Can I Learn Backend Without Frontend?

Backend developers are specialists without whom no website or application can function normally. The tools that you use on PCs or smartphones and websites are all the result of a whole team of specialists. They work with what is hidden from the user’s eyes.

Also, they are responsible for server-side logic, interaction with the database, and sorting. It is the kind of development that provides the receipt of the necessary information according to the user’s request, and this should happen as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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Woman standing in room with computer

Server-side logic is also related to the scaling of loads on the site. If there is a large site where several thousand users can visit simultaneously, the backend ensures that the site can withstand such loads. In contrast, the frontend is for those who want to work with the publicly visible side of the site – to make the layouts of web designers “come to life.”

With the help of the backend, programmers work with ready-made HTML pages, directing, storing, and processing information on the server. The backend cannot be assessed without the frontend, so JavaScript is often included in courses in server-side languages so that students can create a full-fledged product. Sometimes people who have already learned JS are invited to courses on the backend.

The main differences between these concepts are that one of them (frontend) is everything that the user sees when working with the site, and the other (backend), on the contrary, is out of sight of a person. These are two parts of the same project, one whole, and there are several options for how they will interact with each other.

The differences between frontend and backend sites are significant since a separate specialist is responsible for each of the above tasks. A successful result is possible only with complementary teamwork. https://www.halo-lab.com/services/front-end-development-services

The easiest way to understand the features of their interaction is with an example. So, when paying for purchase on the Internet, you fill in your card details, click the “pay” button and receive a notification that the payment has passed. It is the pure frontend. But how the money moves on the network, how the seller gets your order – you don’t see, this is the backend.

Responsibilities of the Backend Programmer

Software programming

In backend development, there is a list of direct responsibilities that each specialist performs. Of the most common, these are:

  • work with databases and their organization;
  • ensuring the correct functioning of the site;
  • development of algorithms for applications;
  • integration of an application or site with external services;
  • debugging components;
  • testing applications, sites, specific elements;
  • API creation;
  • optimization and code extension.

Depending on the industry and experience, the number of responsibilities of a backend programmer can expand. As a result, if backend development is thoroughly studied, you can start mastering frontend development and become a full-cycle specialist.

The list of what the backend should know depends directly on the activities and characteristics of the specialist’s company. Depending on the vacancy, it may require experience in sales, an understanding of the operation of specific equipment, and other skills in a particular direction.

If, at first, it seems illogical, then when you immerse yourself in the learning process, you realize that the backend should not just write code but write a solution that will fit a specific niche of the product. To do this, you need to understand particular industries.

Team of developers

A specialist must develop code by the niche of the enterprise, immerse himself in its work and know all the subtleties. There are no two identical codes for different companies. Check here. Speaking of basic skills, a specialist who has completed courses in backend development should know:

  • one or more languages for server-side programmings, such as Java, PHP, Python, etc.;
  • API, SOAP, or REST (the latter two are not in demand as often as the first);
  • how the servers work;
  • how unit tests are written;
  • about network security tools and the basics of their work;
  • web frameworks.

Backend developers use various technologies to encode the basic computational logic of information systems, specific software, or websites. These can include Java, C #, Python, and database languages such as SQL and many more.

The backend differs from the front end developer in that the backend developer’s work is entirely devoid of any visual design and is based on the logic and architecture of the software, the purpose of which is to provide a specific result.