Backend Development: Behind The Application

Backend Developers are focused on how a website works. Their primary concern is to make sure that the website functions with complete ease. The Backend Developers are the ones who write codes that focus on the logic and functionality that powers the web application that they are working on. The technology that the Backend Developer works on is never directly seen by the user. The only part that is visible to the user is created by the front-end developers.

Any successfully functioning website has both Frontend and Backend Developers working in coordination with each other. Without the Backend functioning the Frontend won’t work and without the Frontend the backend functioning won’t be visible to the user. So, to make the website accessible and interactive with the user both the Backend and Frontend work needs to be carried out in a coordinating manner. The key difference is that Backend Development deals with the building of how the website functions, Frontend Development programmers build and design the user interface, determining how the site would look to the user.

Responsibilities of Backend Developers

The technology behind Backend Development is a combination of servers, databases and applications. The Backend Developers focus on the website working and hence are responsible for creating and maintaining technology at the Backend of the website.

Responsibilities of Backend Developers could involve writing code to interact with a Database, data architecture, writing APIs, creating libraries, working on business processes and much more. The Developers make sure that the website is scalable and that it should function even when hit by a large load of online traffic or demanding script. The other tasks of Backend developers include testing and maintaining existing backend elements to ensure that they are running as fast and efficiently as possible. Backend Developers also need to have a good knowledge of data security and compliance as data storage also comes under their task sheet.

Typical responsibilities of Backend developers include: 

• Building and maintaining web applications. 
• Managing hosting environment. 
• Writing APIs (Application Program Interface). 
• Creating libraries. 
• Troubleshooting and Debugging. 
• QA testing. 
• Writing high-quality Backend code. 
• Assessing the efficiency and speed of the existing applications. 
• Data architecture. 
• Interacting with Databases. 
• Working on Business Processes. 
• Keeping on top of the new technologies.

Backend Developer Skills and Experience

For any company hiring a Backend Developer, the analysis of an applicant is done based on the experience and skills relating to the Backend Development. Knowledge and experience relating to web data security and compliance are also taken into consideration. Apart from Web-related skills, developers also need to possess a good number of personal qualities. All of them are listed below: 

• Development Skills
  • Fluency in Scripting Languages such as PHP, .Net, C#, Java or Ruby. 
  • Knowledge of Version control such as Git, CVS or SVN. 
  • Experience with frameworks such as Ruby, Django, Laravel or Express.js. 
  • Experience with Database systems such as SQL, MySQL and Oracle. 
  • Experience with APIs such as SOAP and REST web services. 
  • Knowledge of any one Frontend Programming Language such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript for communicating with the Frontend Team. 
  • Capability of hosting and managing any environment along with the Database administration. 
  • The capability of scaling applications to handle the load changes caused due to either traffic or the demanding script. 
  • Knowledge of Security Compliance and accessibility. 
  • Server Handling Knowledge using either Docker, Node.js, Kubernetes, Nginx, etc.
    

• Personal Quality Skills 
  • Good Analytical Thinking. 
  • Good Problem-Solving Skills. 
  • High attention to Detail. 
  • Excellent communication Skills. 
  • Teamwork is the most important skill.

Backend Programming Languages

Backend Development is a tedious task to do as well as learn but is rewarding as well. Backend Developers typically tend to earn higher salaries than Frontend Developers as working with the Backend side is more of a tedious task to do. Some of the programming languages that can help you become a Backend Developer are: 

• Java

  Java is one of the world’s most popular programming languages. The reason is the versatility of the language due to JVM (Java Virtual Machine). The Java Virtual Machine can run code on any computer ignoring where the program was compiled. unlike some other programming languages wherein codes created and compiled on one computer don’t run on any other computer. Java is extremely popular with business software developments but is less user-friendly in the case of beginner-level programming due to its complexity and that it requires more code to build a single feature of any web application. Java is used for programming:
  • mobile applications,
  • website development,
  • image processing,
  • database connectivity, 
  • GUI-based programming, and
  • networking.

• PHP

  PHP is a dynamically typed programming language that helps developers come up with various solutions for a single problem. It also means that the same bit of code can mean different depending on the context, thus making the programs written in PHP slow to run and sometimes even tricky to scale. As a beginner learning PHP is more helpful for certain reasons: 
  • The setup of PHP language is relatively easy compared to languages like Ruby on Rails. 
  • There are abundant resources available which are dedicated to the language as a result of tool support and a large community. Also, the language undergoes updates thus enabling you to learn from the up-to-date language tutorial. 
  • It does forgive small errors thus enabling a programmer to compile and run the program easily. It only prompts up in case the program reaches a problematic part.
    

          With the help of PHP programming language, one can:

• • Generate dynamic page content, 
  • Send and receive cookies, 
  • Collect form Data, 
  • Write command line scripting, 
  • Write server-side scripting, 
  • Write desktop applications.

• .NET

  ASP.NET is a web application that is used to build websites using languages like Visual Basic (VB), C#, F#, and many more. It is a Microsoft product and its MVC (Model-View-Controller) architectural pattern allows all the backend duties to be handled by the controller, which then interacts with a model to process data. The result obtained is then presented to the user as a frontend web page. .NET was made open source in 2016 and can integrate with Android, iOS and Linux by way of .NET Core. The code obtained in this is highly stable and reliable, thus making it a popular choice for business-related programming. With ASP.NET one can: 
  • Build Desktop applications, 
  • Create mobile applications, 
  • Work with Big Data, 
  • Build web applications and games and much more.

• Ruby

  Ruby on Rails is a web development language that too is best to learn if dealing with Backend Development. It is a language built on top of the Ruby programming language. It has a set of tools that allows programmers to simply create basic tasks. The programming language involves little amount of Backend work, enabling developers to create and launch web applications quickly. Ruby is also an open-source language meaning it is modified and built upon. With the help of Ruby one can: 
  • Build web applications, 
  • Build mobile applications and games, 
  • Create prototypes, 
  • Automate repetitive tasks and much more.

• Python

  Python is one of the most popular languages in the world today due to the versatility that the language provides to beginners. This language can be used for building both web and desktop applications. The reason why Python is more popular among beginners is because this language has the simplest of syntax and is easy to understand as compared to other Backend programming languages. Also, Python is an open-source language, dynamically typed and an object-oriented language. Python language can be used to:
  • Build web and desktop applications, 
  • Build mobile applications and games, 
  • Quick automation, 
  • Cross-platform shell scripting.

• SQL

  Structured Query Language or SQL is the most common and popular Query language. SQL is great for beginners due to its declarative language. A declarative language allows all the programmers to declare the results as per their wish that they would like to see, without specifying the step or process of the procedure. SQL is used by programmers to interact with the databases. The SQL language can be used to:
  •  Access, manipulate, and create databases, 
  • For working with Big Data, 
  • Creating web applications, 
  • Work closely with data related to financial analysis, and data-driven marketing.

• JavaScript

  JavaScript is a language that can be used for both Frontend and backend Development. This is the reason that makes this language the talk of the town. As all the Frontend Developers need to have knowledge of anyone Backend language and all the Backend Developers need to have knowledge of any one of the Frontend languages, this language as dealing with both ends is worth learning. It also is a great language for beginners as it is a higher-level language that also involves very little setup. JavaScript has some cons as well as being so flexible language, objects created in this programming language are slow and difficult to scale and maintain. Still, the community is large and plenty of employment opportunities are available while dealing with this programming language. JavaScript can be used to build many types of software and sites which include:
  •  Website, 
  • Mobile applications, 
  • Desktop applications, 
  • Games, 
  • Web servers, 
  • Presentations and much more.

The role of Backend Developers is very much critical to web development. They are responsible for all the key roles and for ensuring the deployment of quality products. That’s the reason why more and more aspiring web developers are today opting for this career. Such people need to have a passion for coding and need to possess all the required knowledge and skills to become efficient Backend Developers. It is also necessary to have other additional skills, mentioned above, to make your mark in the web development market.