Aspiring web developers seeking to enhance their front end development skills or transition into new roles should consider expanding their knowledge to include complementary skills such as back end web development. This can open doors to a variety of careers, including becoming a Full Stack Web Developer, increasing your value in the job market.
Key Insights
- Front end web development, which covers the client-side components of a website, primarily involves skills in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Adding back end web development skills, such as Python, Ruby, Java, and PHP, to your toolkit can prepare you to become a Full Stack Web Developer.
- Database management, including understanding systems like MongoDB and MySQL, is a valuable skill for web developers.
- Knowledge of API development and using web services like REST and JSON is crucial for building functional, scalable, and secure web applications.
- Understanding web frameworks like Django, Flask, Express.js, and Ruby on Rails can enhance web development speed, improve code organization, and decrease potential errors.
- Web developers can expect diverse salary ranges based on their area of expertise. For example, a Full Stack Web Developer can earn significantly more due to their comprehensive skill set.
If you are interested in becoming a Web Developer or learning web development skills, you may wish to consider learning complementary skills. An important factor in deciding to learn a new skill is researching complementary and related skills. Doing so will help you make more informed decisions about what you want to learn, and it will help you decide whether or not learning a specific skill is the right decision for you. You will also learn what skills you may want to learn to complement your training later. Read on to learn more about related front end web development training options, including back end web development essentials.
What is Front End Web Development?
Front end web development covers the parts of websites everyone can see, known as the “client side.” HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are the programming languages that tie everything together. This power trio is commonly associated with front end web development but also has uses in other programming fields. HTML and CSS are two of the simplest programming languages you can learn, and JavaScript is known for its versatility in the programming world.
If you are interested in becoming a Front End Developer or enhancing your current career, read more about front end web development and why you should learn it.
What Can You Do with Front End Web Development Skills?
Front end web development provides the versatility to create a custom website or web application for businesses, organizations, passion projects, and more. Customizing your web application with code lets you leave a unique impression on your visitors. Even if someone else has the same topic idea as you, they may approach creating their website differently, and that slight difference can make you stand out. By honing your skills in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can create a website that others will feel compelled to use again and again because of the special touch you’ve left on it.
Skills Related to Front End Web Development
In addition to learning front end web development skills like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, aspiring Web Developers may wish to learn back end web development. While front end web development is responsible for client-side components of a web application, back end web development handles the server side. Learning back end web development in addition to front end gives you the flexibility to work as a Full Stack Web Developer or to enhance your value as a Front End Web Developer.
Back End Web Development Languages
The duties of a Web Developer can vary based on the area of expertise. While Front End Web Developers focus exclusively on client-side web components, Full Stack Web Developers and Web Developers who focus on the server side should be familiar with programming languages such as Python, Ruby, Java, and PHP.
Back end web development skills are often taught as part of a Full Stack Web Development certificate program. Full stack web development covers both front and back end web development in a single program, allowing you to bundle many bootcamps at a discount and stream your training. Learning full stack web development can help you launch a Full Stack Web Developer career. It also gives you the flexibility to work on either the front end, back end, or both, making you a valuable part of a web development team.
You can also take bootcamps specific to a programming language, such as a Python programming immersive.
Database Management
Another set of skills valuable to aspiring Web Developers is database management. Understanding database management systems such as MongoDB and MySQL enable you to understand how data is stored and retrieved within a web application.
Noble Desktop’s Full Stack Web Development certificate program covers essential database management skills through its SQL bootcamp. This bootcamp teaches you how to use a graphical user interface to explore and alter data, search through tables programmatically by writing queries, and how to use join statements to combine information across tables. You will also learn to convert between various data types and use advanced techniques like timestamp functions and subqueries.
API Development
Web Developers use web services like REST and JSON to build Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Designing an API requires a Web Developer to consider functionality, usability, scalability, and other factors. API Developers also must understand how to implement authentication and authorization methods necessary to secure the API. Using such methods prevents unauthorized access to the API. Understanding version control tools like GIT can also help you manage and track changes to the API code. You should also learn how to write clear and comprehensive documentation and how to test the API.
Noble Desktop helps you understand API development by covering topics like Express.js in the Full Stack Web Development certificate program. This certificate also covers essential skills like using Git, MongoDB, and more.
Web Frameworks
Back end web development often uses web frameworks to increase the development speed, improve code organization, and minimize potential errors. Web frameworks provide pre-written code and development tools that allow Web Developers to focus on writing application-specific code. Web frameworks can provide a routing system for handling requests for different URLs. Web frameworks also integrate database management, authentication and authorization features, and provide a templating system that makes it easier for developers to maintain and modify the user interface.
Popular back end web development frameworks include Django, Flask, Express.js, and Ruby on Rails. Learning these web frameworks can help you stand out as an aspiring Full Stack and Back End Web Developer.
Security
Part of building and maintaining a website or web application is ensuring the security of that application. Web Developers use security measures to prevent data breaches, unauthorized access, and other security threats. Back end web development skills related to security include integrating authentication and authorization methods like password-based and token-based authentication. Knowing how to store sensitive data also protects information like passwords. Input validation prevents cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and other security threats. Web Developers should also understand how to manage user sessions using security measures like cookies and timeouts.
Other back end web development security skills include using firewalls, HTTPS, validating user inputs, sanitizing data, and performing security audits. Understanding how to build secure websites and web applications will help you stand out as a reliable Web Developer and helps to guarantee the integrity of the applications you code.
Learn Front End Web Development Skills with Noble Desktop
Noble Desktop offers many expert-led classes, bootcamps, and certificate programs for front end web development. The Front End Web Development Certificate program teaches HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WordPress concepts in one compact but effective bundle of courses. Another excellent certificate is the Web Design Certificate program, which covers web design principles in addition to essential front end web development skills. If you're looking for an introductory course, you may wish to consider the Intro to Web Development with HTML & CSS class.
You can also compare front end web development courses and bootcamps to find the training that meets your needs.
Key Takeaways
- Learning back end web development in addition to front end can prepare you to become a Full Stack Web Developer.
- Essential back end web development skills to learn include languages, database management methods, API development, web frameworks, and security methods.
- You can learn front end and back end web development skills online or in person with expert-led training from Noble Desktop.
Related Front-End Web Development Resources
- Which Industries & Professions Use Front-End Web Development?
- Comparison of Front-End Web Development Training Formats
- Top Cities for Front-End Web Development Classes & Training
- Front-End Web Development Training & Classes for Employees: Review Corporate Training Options
- Front-End Web Development Training for Veterans
How to Learn Front-End Web Development
Master front-end web development with hands-on training. Front-end web development deals with the user-facing side of a website. Developers who specialize in front-end coding typically use HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and often a content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress.
- Front-End Web Development Certificate at Noble Desktop: live, instructor-led course available in NYC or live online
- Find Front-End Web Development Classes Near You: Search & compare dozens of available courses in-person
- Attend a front-end web development class live online (remote/virtual training) from anywhere
- Find & compare the best online front-end web development classes (on-demand) from the top providers and platforms
- Train your staff with corporate and onsite front-end web development training