The front end of any web application is all about the human experience. It determines what the user of the app or website sees, experiences and touches. On the other hand, the back end of an application or website enables the user’s front end experience and all happens behind the scenes. Learning back end web development will help you create a better overall experience for users. But, how? And exactly what is back end web development?


The front end may be a stunningly created webpage, but, if the website itself doesn’t quite work as intended, it’s still a failure. That’s because the back end of the site is what makes it operate properly. The back end is responsible for performing important tasks such as business logic, calculations, performance and database interactions. And, the majority of the code needed to make the site perform correctly must be done on the site’s back end.

Because of this, a back end web developer needs to have an understanding of:

  • Databases
  • Programming languages

If a particular web application keeps running slowly, crashing, and dishing out errors to its users, it’s more than likely that the problems are on the back end. Learning back end web development is about much more than getting a grasp on 0s and 1s. You must also learn back end languages, such as Python and Ruby, which make it more enjoyable and efficient to read and write code.


1. Ruby – This programming language is said to be efficient and fun. Even if you don’t know Ruby, you’ll find Ruby syntax simple to read as you’re learning back end web development. Ruby’s popularity came about because of the framework known as Rails, which is used to build web apps. It’s widely used by startups and small businesses, including GitHub, Hulu and Twitter.

2. Python – This programming language is well-known for its readability. Django, a popular framework for web development, helped to make Python so popular as a web app. One of the most famous and widely used cloud applications, Dropbox, was build using Python, and still uses it to run most of it server-side code to this day.

3. SQL – This is a universal database query language. It’s used for interacting with databases, which must exists in every single back end web app. You can use just about any framework or language for building your web app. More than likely, you’ll still end up using SQL, or something very similar to it, to interact with the application’s database.

Does the idea of trying to learn web development sound interesting? Think you’d enjoy working with databases and programming languages? Then, becoming a back end web developer is the right career move for you!


One of the best ways to learn web development is by attending an accredited web development school, such as F.I.R.S.T. Institute. F.I.R.S.T. Institute’s Graphic Design and Web Development course will set you on the right course to becoming a back end web developer.

With out faculty of experienced design industry professionals, we give students access to everything needed to succeed in the web development industry both in class and on the job.

Contact us today at (407) 316-8310 to learn more.