Back-end developers are needed more than ever. But do you know what the best back-end developer courses should learn to be a professional?
If not, below are the 10 best for you, these will offer you knowledge ranging from programming languages to operating version control tools.
If yes, don’t leave just yet. Maybe now is the right time to get in-depth at some advanced study to enhance your career. But first, let’s take a quick look at which skills you should acquire for back-end development.
What Should You Prepare to Become a Back-End Developer?
To become a back-end developer, programming languages are crucial, yet insufficient, as they’re just one part of the skill set. In fact, back-end developers need to showcase diverse proficiency levels across different following skills:
1. Programming Languages
These are vehicles for you to communicate well with computers on the server side. Without them, you may struggle with processing business logic, handling client requests, and more. Understanding different types of back-end languages helps you choose the best one for a certain task. For example, JavaScript – the most commonly used language – is great for developing scalable and fast apps. Meanwhile, Python, coupled with its frameworks like Django and Flask, is suitable for web development and data processing.
2. Frameworks
Frameworks like ASP.NET (C#), Django (Python), or Spring (Java) offer pre-built components and libraries, hence accelerating your development process and enhancing code quality. Learning about these frameworks supports your work better.
3. Databases
Applications require databases to store, retrieve, and manage data. SQL databases (e.g., MySQL or PostgreSQL) excel in processing structured data, whereas NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB or Redis) help with unstructured and semi-structured data. Acknowledging these databases helps you create effective data models, optimize queries, and ensure data integrity.
4. APIs
Creating API specifications is considered the most proficient skill among back-end developers worldwide in 2024. Why? APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces, are crucial as they allow front-end applications to communicate well with the server. Understanding REST and GraphQL helps you develop scalable and flexible APIs.
5. Version Control
Such version control systems as Git are essential to monitor code changes, collaborate with other developers, and keep your project’s history. Like at Designveloper, different development teams may leverage different tech stacks, but we always leverage Git to control source code.
With the support of Git, we can easily deploy code in various environments. In other words, our project can be adjusted to run in separate environments tailored to specific tasks. Further, Git helps keep our work organized, roll back changes if needed, and handle conflicts in code without affecting other members.
6. Web Servers and Hosting
Learning about web servers like Apache or Nginx helps you configure your app to optimize its performance and security. Further, you should be familiar with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS or Google Cloud) to deploy the app and scale resources more effectively.
7. Security
Security is crucial for back-end development. Knowing common vulnerabilities (e.g., SQL injection or cross-site scripting) and security practices (e.g., authentication) helps you protect your app and data against cyberattacks. Additionally, these practices ensure your app’s compliance with specific industry standards and regulations, hence helping you avoid unexpected penalties.
8. Testing & Debugging
Testing and debugging is not the responsibility of only testers. As back-end developers in charge of developing an app’s core logic and features, they need to engage in testing. This ensures that tests written by these developers can identify issues early on, maintain code quality, and save time on debugging.
Learn Programming Languages Used by a Back-end Developer
To be honest, a back-end developer should know as many languages as Java, JavaScript, C#, and PHP, but in this article people at Designveloper will only focus on Java and PHP which are two of the most important programming languages of back-end development.
For Java
1. Java Code Geeks
Thanks to clear navigation including 3 categories: core Java, desktop Java, and enterprise Java, programmers who want to learn advanced knowledge and practices of Java can easily access their amazing resources. Besides Java courses, Java Code Geeks’ authors also publish new articles every day regarding Java practices, examples, and daily issues on the site. So learners could dig deeper into this language and keep up with the latest knowledge easily.
One plus about this back-end developer course is that more than 500 industry professionals have contributed to this site. So, it’s no wonder that their topics mostly show practical issues and solutions to solve them. Those articles are short but concise. What’s more? Many intuitive examples are listed so that programmers could practice at once.
However, this site is only for intermediate and advanced programmers. Further, some tutorials are quite messy for beginners to understand.
Recommended reading: IT Courses for Tech Leads: Enhancing Management and Leadership Skills
2. Java Brain
Java Brain was established by Koushik Kothagal. This guy is a staff engineer at LinkedIn and has more than 14 years of experience when it comes to software development.
Learners have two ways to access resources from Koushik Kothagal: via the website and via the Youtube channel. Both of them are organized nicely so that we can save time on finding the topic. However, we recommend you to surf his Youtube channel since there are way more tutorials than the website. Up to now, Koushik has uploaded more than 1,700 videos to the Youtube channel and the channel has about 670.000 subscribers.
According to learners, the videos are simple but logically explained and well-structured. On the other hand, each course is able to cover all the knowledge needed. We can count topics ranging from Angular, and Build Systems and Spring Framework to Core Java Interview Questions and Core Java Project Work. This course is suitable for beginner and intermediate back-end developers.
3. Oracle Java Tutorial
It’s no doubt that Oracle is a great source to learn Java since it is the owner of this programming language. Its tutorials are informative, they cover both basic and specialized topics such as Custom Networking, Internationalization, Full-Screen Exclusive Mode API, etc.
Along with theoretical knowledge, there are also many examples so that learners could practice. It’s also easy to navigate and find Java-related topics. However, many commented that Oracle’s course was a good reference but not in-depth enough to learn new concepts as there’s no update for new versions of Java. Therefore, this site is only useful for those just commencing Java.
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For PHP
4. Beginner PHP and MySQL Tutorial
This one is a free course on Udemy, but hey, don’t underestimate the knowledge you will get. Many programmers consider it one of the most well-structured PHP courses on this education site.
As you progress to study, there are various resources to look at. Furthermore, this course does not just teach and talk about the theory, it also helps a back-end developer understand the concept and lets you do your own work.
Robert Tucker is the narrator of the course. He is also known as an experienced technical trainer and lecturer. He will help you understand the creation of PHP and MySQL interfaces, and explain and talk about important theories and practices toward these languages.
The course includes 13 essential lessons in PHP and MySQL so that all levels of programmers could pick this one to widen their knowledge. In other words, you will learn how to download and install tools and frameworks onto the server; the way to work with a UI and a database back-end, etc.
The only issue is that there has been no update for the latest version of PHP and MySQL.
5. Building Web Applications in PHP
Who knows there are so many free but helpful sources in this world to learn things. Well, let me introduce you to another one – Building Web Applications in PHP.
As you enroll, the course will show you the basic structure of a web app, and how your web browsers work and interact with web servers. Furthermore, chances are that learners could extend their knowledge of the request/response cycle.
In only 8 weeks or less, you will also dig deep into the understanding of HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language), and the basic syntax and data structures of PHP.
Resources including videos, articles, and quizzes will help us learn PHP in a more intuitive and active way.
We recommend this course to PHP beginners since it will show you a lot of comprehensive PHP theory and background. However, it is also a weakness of the course as it lacks practical exercises and examples.
For Node.js (JavaScript) & .NET (C#)
6. The Complete Node.js Developer Course (3rd Edition)
This best course is designed for developers with different back-end development skills, be it complete beginners or experienced ones. It focuses on Node.js – a JavaScript’s open-source and cross-platform framework.
The course has 18 sections and 177 lectures covering different topics. They include the fundamentals of Node.js, how to create Express web servers and APIs, how to store data with MongDB and Mongoose, and more.
More interestingly, the course doesn’t only talk about boring theories. Instead, it gives learners hands-on experience by developing, testing, and deploying fully-functional Node.js apps. You also learn about how to manage these apps in different environments and secure them with authorization and authentication using JWT.
The teaching style of instructors, Andrew Mead and Rob Percival, is highly appreciated as it keeps learners engaged all the time and keeps every knowledge simple to understand. However, one minus is the latest update of the course was in 2021. As some deployment services and API-related policies already changed, some content seems kind of outdated.
7. C# Basics with .NET Core for Beginners: Learn by Coding
If you aspire to master the C# back-end programming language and its .NET Core, don’t overlook this best course. Instructed by Thomas Plathanath Mathew, a developer with over 24 years of experience, the course provides learners with 161 lectures classified into 26 separate sections.
In this course, you will learn about the fundamentals of computer programming, C#, and .NET Core. Accordingly, you can grasp core concepts like variables, primitive data types, and expressions. You even learn how to debug C# applications effectively by using tools in Visual Studio.
Like other courses in this list, this one also involves you in coding challenges and projects that enhance your learning and apply theories into real-world situations. In particular, you’ll participate in developing an inventory management app at the end of the course.
We recommend this course as its content is clearly explained, with each concept divided into its core essentials.
For Database and Query
8. Introduction to Databases and SQL Querying
This short free course has helped more than 200000 learners widen their knowledge of Database and SQL Querying.
It is a good source to get familiar with the basic concept of database and query. Learners will finish the course with a good understanding of Dates, String Manipulation, aggregation, etc. Along with those, you will learn how to write simple and basic SQL syntax. As a result, no programming experience is needed to enroll in this one.
The simple and concise presentation gives this course a plus point. Furthermore, the information taught is explained smoothly and articulately for a back-end developer with zero experience.
On the other hand, many suggested that this course should add more practical examples and knowledge.
Because it is easy to learn so people at Designveloper recommended this one to programmers who have little to no knowledge of database and query languages.
9. SQL & Database Design A-Z™: Learn MS SQL Server + PostgreSQL
This $11 course is a great source to learn SQL in depth. You will find everything an application programmer should be acquainted with SQL.
The course will explain basic SQL queryings, and how to create them as well as introduce various types of joins such as right and left join, cross join, self-join, etc.
Furthermore, this one will bring you many well-explained tutorials on advanced concepts like indexes.
The database design concept is a more important lesson here too. You will get to learn normalization and many different normal forms.
Learners will use both Microsoft SQL Server and PostgreSQL and they are able to focus on improving and enhancing data analytics skills with practical exercises.
As this course only requires us to have a basic knowledge of computers so we recommend this to anyone who is interested in this technical area or wants to learn some courses for a back-end developer.
For Control Version
10. The Complete Git Guide: Understand and Master Git and GitHub
If you want to learn about Git and GitHub from scratch, we highly recommend this best course. Here, you’ll be guided from fundamental Git features to advanced techniques and operations.
Particularly, you’ll learn how Git works and how to execute basic operations (e.g., git add or git commit). In case you’re looking for something advanced, commence watching “How Git works under the hood” section and embracing advanced Git features (e.g., squashing or reverting commands).
With this course, you can use Git not only in terminal but also in graphical user interfaces like Visual Studio Code or SourceTree. Further, with each detailed concept, you’re given a practical task to remember what you’ve learned.
How To Become a Backend Developer?
If you have a basic understanding of how logic works, it can prove to be quite beneficial. Learning backend development helps you get acquainted with several programming languages which can help give your career a great boost.
1. Be well versed with the basics of Data Structures & Algorithm
You should revise basic Data Structures and algorithms Stack and Queue, Linked List, Tree, Graph, Hashing, Sorting & Searching Algorithms, and other core concepts of programming. Most web developers skip this step and move forward to learning frameworks. However, it is always better to know the data structure and algorithm basics.
2. Learn a Programming Language and choose a Framework
Programming languages like Python, PHP, Ruby, and JavaScript are sought after in recent times. Becoming a web developer takes effort, time, and patience. So, decide on a timeline and the absolutely essential basic programming languages that you wish to learn.
3. Learn the basics of Databases
Almost all websites today boast some sort of storage, so learning about databases is always beneficial. So, adding a database system to your portfolio would be the next logical step. There are many easy-to-use relational database management systems available from which you can select one.
4. Start your practical training
The best way to do this is by working on small projects or assignments. You need to use the tools and practice regularly to better understand the theoretical knowledge you have learned so far. You will not understand how stuff really works until you actually start doing it practically.
5. Hosting — AWS/Heroku
Now you’re ready to spread your wings! Deploy your product on a cloud service provider so it can be accessed from the WWW. AWS can be the first preference as it provides almost a year of free hosting (limited usage).
Final Words
This article already introduced the ten best courses for a back-end developer. These courses not only cover knowledge for back-end development but are also good to improve certain skills such as Java coding, Git operating, etc. Therefore we at Designveloper hope this concise review will help you be a skillful back-end developer eventually. For more interesting content about back-end development, subscribe to our blog now!
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