Explore aspects of various tools for building back-end frameworks such as why each one is popular, their advantages and disadvantages, and what you can do to start learning your framework of choice.
Back-end frameworks, such as Node.js, Django, and Ruby on Rails, are important tools for building the core of web and mobile applications. This software allows you to improve performance and scalability, as well as install powerful security measures when developing these applications. When working in back-end development, you鈥檙e constructing the server side of the application, which governs database activity, the server鈥檚 logic, and communication between the server and the client. Because the back-end development portion of an application is so critical, you need to choose a back-end framework that will best serve the needs of your client.听
Working as a back-end developer can be a lucrative career choice because the average annual salary for this job is $82,454 []. Discover more about the Node.js framework along with several other software options for back-end development to help you select the one to learn that best fits your needs.
Since the back-end part of development revolves around the server side of the application rather than what the user sees when interacting with it, a back-end framework offers features, templates, and tools to help you build protocols and complex libraries to ensure you maximize the server side of the code. When developing an application, you can utilize the structure and elements provided by back-end frameworks to increase your productivity because you can simply use these pre-built components to act as the foundation for your application. Implementing a back-end framework when building your application offers several benefits such as making the development process easier, simplifying debugging and maintenance, shortening code length, enhancing database proficiency, and improving security.听
Back-end frameworks provide features that can make the building of an application easier, so if you鈥檙e interested in back-end development as a career choice, you need to understand frameworks such as Node.js, Django, Ruby on Rails, and more. Depending on the types of applications you plan to build, you want to choose a back-end framework based on performance, scalability, ease of use, compatibility, and community support. Explore the following back-end frameworks, their pros and cons, and how you can learn them.
Based on responses from developers, Statista reported the most popular back-end frameworks as of 2024 along with the percentage of developers worldwide who use them []:
-Node.js: 40.8 percent
-ASP.NET Core: 16.9 percent
-Flask: 12.9 percent
-Spring Boot: 12.7 percent
-Django: 12 percent
-Laravel: 7.9 percent
-Ruby on Rails: 4.7 percent
When you鈥檙e developing real-time applications or looking for solutions that are scalable, Node.js, an open source JavaScript environment, is one of the most effective and popular back-end frameworks. Several brands, such as Netflix, LinkedIn, and PayPal, use Node.js to accomplish what they need for the back-end. Although JavaScript was initially created as a front-end language, Node.js allows you to employ it for the back-end, which is one of the reasons it鈥檚 so popular.
Node.js offers additional features for back-end development such as routing, authentication, integration, abundant tools, community support, and error handling.
Asynchronous work: Node.js can manage multiple requests simultaneously, making it ideal for building back-end applications. This is especially effective if you鈥檙e developing applications such as chat apps and online games that require responses in real time.
Speed: Because it utilizes the V8 JavaScript engine鈥攖he same one as Google Chrome鈥攖o process requests on the server rather than a web browser, processing is faster with minimal latency.
Data streaming: The framework can deal with vast amounts of streaming data, even in the form of audio and video.
Database access: It鈥檚 simple to access databases for your project, such as MongoDB.
Some disadvantages of using Node.js include the following:聽
Complex callbacks can be challenging.
You鈥檒l find fewer libraries for specialized tasks.
Asynchronous programming can be difficult for beginners to learn.
If you don鈥檛 clear unused objects, it can lead to memory leakage and eventual performance issues.
The Linux Foundation provides several opportunities for you to learn Node.js. For example, the organization offers three courses: Introduction to Node.js (free); Node.js Application Development ($299) []; and Node.js Services Development ($299) [闭.听
The institution also provides two Node.js certifications for more advanced Node.js practitioners: OpenJS Node.js Application Developer (JSNAD) and OpenJS Node.js Services Developer (JSNSD). Additionally, Johns Hopkins offers an online web development boot camp that includes Node.js.听
You might also consider the IBM Full Stack Software Developer Professional Certificate, where you can learn about computer programming, software engineering, and back-end frameworks such as Node.js.
Created in a fast-paced newsroom to make basic web development jobs simple, Django is a Python-based web framework that is free and open source. It promotes fast development as well as a streamlined and practical design. The primary purpose behind the creation of Django is to provide developers with a tool that allows them to turn their concept into a completed application as fast as possible. Django is a popular back-end framework because you can use it to start building your Python web application even if you haven鈥檛 written any code.
Multiple built-in features: Django offers services such as user authentication, content administration, site maps, RSS feeds, and more.
Very secure: The framework assists users in avoiding security issues such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery, and clickjacking.
Highly scalable: Django can scale to handle heavy traffic demands. Several large companies used Django to create their websites, such as Instagram, DropBox, Spotify, YouTube, and The Washington Post.
Excellent versatility: Organizations employ Django to create content management systems, social networks, and scientific computing platforms.
Django may not work well if you need to build an app so massive that all the information is unable to fit into a single codebase. When it comes to real-time functionality apps, Django is less useful because it鈥檚 more effective when building structured applications for data management rather than chat and live streaming apps. Additionally, the need to be familiar with Python to use Django and object-relational mapping (ORM) can be challenging.
The Django website offers a tutorial for writing your first Django application. The University of California Berkeley Extension has an online back-end development course with a focus on Python that includes Django. You can also earn the IBM Back-End Development Professional Certificate, where you鈥檒l have the opportunity to learn about Django, programming principles, DevOps, security engineering, and more.
Ruby on Rails, also known as 鈥淩ails,鈥 is open source and offers both front-end and back-end frameworks, making it a full-stack framework for developing your web apps. It operates using a model-view-controller (MVC) command structure, which means it contains every component you need to develop web applications backed by a database. Rails offers features such as rendering HTML templates, updating databases, handling email interactions, and depositing uploads in the cloud. One reason for its popularity is that the Ruby language tends to require fewer lines of code than other languages, which can increase productivity.听
You might recognize some of the following company websites built with Ruby on Rails: Shopify, Instacart, Airbnb, Coinbase, and Soundcloud.
Lets you develop applications faster: The developer-friendly framework and object-oriented approach to programming helps you speed up the process for constructing your application.
Easier for beginners: Because Ruby on Rails allows you to avoid mundane decisions by providing built-in conventions, such as the format of your database primary keys, a beginner can focus on actually creating the web application.
Offers a supportive community: Offers a large community of developers who contribute to Ruby on Rails and also handle pull requests, evaluate conduct complaints, and help to establish new features.
Provides 鈥済ems鈥: Developers, even on a global scale, who use the Ruby on Rails framework continue to make plug-ins called 鈥済ems鈥 and third-party libraries for this program, which expand its capabilities. These gems, such as payment authentication, make the development process more efficient by allowing you to add features easily.
Ruby on Rails also contains several downsides. In terms of the pre-built conventions it provides, a developer can become too reliant on these templates instead of including a small percentage of originality into the application. Although the Ruby language offers flexibility, it is an interpreted language, which means it can slow down runtime and execution when compared to compiled languages such as C++, C, and Go.听
The Ruby on Rails website provides a detailed tutorial for how you can get started, which covers everything from how to install Rails to how to deploy your completed application using Kamal. You can also find free tutorials on YouTube. Auburn University offers an online full-stack developer certification course focused on Ruby on Rails. Another option to explore the Ruby programming language is the Learn to Code with Ruby Specialization from Packt, which provides you with the opportunity to learn Ruby, how to install it on Mac OS and Windows, object-oriented design, debugging, and more.
Meant for small to medium-scale projects, Flask, a free Python-based framework, allows you to build web applications quickly because it is straightforward and minimalist. When creating a web application in Python, the Flask framework utilizes a common interface toolkit for connecting web servers to web applications, called the Web Server Gateway Interface (WSGI). Some of Flask鈥檚 features are testing Flask applications, debugging application errors, and updating subscribers about the application with 鈥渟ignals.鈥 Flask remains popular because its simple design makes it relatively easy for beginners to use. Companies using Flask are Qualcomm, Fidelity Investments, and JPMorgan Chase.
Flexibility: Developers can choose the tools and libraries for the development process.
Extensions: Flask can handle a variety of extensions, allowing you to enhance how your application functions.
Error-handling features: This framework makes it simple for you to alter error pages and deal with exceptions.
Integration: Flask smoothly integrates with certain database systems, which adds a level of adaptability.
Flask has a few disadvantages, such as needing additional libraries for authentication and database features, struggling with large-scale projects, and having so much flexibility that it can present challenges when trying to choose between all the options.
Flask offers a detailed tutorial on its website, and other free tutorials are available online. You can also pursue the IBM Back-End Development Professional Certificate, where you鈥檒l have the opportunity to learn about Flask, object-oriented programming languages such as Python, the software development life cycle, application deployment, and more.
The back-end framework you should learn depends on the following traits: performance, scalability, user-friendliness, compatibility with other tools, and community support. These characteristics are important because selecting a framework to learn may impact the types of projects on which you work in the future. For example, if you prefer working in smaller-scale web application development, you may want to learn Flask. However, if building large, scalable applications capable of operating in real time catches your interest, Node.js might be the better choice. Maybe you鈥檙e searching for a beginner-friendly back-end framework to learn, making Ruby on Rails a potential option. Explore the different features of the various back-end frameworks to determine the one that appeals to you the most.
You can also take a look at some other back-end frameworks if you decide to continue reviewing your options. Other options used in this industry are:
Laravel: Laravel is open source and offers a full ecosystem. Features include authentication, database migrations, file storage, task scheduling, and testing.
ASP.NET Core: The ASP.NET Core framework is open source and cross-platform. Features include tutorials and video courses, scalability, standard authentication protocols, and an active community.
Spring Boot: Spring Boot is another open source platform that uses Java. Features include externalized configuration, metrics, and health status regarding your applications. You can use it to easily build microservices for mobile and web applications.
Back-end frameworks help develop the server side of an application, and you can choose one to learn based on the type of back-end web development projects on which you plan to work. Uncover more about back-end frameworks with the IBM Back-end JavaScript Developer Professional Certificate, where you can learn about Node.js, application deployment, containerization, Agile methodologies, and more. You might also consider the Microsoft Full-Stack Developer Professional Certificate, which covers topics such as the ASP.NET Core framework, C# programming language, front- and back-end web development, and SQL.
Glassdoor. 鈥, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/back-end-developer-salary-SRCH_KO0,18.htm.鈥 Accessed May 8, 2025.
Statista. 鈥, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124699/worldwide-developer-survey-most-used-frameworks-web/.鈥 Accessed May 8, 2025.
The Linux Foundation. 鈥, https://training.linuxfoundation.org/openjs/#certifications.鈥 Accessed May 8, 2025.
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