Backend Developer Roadmap 2024

2024 Roadmap for Bckend Developers. In today’s digital world, it is impossible to live without the internet and web or native apps. From completing bank transactions to shopping for products, websites are needed all the time.

Besides, every web application seems to provide an easy and seamless experience for the user. But have you ever thought about how it works so accurately?

Well, a web page consists of the front-end and back-end, where the front-end deals with the look and feel of the web page, and the back-end handles its functional and technical side.

And companies hire experienced developers to build the web app and ensure that it functions as expected.

That being said, if you are interested in backend development, you've come to the right place.

How?

It’s because, in this blog, we are going to talk about backend development, the responsibilities of a backend developer, and the roadmap to becoming one.

So let’s get started with the basics.

An Overview of Backend Development

Backend Developer Roadmap 2024. Back-end development refers to the process of handling databases , servers, and APIs that help connect the front-end and back-end of the application to perform different tasks. The back-end covers the logic, activities, and integration of server-side web applications.

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Some tasks that backend development includes are creating libraries and APIs, and working with front-end system components.

Read: Principles of Web API Design

Put simply, the back-end is just the opposite of the front-end which deals with the look and feel of the web app, as the back-end handles all the tasks hidden from the users.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Backend Developer

Now that you know what backend development entails, let’s understand the roles and responsibilities of a backend developer.

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Here is the list of the responsibilities a backend developer must handle:

• Making updates and changes while monitoring the web app functionality.

• Compile and analyze data, processes, and codes to identify improvement areas and remove errors.

• Recording and reporting data to team leaders and clients.

• Build more functional designs, define objectives, and write high-quality codes for a better user experience.

• Supporting the entire system development life cycle.

• Developing automation tools.

• Integrating APIs and working in an agile environment.

• Setting up server-side tools and technologies.

• Validating data before sending requests to the database.

A Roadmap to Become A Backend Developer in 2024

Backend Developer Roadmap 2024. With a better understanding of backend development and the responsibilities of backend developers, we can move ahead and learn about the roadmap you need to follow if you want to become a backend developer.

Here’s the simple roadmap for becoming a backend developer.

• Learn a Back-End Programming Language

Both front-end and back-end development require a specific set of skills. When we talk about front-end the three most common programming languages that come to mind are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Similarly, to become a backend developer, you need to learn one of the server-side programming languages to make the web app functional.

Some programming languages you can go for are Java, Python, C#, Ruby, Rust, Go, and PHP.

• Understand Version Control Systems & Repo Hosting Services

Version control or source control is used by developers to manage changes made to the source code over time. With a version control system, one not only keeps track of the modifications made to the source code but also tracks the information like when and what changes were made and by whom. It also allows you to roll back the changes if things go south.

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While a repository is part of a version control system that can be considered a storage for changes as it contains all the historical versions and new project changes.

Some of these version control systems that you can learn about are Git, GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab.

• Gain Basic OS Knowledge

As we know operating systems like Windows, Linux, Unix, or iOS are programs that manage the allocation of computer resources among different programs. These resources include input/output devices, computer memory, CPU, and network connections.

And to be a backend developer and make your work easier you need to understand concepts like terminal usage, POSIX Basics, terminal commands, how OS works, memory management, networking concepts, threads and concurrency, I/O management, interprocess communication, and process management.

• Learn Relational and NoSQL Databases

A relational database is based on a relational data model that organizes data into rows and columns (table). It stores and grants access to data points that are related to each other.

NoSQL (not only SQL) databases are databases that are non-tabular and do not store data in the form of rows and columns. It comes in a variety of data model models such as key-value, documents, graphs, and wide-column to offer flexible and easy-to-scale schema that can handle large data and user traffic.

Read: When To Use Graph Databases: A Comprehensive Guide

Some of the Relational and NoSQL databases that you can learn to be a backend developer are MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle or MS SQL, and MongoDB, CouchDB, Cassandra, Firebase, InfluxDB, Redis, DynamoDB, or Neo4j respectively.

• Learn How to Scale Databases

Scaling refers to the alterations made in the size of the database system to meet the expected needs. While working as a backend developer and getting involved in databases, you also need to understand the way to scale databases.

Read:Top 11 Popular Database For Web App Development

Some popular ways to scale databases are Data Replication, Sharding Strategies, Database Indexes, and CAP Theorem.

Apart from scaling, a few concepts that you will need to clarify while working with a database entail ACID, ORMs, N+1 Problems, Transactions, Failure Modes, Normalization, and Profiling Performance.

• Understand APIs

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) act as an intermediate between two application services that allow them to communicate with each other using a set of protocols and definitions.

Read: How To Create Backend APIs Using Spring Boot

And as a backend developer, learning APIs will help you connect the front-end of the web app with the back-end to allow easier functionality and experience for the user. A few concepts that you need to understand about APIs are HATEOAS, Authentication (OAuth, Token Auth, OpenID, Cookie Based, SAML, JWT, etc.), Open API Specs, etc.

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Some top API choices that can be used at the time of software development are REST, SOAP, JSON APIs, GraphQL, and gRPC.

• Clear basics of Caching

Cashing refers to the process of storing frequently used data in the local memory of a device for a set period to retrieve the information stored in the database quickly. The main pro of caching is minimizing the processing burden for performance improvement.

Redis and Memcached are two of the popular choices for caching when it comes to server-side web app development.

• Gain Web Security Knowledge

The web is one of the most cyberattack-prone vectors, making Web security a crucial part of every web app or website. And knowing web security protective measures as a backend developer can help you in keeping your web application safe from cyber threats.

Read: Cybersecurity Trends

Hashing algorithms, CORS, HTTPS, SSL/TLS, OWASP Risks, Server Security, and Content Security Policy are some concepts of web security you must be aware of.

• Ways to Test Apps

The key to building web apps that match the client and user expectations without any codes and errors is testing. Using software testing helps developers know if they are on the right track or if some changes are needed.

Read: Top 10 Testing Tools to Consider for Web App Development

A few commonly used software testing techniques are integration testing, functional testing, and unit testing.

• CI/CD Tools

Continuous Integration/ Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) is the process of automating the integration of code changes, building, testing, deploying, and delivering applications to offer the fast release of software updates in the production environment.

A few popular tools that you can use for CI/CD are Jenkins, CircleCI, GitlabCI, Bamboo, etc.

• Learn Design and Development Principles

Another concept that you need to know if you wanna become a backend developer is design and development principles such as GOF (Gang of Four) Design Patterns, Test Driven Development, Domain Driven Development, Event Sourcing, and CQRS.

• Understand Architectural Patterns

Architectural patterns are common, reusable solutions to overcome iterative sets of problems such as performance limitations, business risk minimization, and availability within a software architecture.

Some most commonly used architectural patterns for web app development that you need to know are Monolithic, Service Oriented, Microservices, Service Mesh, and Serverless.

Other than that as a backend developer, you must also be familiar with the twelve-factor methodology used for developing, scaling, and maintaining SaaS apps.

• Learn About ElasticSearch and Solr

ElasticSearch is a distributed search and analytics engine that stores data to provide fast, highly relevant search results and also provides powerful analytics for finding trends and patterns through data.

Similarly, Apache Solr is also an open-source search engine that offers powerful searches, real-time indexing, database integration, dynamic clustering, documentation handling, etc.

Learning about both ElasticSearch and Solr as a backend developer is going to be useful when it comes to integrating search engines in the web app.

• Understand Message Brokers

Message brokers act as building blocks of message-oriented middleware. These are used to translate a message from the format of the sender’s messaging protocols into the formal messaging protocol for receivers.

With a message broker, you can create a common integration mechanism to support different architectural patterns. Apache Kafka and RabbitMQ are commonly used message brokers in the market that you also need to understand.

• Understand the Difference Between Containerization and Virtualization

As a newbie, it is easy to get confused when it comes to containerization and virtualization as both allow multiple workloads to run on a single host. However, both share some similarities, they differ in isolation, security, deployment, operating system, persistence storage, networking, load balancing, etc.

• Learn About Server-Sent Events, GraphQL, and WebSockets

Some other technologies that a backend developer must be aware of include server-sent events, GraphQL, and WebSocket.

Where SSE allows data to be pushed by the web server to the user in real-time through an HTTP connection, GraphQL offers a runtime to fulfill API queries with existing data, and web sockets provide two-way communication between client and server to exchange data at the same time.

• Understand Web Servers

A web server can be a combination of hardware and software that accepts HTTP/HTTPS requests, processes the requests, and shows results in web page formats. Some of the top choices in web servers among backend developers that you should also learn about are MS ISS, Apache, Nginx, and Caddy.

• Build for Easy Scaling

As a backend developer, it is your responsibility to create a system that is easily scalable and can handle fluctuations in user traffic. And for a system to be scalable, you need to pay attention to observability, coupling, infrastructure, mitigation strategies, type of scaling, monitoring, instrumentation, telemetry, and evolvability of the software application.

Conclusion

So that was all about backend development and how you can become a backend developer. We hope you find the article useful to start your career as a backend developer.

Besides, if you are a business owner who wants to hire an experienced backend developer to work on your project, then get in touch with our team of experts, share your idea, and get a customized quote for project development.ṣ