Backend Development: Know the Basics of Web & App Development

7 min readAug 22, 2022

If Steve Jobs was Apple’s Frontend, then Steve Wozniak was the backend developer that made the company stand tall. Any app or website is like an iceberg. What you see is only the tip of this iceberg, the front tip.

There is a huge part under the sea that keeps this glacier afloat, this huge side is the backend development.

Front-end is an important part of any web and app development, but what good is beauty without brains? The brain of backend development services is what makes digitization of any business scale a great height.

Before we get into the technical details, let’s first have a clear idea of what exactly Backend development entails.

What Is Backend Development?

An application or website has two parts of frontend and backend coding. The one that comes in contact with the users is the front-end, while the one that does not directly touch is the back-end.

Simply put, backend development is coding that is not directly visible.

Many business logics and algorithms come into play to process, store and retrieve user information in an app or website. All this happens in the back-end of mobile apps and websites.

Users praise the front-end development and ease of access, not knowing that all this is possible with backend development services.

What Do Back-End Developers Do?

The answer to this question varies from project to project.

A back-end developer has to perform many different functions. Think of front-end developers as interior designers, then back-end developers are architects who make designs possible.

For example, if the app designer decides to put a back button in the app, then the backend developer is the one who writes the codes to make that button work. The backend developer creates the logic for the button to work and the next step after pressing the back button.

If the application is multifaceted, the backend developer is responsible for creating the basic architecture (framework) of the project.

Also during programming the logic of the whole system to make sure it runs correctly. Back-end developers tend to spend more time implementing algorithms and solving more technical problems than front-end developers. Click to learn more about What is Expressjs Server Side Development?

One of the most important functions that backend developers perform is database design for web and application development projects. This means 75% of the tasks are assigned to backend developers. MongoDB, MySQL, MariaDB, Hadoop etc. are tools used for database design.

Another important function of back-end development is API (Application Programming Interface) writing. An API is a set of functions that act as an intermediary between two different digital environments. That is, APIs enable communication between different software components by maintaining a set of routines and protocols.

In layman’s terms, an API is like a URL created in Node.JS and hosted on a cloud server that waits for a command to collect and provide information to users. Back-end vs. Front-end development.

After sparking a major fight between front-end and back-end developers, we can’t let this bone hang without a proper verdict.

How Can A Back-End Benefit Your Business?

Backend is everything for IT development and you will need a strong backend development company to build you the best mobile app or website. For easier understanding, we have divided Back-End development services into 4 sections. You can choose from 4 sections that best suit your needs.

Back-End For Website Development

If you only need to develop a website (informational or eCommerce web design), you need a specialized back-end development company.

All the data that your website visitors browse is delivered to them using back-end development technologies such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. This feature is a CMS (Content Management System) for web solutions.

Your website content is stored on the cloud or your dedicated server or third-party shared servers. This content is managed by pre-defined logic created using a back-end web development solution.

To create dynamic content for your website, you will need PHP back-end development. If your website is not informative but e-commerce based, you will need a WordPress Woocommerce development solution or a Magento back-end solution.

Back-End Development For Mobile And Web Applications

If your startup needs more than just a website, or if your main concern is a mobile and web application, then again you will need to choose the right backend framework that will increase the performance of the web application.

All those fancy visuals you see in mobile apps are only there because of strong back-end coding. Front-end developers only create the design of the user interface, but back-end application developers translate it into reality by turning it into a full-fledged application.

If you choose to develop native apps, your choice for an iPhone app will be rapid development. Back-end development for iOS is usually done in Swift or Objective-C. But if you are going for Android development, you should go with JavaScript development.

There is another option for mobile development that is on the rise these days, and that is hybrid development. Using the React Native and Ionic development languages, you can create hybrid apps that can run on both mobile platforms.

Back-end is also a very important part if you plan to create a web application for your company’s products/services. The best thing about a web app backend is providing mobile app functionality in web browsers. These web applications are developed using frameworks like AngularJS, NodeJS and ReactJS.

Back-End Development For Advanced Technologies

With advances in voice-enabled technology, a future where every home will have an Alexa, homepod or Google home system is not far off.

So as a business, it is very important to have your company’s web and mobile products integrated into such IoT (Internet of Things), especially if your company is an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or OEM company or service provider like Starbucks or Uber.

For the OEM industry, the main source of business comes from users asking about their products or services, and if such companies are not integrated with the future of web search, they will lose customers and business. These IoT systems are front-end technologies themselves, so you need a good back-end development side to integrate with these inevitable technologies of tomorrow.

Let’s take the example of integrating Amazon Alexa with your consumer electronics products or on-demand services, where the data is stored in two places: Amazon’s lambda server or your own server. Alexa searches the web based on your voice instructions, so you need to integrate all possible requests that can lead to your information.

For such IoT solutions and integrations, you will need strong back-end development support with knowledge of languages like NodeJS, Python and Java.

Looking For An Affordable Backend Solution?

You may not need servers for your digital product. Firebase backend development is what you need. You can build mobile and web apps using the Firebase backend development platform. Firebase is a cloud solution for your websites and apps.

For applications that deal with simple data management, such as task managers, the Firebase backend development platform is the best choice.

The best feature of using Firebase is that it is backed by Google infrastructure, so you don’t need any server infrastructure to process your company’s or client’s data. With new updates like Cloud Firestore, you can store and sync app data on a global scale. It’s a perfect candidate for running backend code without managing servers.

For businesses like chat platforms and news feeds, real-time database integration is a must. Firebase’s backend development services drive such real-time integrations.

Conclusion

Back-end development services are the one and only web or mobile application development.

So, as a trading company, it is simply not possible to think about digitizing your company without backend support. The back-end is a vast sea of technical coding and it’s not for the faint of heart.

You will need more than one guy to develop the back end. You either need a team of freelance backend developers or a trusted backend development company.

Before you hire a back-end development company, you need to get them to sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) to keep your app idea or any other business information confidential.

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