Backend Developer: Career Path

Dive into the world of Backend Development, where you become the backbone of websites and applications. Explore the realm of server-side technology, databases, and application logic that powers the digital world.

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What does the Backend Developer career path entail?

Backend Developer

Backend development offers a deep dive into the engine room of web and app technologies, making it an ideal career for those who are passionate about problem-solving and building the core functionalities that drive applications.

As a backend developer, you play a crucial role in creating, maintaining, and improving the behind-the-scenes functionality that users may not see, but is vital for the smooth operation of web services and applications. This role is characterized by diverse challenges and the use of a wide range of programming languages and technologies, ensuring a career that is never monotonous.

The demand for skilled backend developers is consistently high, providing a wealth of opportunities across various industries. These opportunities range from startups aiming to disrupt markets to well-established companies looking to maintain their competitive edge. Additionally, backend developers often have the chance to work on critical parts of a project, such as data storage, security measures, and server-side logic, making their role both challenging and impactful.

Best books to explore the Backend career path.

A well-written and thorough book can be an amazing path to build deeper understanding and also act as a handbook as you discover the internet's vast resources.

These are our and our experts top picks to get started building career-relevant skills.

Designing Data-Intensive Applications

Data is at the center of many challenges in system design today. Difficult issues need to be figured out, such as scalability, consistency, reliability, efficiency, and maintainability. In addition, we have an overwhelming variety of tools, including relational databases, NoSQL datastores, stream or batch processors, and message brokers. What are the right choices for your application? How do …

Microservice APIs

Microservice APIs teaches you practical techniques for designing robust microservices with APIs that are easy to understand, consume, and maintain. You'll benefit from author José Haro Peralta's years of experience experimenting with microservices architecture, dodging pitfalls and learning from mistakes he's made. Inside you'll find strategies for delivering successful API integrations, imple…

Building Microservices: Designing Fine-Grained Systems

Microservice technologies are moving quickly. Author Sam Newman provides you with a firm grounding in the concepts while diving into current solutions for modeling, integrating, testing, deploying, and monitoring your own autonomous services. Youâ??ll follow a fictional company throughout the book to learn how building a microservice architecture affects a single domain.

Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems

In this practical and comprehensive guide, author Martin Kleppmann helps you navigate this diverse landscape by examining the pros and cons of various technologies for processing and storing data. Software keeps changing, but the fundamental principles remain the same. With this book, software engineers and architects will learn how to apply those ideas in practice, and how to make full use of…

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

Noted software expert Robert C. Martin, presents a revolutionary paradigm with Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Martin, who has helped bring agile principles from a practitioner’s point of view to tens of thousands of programmers, has teamed up with his colleagues from Object Mentor to distill their best agile practice of cleaning code “on the fly” into a book that will …

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)

Patterns allow designers to create more flexible, elegant, and ultimately reusable designs without having to rediscover the design solutions themselves. Highly influential, Design Patterns is a modern classic that introduces what patterns are and how they can help you design object-oriented software and provides a catalog of simple solutions for those already programming in at last one object-…

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Courses to deepen your Backend skills.

These days, courses are no longer a sequence of videos. They are usually accompanied by projects and a learning community, keeping you accountable and on the path.

Our experts recommend these courses, from free selections to paid programs.

Python Bootcamp: From Zero to Hero

Learn Python like a Professional Start from the basics and go all the way to creating your own applications and games. Create games with Python, like Tic Tac Toe and Blackjack! Learn advanced Python features, like the collections module and how to work with timestamps & Build a complete understa…

Advanced Python

Over time, Python has exploded in popularity, from being an obscure scripting language to becoming one of the most popular, and widely used languages in the world. In this Advanced Python tutorial, you'll learn advanced topics, a knowledge of which will set you apart from the greater number of P…

Meta: Introduction to Back-End Development

This course is a good place to start if you want to become a web developer. You will learn about the day-to-day responsibilities of a web developer and get a general understanding of the core and underlying technologies that power the internet. You will learn how front-end developers create website…

Back-end Development

Every web or mobile app has 2 parts: a front-end and a back-end. The front-end is what the user sees and interacts with. The back-end is where the data gets processed and stored. The average salary for a back-end developer is $121,112 per year in the United States. There are many technology stacks …

Get help with your learning journey

Learning through online courses can be challenging. Get 1:1 guidance from an experienced mentor who can help you stay accountable and answer your questions along the way.

Back-End Engineer

Back-end developers deal with the hidden processes that run behind the scenes, building APIs and databases that power the front-end. Includes Node.JS, Express.JS, PostgreSQL, Back-End, SQL, Security, and more.

Backend Master Class [Golang + Postgres + Kubernetes + gRPC]

In this course, you will learn step-by-step how to design, develop and deploy a backend web service from scratch. I believe the best way to learn programming is to build a real application. Therefore, throughout the course, you will learn how to build a backend web service for a simple bank. It wil…

Get the guidance you need on the Backend Developer career path

There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a personal mentor. What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!

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Isn't it tragic that the creative energy of most indie hackers flows into products that never see the delighted faces of their intended users? As a software engineer and intrapreneur, I've been helping product companies ship for 9+ years. I'm now on a mission to help 100 developreneurs and indie …

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👋 Hi! I’m Kuai, currently a Director of Engineering at a Fintech unicorn. With experience at Two Sigma, Google, and Citadel, I have a decade-long track record in tech and finance. I mentor both software engineers and managers, helping them navigate and succeed in their engineering careers. My mentees have …

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Hi there! 👋 I’ve been unofficially mentoring developers for many years now. I’ve learned many things the hard way or the slow way in the last 15 years working as a software engineer. Any week that I can meaningfully help someone else on their programming journey is a good week …

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Hello, I'm Abhishek Koserwal, a Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat and a dedicated mentor ready to guide you on your career journey. Whether you're just starting as a software engineer or trying to identify your best career path, I'm here to help you succeed. Designing your career: Together, we'll …

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Hello! Check my video first 🙂 I’m a research scientist with a deep-seated passion for making sense of data and a flair for solving complex puzzles in AI 💛. With over 8 years in the field, I’ve tackled challenges in cybersecurity, biology, healthcare, and even manufacturing, transforming data into actionable …

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Howdy, friend! I'm Depa :) Take a look at my latest projects: https://unghost.dev/ https://geteventum.app/ I'm a Lead Mobile and Backend Engineer working with React Native and Node.js on the jpg.store mobile team. I'm a senior software engineer with +9 years in iOS development and +4 years with React Native. You …

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Growing into a Senior Backend Developer role pays off – $30,000 up to per year.

Not only is the progression from individual Backend Developer to a Senior role a natural progression, it also makes all the difference in your average salary.

On a global average, Senior Backend Developer receive a $30,000 salary hike over entry-level Backend Developers when they go from individual contributor to senior personnel.

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Get the help you need & advance your career

Begin your journey as a Backend Developer and be the force behind the technology that powers our digital world. Your adventure into the complex and rewarding realm of server-side development starts here!