Secrets Revealed: The Path To Becoming A Back-End Wizard
Many web users are conscious of what it takes to keep a website working effectively.
The web would be useless without backend engineers who guarantee data flow and broad security of a website or platform.
Back-end developers focus on server-side features and functionality, leaving front-end developers and designers to perform much of the visual changing (i.e., the UI/UX).
But what precisely does it take to be a back-end engineer?
We asked numerous experts if degrees are important, which programming languages to focus on, and whether a portfolio of work will help you get the job you want.
Is a degree needed to work as a back-end engineer?
Engineering degrees are currently a hot issue among CEOs, recruiters, and hiring managers.
While numerous companies were formerly continuing about the need for a degree, corporations’ desire to hire talent means that many recruiters and hiring managers are ignoring formal education requirements — as long as job hopefuls can demonstrate the relevant skills for the post.
“While having a degree can certainly help obtain a job as a back-end engineer, it is not always necessary,” discusses Aleksei Kankov, senior back-end developer at Revizto.
“Hands-on experience and practical skills are valued equally, if not more, by many employers in the technology industry than formal education.”
Many successful back-end engineers, like myself, learned what they needed through self-study, online courses, and practical experience.
Building an impressive project portfolio and demonstrating a thorough mastery of relevant technology might be just as significant as a degree.”
According to Igor Dozor, software development manager at Indeed, anyone who wants to be a successful back-end engineer must have “a solid understanding of advanced computer science subjects like cloud software architecture, advanced database management, scalability, and many others.”
A degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering would put them on the right route.”
According to Lightcast, which collects and analyses millions of job ads from around the US, the following needed abilities are most commonly mentioned in job postings for back-end engineers:
- Node.js
- Linux
- Scalability Design
- MySQL
- Data Structures
- Relational Databases
- Scrum
- Web Application Development
- Agile Development
All of these technologies are required for managing data flows and other key back-end web components.
Furthermore, back-end engineers can separate themselves from the crowd by mastering essential cloud and data features such as (but not limited to):
- Continuous integration
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- ElasticSearch
- GitHub
- Machine Learning
- React JavaScript
- MongoDB
- Test Driven Development (TDD)
- Big Data
- Backend Development
“Higher education has helped me,” says Yozhef Hisem, senior back-end software developer at MacPaw.
It taught me the fundamentals of programming.
At the university, we started learning a new programming language every six months, so I got the opportunity to study various languages.
So, when I started looking for my first job, I was well aware of the distinction.
Furthermore, it aided me in selecting the programming language that piqued my curiosity the most.
That is why I am pushing to earn a bachelor’s degree at the very least.
Hisem goes on to say that a degree isn’t everything: “An engineer without a university degree can be just as skilled as someone who has studied computer science.”
Simply said, those starting without higher education will have to work harder to catch up with others at the start of their profession.”
Should back-end engineers specialize in one or more programming languages?
“Back-end engineers should have a strong command of one or more programming languages,” says Dmitrii Ivashchenko, senior back-end developer at Homo Developers.
However, it is important to stay flexible and open to learning new languages based on project requirements or company preferences.
Python, Java, Ruby, PHP, Go, and C# are examples of popular back-end languages.
Gaining expertise in different languages will help you land a better job and have a better knowledge of backend development techniques.”
According to Dozor, “Java, Go, Python, and Ruby come to mind” as essential languages, although keep in mind that programming-language usage varies per firm.
Hisem advises individuals just starting in their careers to narrow their focus: “If you’re a beginner in programming, I recommend focusing on one language to keep your efforts manageable and thoroughly learning the language.”
[Trying] to learn many languages at the beginning of your career puts you in danger of becoming a substandard specialist in all of them due to a lack of time to master them correctly.”
However, Konstantin Telnoi, senior backend developer at Simple. The app believes otherwise:
“I strongly advise not sticking to a single tool and instead experimenting with a variety of them to gain experience and understand which tools are best for specific tasks.”
With almost seven languages under my belt, it’s evident that the more experience you have with different languages, the more aware you become of possible issues and the more ready you are to explain your opinions when conversing with colleagues.
Instead of randomly trying out new tools, consider a fascinating concept or problem and choose which language to utilize for it.
Learning new skills should be enjoyable and enjoyable for the rest of one’s life.”
Do back-end engineers need certifications?
“Probably not as much as in other industries,” says Dozor. “Back-end engineers create services, whereas certifications often confirm that a certificate holder has achieved a certain level of proficiency with a service.”
A back-end engineer with a professional degree in AWS Architecture, on the other hand, would have an advantage because it would validate their mastery of complex themes in the area of cloud architecture.”
“Often, employers prefer certified engineers,” Hisem observes.
Active certifications in your programming language are extremely useful because there are so few of them, and they demonstrates a specialist’s proactivity and awareness.”
Are you interested in the certifications available for backend developers?
Lightcast has compiled a list of 16 web development qualifications that frequently appear in job advertising, including:
Of course, not all of these apply to back-end engineering. If you’re seeking training, online learning platforms like Coursera, W3C, Udemy, and many more provide information about back-end engineering tools and programming languages.
Meta provides a Back-End Professional Certificate through Coursera, covering topics ranging from APIs to cloud hosting to dealing with GitHub.
How can a back-end engineer maintain their skill set current as they advance in their careers?
“Working on side projects is the best way to improve your skills,” Telnoi explains. “These projects can be at work and serve as proof-of-concept solutions for specific services, or they can be on any topic that interests you.” Taking on unknown tasks pushes you out of your comfort zone.”
Telnoi adds that good information management is another valuable ability to study: “As knowledge workers, we are constantly bombarded with new information, which can become overwhelming.” It is critical to swiftly comprehend fresh facts and extract what is useful to stay afloat. There are various decent books and courses on this subject.”
Focus on building code and dividing domains and abstractions during the start of your back-end engineering career.
Learning these core abilities can benefit you when you work on larger-scale initiatives, such as microservice management.
Engineers who are knowledgeable about good system design are priceless.
“Participating in non-product tasks and open-source projects is an excellent way to go beyond the usual product and look at engineering more broadly,” Hisem says.
You may subscribe to GitHub notifications, recognized specialists, and the projects to which they contribute.
They frequently discuss their ideas, which broadens their perspectives.
In addition, if I find an intriguing need for assistance from the community, I can participate.
To assist with a given assignment, you may need to perform a thorough investigation of the subject.
By assisting the community, I am also growing as an expert.”
Dozor tells Dice that technology will move too quickly for most of us to constantly up-skill everything in our arsenal.
Instead, concentrate on understanding the ideas that underpin back-end engineering.
“Over the last decade or so, the domain has grown at a rate that outpaces anyone’s ability to keep up with the advancement of recent technologies,” Dozor adds.
“As a result, back-end engineers tend to focus on specific areas and develop a narrow specialization within it.” Consider storage, computing, security, and so on.
Keeping their abilities current in their specialized area of expertise is more possible than having to keep up with all of the latest innovations in the whole field of cloud computing, for example.”
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