariaDB databases with HeidiSQL.
See Learning PathsNoSQL (Non-SQL or Not-only-SQL) databases are growing in popularity as they can solve problems that regular databases fail at.
Build an understanding of the main NoSQL data management systems topics in a detailed course.
See Learning PathsGet a beginner hands-on experience with NoSQL databases to carry out the necessary operations.
See Learning PathsCashing makes websites or online stores run faster by providing additional storage for frequently used data. Learn at least two of the options.
In this brief tutorial, you’ll learn to use Redis for data caching to speed up the simple application that you’ll build in Node.js.
See Learning PathsGet to grips with Memcached to start avoiding common cashing mistakes and learn to use Pymemcache.
See Learning PathsWhen you understand the idea of REST API, you’ll develop better and more robust APIs for your users.
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See Learning PathsExperience the whole process of building, testing, customizing REST APIs, and implementing important features with Spring Data REST.
See Learning PathsAn in-depth tutorial for back-end developers taking from beginner-level fundamentals of using Node, ES6, MongoDB, and Express for building APIs.
See Learning PathsIt’s important to learn about authorization, authentication, and accounting services and methodologies for anyone controlling an extensive network with servers.
Quick tips on authorization, authentication, and accounting services from an experienced professor.
See Learning PathsMessage brokers primarily work to validate, transform, and route messages to mediate communication among applications.
Explore the functionality of RabbitMQ, which you’ll be able to use for developing scalable and robust systems.
See Learning PathsGet the essential understanding of Apache Kafka ecosystem and start developing your personal Kafka environment.
See Learning PathsFor a Back-end Developer, it’s important to learn the main programs of search engines to understand their replicability, modularity, and scalability when dealing with enormous amounts of documents.
Learn Elasticsearch quickly and set your knowledge to work writing complex queries.
See Learning PathsGain knowledge in how Elasticsearch works and practice with building and launching your first node.
See Learning PathsLearn to implement a Solr-based search engine on a company’s intranet system or website.
See Learning PathsTurn to Docker for application deployment instead of trusting virtual machines for that purpose, and enjoy the multiple benefits Docker provides.
Master the best Kubernetes functions to build apps in containers and set up tasks to work in a definite flow.
See Learning PathsMake an effort to learn to use the major components of Kubernetes and Docker at building, shipping, running, and managing your web applications.
See Learning PathsCover all the fundamentals of Docker and learn the things you need to develop and deploy applications with Docker.
See Learning PathsIn common practice, Nginx is used as a proxy server leaving Apache at the back end. It’s a good idea to learn to orchestrate the two tools to work effectively for you.
Learn the essentials of Apache web server environment, Apache security, log files, and web server administration.
See Learning PathsLearn how to set up a server from scratch and understand the working principles of Digital Ocean VPS and Vesta CP.
See Learning PathsThe continuous connection between client and server allows sending the data from the server at any time and send data either way very efficiently.
A detailed look into Socket.io and WebSockets while learning a cool JavaScript library.
See Learning PathsImprove your skills and your business by learning about WebSockets.
See Learning PathsGraphQL has been created by Facebook as an alternative to traditional REST APIs, providing greater flexibility and speed.
Understand how GraphQL works and develop your GraphQL API quickly with Node.js.
See Learning PathsBuild real-world Node applications with GraphQL and learn about essential features, such as authentication, real-time application, and more in a very detailed course.
See Learning PathsKafka guru, solutions architect, consultant, and software developer, Stephane is an active member of the Apache community who’s been building his students community very intensively, as he’s got so much to share.
Mark is obsessed with creating in-depth, very detailed online tutorials on many topics related to development. He’s a CEO of Devslopes, and a valuable resource in your career path.
Balaji holds a Masters Degree in computer science and has 10 years of work experience. He willingly shares the best of his experiences, mostly in REST APIs and Big data.
Yohann is among the leading instructors in mobile game programming. He helped over 50,000 students to publish and reach top spots with the apps they created.
Eric is a Senior Content Developer at Microsoft Learning and a professional teacher. His focus spans mainly on test, program and engineering management, and, of course, content development.
Dr. Chuck, a Professor at the University of Michigan, teaching programming, database design, and web development. A researcher and an author of a number of different technology-oriented books.
An IT trainer who knows stuff about the Cloud. Ryan has worked in a number of high-level positions developing and managing stuff, and he enjoys sharing his inside-out knowledge with hungry students.
We’ve selected only the experts with proven expertise that is worth your trust.
If you’ve followed this learning path for a Back-end Developer, you should have learned valuable and necessary skills to get prepared for the launch. Remember, this is just the beginning. A competent and ambitious back-ender will continuously learn new tools, and you can find more courses on BitDegree for your further development!
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I found much good advice in the FAQ section in this roadmap – all in one place. I work as a front-end developer for over a year now in a small team, so I have back-end tasks quite often. I’m adding skills and getting there to become a full-stack rock star one day!
Learn from real experts in their fields who share their knowledge and practical know-how.
Prove what you’ve learned to anyone who asks, and hang sweet additions to your wall of achievements.
Find opportunities to practice with code examples, practical tasks, learning missions, etc.
Feel even more motivated to get skills for your career with a number of gaming elements!
On BitDegree, you'll be able to receive a Blockchain certificate that is immune to falsification.
Increase your chances to secure a job that you dream of by focusing on the skills that you actually need.
A Back-end Developer develops and takes care of the maintenance of the server-side logic of websites. He works with the core functional logic and operations to make sure that the data or services requested by the front-end are brought using programmatic means. A back-end developer will usually know and use the latest software development infrastructure and methods.
The primary responsibilities of back-end developers include creating and maintaining the web application logic and integrating the front-end developers’ work. They usually write web services and APIs that will be used by front-enders or mobile app programmers. Back-enders are responsible for building reusable code and libraries, optimization of applications for scalability, ensuring data protection and security, debugging and many other duties specific to each job position.
Start with the technical knowledge: you’ll need a solid understanding of the syntax and nuances of the major coding languages (JavaScript, C++, Python, PHP, etc.). Next, detailed knowledge in MVC frameworks and being in comfort with the complexities of coding network security solutions. Practice writing clean code, moving swiftly with revisions (so there’s no need to rework), and reading others’ code. Don’t forget the soft skills, as you’ll be working together with other team members, giving feedback on each others’ work.
One way is to think in terms of time spent doing different tasks, and it does bring experience. The other way would be considering the scenarios doing specific tasks on different levels using different tools. The greater the variety, the more experience you’ll have. And of course, it’ll take time. Most employers look for specialists with 2-5 years’ experience, and many professionals of the craft will admit it took around 2-2,5 years for them to tackle back-end processes firmly.
Whenever speaking about salaries, it’s a slippery road to state facts, as numbers vary so wildly. Even within the US market, the average annual figures may vary from as much as $104k in Colorado to $153k in Washington. The European market will also offer various prices for your working time, ranging from $60k in the Netherlands to $90,000 in the UK. So, you get the idea: it depends mostly on your skill set and experience, but it’s worth working hard for.
Many companies struggle to find trustworthy, professional, and experienced back-end developers, so you’ve got the upper hand here if you take your learning seriously enough. Research what technical experiences people in your area are looking from back-enders, make sure to practice those skills in your sleeping-time. Engage in different events where you can meet other colleagues or potential hirers. Perfect your LinkedIn profile listing all your qualifications or trainings – talent hunting has moved into a proactive mode so you can expect phone calls without even sending your resume out.
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