Back-end developers are the unsung heroes of web development. While it may not be as glamorous as the work of UX designers and front-end developers, they are essential to creating fast, reliable, and – most importantly– functional software.
Back-end developers handle the essentials of building robust and interactive websites and web apps with duties including server-side programming, data management, and quality assurance. Their duties don’t end there, however.
Here are the 5 critical skills every back-end developer needs in this day and age:
1. Exemplary collaboration skills
In the modern development environment, collaboration is not an optional skill but rather a required ability necessary for seeing the completion of a product through to the end.
Beyond communication, collaboration is about matching skills and personalities to elicit the best qualities out of each team member.
Ideas are never siloed and finding solidarity amongst your team members can only really be accomplished through honing the skill of collaboration.
2. Expertise in web technologies
Learning about different APIs is a necessary part of becoming a great back-end developer. Starting with Firebase, which since 2014 has become the flagship cross-platform SDK library for Google, back-end developers should become very comfortable with the documentation and deployment through this powerful API.
Firebase acts as both a great introduction to web APIs and as a powerful, scalable tool that allows for powerful app deployment.
StackAPI is for the back-end developer who is comfortable with APIs and SDK libraries and wants a detailed and customized app kit that fits their specific needs. Being familiar with custom APIs is incredibly important for traveling as a back-end developer between projects without interruption due to familiarity.
Additionally, the Google Compute Engine is another must-know skill for back-end developers who work with companies that utilize Google’s frameworks. Since that number is quite substantial, it behooves almost every developer to become familiar with the GCE.
3. Knowledge of backend frameworks
Of course, one cannot be a back-end developer without developing the back-end. This is where frameworks like Django come into play. Django is a Python-based, web back-end development framework that encourages rapid development and plenty of documentation.
It is a great, open-source platform that allows developers to control the back-end of almost any app possible. Back-end frameworks are truly invaluable tools that allow back-end developers to develop and control without losing time to tedium.
4. Mastery of backend programming languages
Naturally, programming languages are the building blocks of what back-end developers do. However, not all back-end developers become familiar with the most used in favor of their preference but at the cost of opportunity.
Python, PHP, and C# make up some of the most popular and powerful back-end languages that every developer should be familiar with at the very least.
Back-end developers must be jack-of-all-trades and utilizing the trending languages is always a great way to get wonderful gigs and career-advancing opportunities.
5. Creative problem-solving
Needless to say, all of these skills must combine to create a holistically complete back-end developer. One that knows the most popular programming languages, understands how to use frameworks, and utilizes APIs to create rock-solid apps.
These all coalesce through creative problem-solving skills that showcase the skill of the back-end developer while simultaneously creating a better product than expected.
Conclusion
Back-end developers must understand how to build and execute server-side logic with the aid of backend frameworks and APIs. This is only one part of their job, however. They must be adept collaborators, working with back-end engineers, front-end developers, and product managers to achieve the product vision.
