A Guide to Back-End Code Development
Web developing is one of the most in-demand occupations. You might be considering a career in the IT industry, but you’re not sure what specialization to choose because there are so many. One area to think about is the roles of the frontend and backend coder in web development. If you’re interested in learning about back-end coding, here is a brief guide to provide an overview.
What are front-end and back-end coding?
A website relies on communication between the server and the user’s computer. Both sides of this equation are equally important. Although front-end and back-end coding are distinctly different, they operate as two sides of the same coin.
Front-end development deals with the elements that customers and users interact with. This is the actual content that people see on the website such as text and images. Back-end developers work with the underlying functionality of the website that users don’t see. It also should be noted that a person could be proficient in both of these disciplines, which earns them the title of “full stack developer.”
Back-end development in a nutshell
This type of coding is aptly named after the fact that it deals with the backend of programs. What does this mean exactly? Back-end developers typically spend time ensuring that a site is functioning properly. Consequently, they are the ones who perform updates and debugging procedures.
Back-end coders understand the role of servers, databases and the applications that run on these machines. The back-end developer is responsible for writing the code that helps applications and databases communicate with each other.
To get a little more technical, back-end developers maintain the functional logic of software applications and information systems. They are usually proficient in several coding languages such as C++, Java, C# and other programming languages. They also are fluent in scripting languages such as PHP, MySQL and other server-oriented technologies.
The back-end coder ensures that data and service requests from the front-end system through the use of programming. Back-end coders develop and maintain core logic, application integration, databases, API and other back-end functionality. The back-end coder also performs debugging and testing in these areas.
Jobs in back-end coding
As a back-end developer, your purpose is to ensure that web applications work. With this in mind, you should have knowledge in languages such as Java and Ruby on Rails. You also need to understand basic design elements of web pages such as navigation, images and the user interface. Some back-end coding jobs include titles such as Dev Ops, Software Engineer, Mobile Developer, iOS developer and Python Developer.
If you like getting into the inner workings of software and information technology, back end coding might be a good choice for you. On the other hand, people with an eye for design and aesthetics might be better suited to front-end development or design. In any case, this should give a good foundation for understanding how the back-end coder contributes to the world of IT.