Getting to Know Back-End Development

Back-end development is the server side of a website. It processes data, stores it and sends it to Front End languages for user access. It’s the behind-the-scenes work that makes sites like Amazon, Twitter and Facebook operate smoothly.

It’s also the work that helps make responsive web design possible. Without it, a site would be difficult to navigate on any device or browser.

Getting to know back-end development is essential, whether you’re a front-end developer or just interested in how websites and applications are built. It can be confusing, however, because the lingo of this software stack is full of acronyms, programming languages and frameworks that might seem foreign. In this series, we break down some key terms and concepts in a way that non-developers can understand them.

For those unfamiliar with the term, “software stack” refers to all the different software that’s used to build apps and websites. This includes programming languages (like Python, a versatile language that’s great for web frameworks), database systems (such as SQL and MongoDB) and middleware software (“like” JavaScript).

A good back-end developer has a strong understanding of these tools and can write clean, well-organized code that’s easy to maintain. They’re also familiar with the fundamental algorithms that computer software uses to solve problems, such as sorting, searching and parsing algorithms. They can assess the speed and efficiency of a system, and then adjust its code to improve performance. They also know how to build and use APIs to integrate databases with other software applications. backend development