There’s so much hype about frontend technologies like Vue.js, AngularJS, ReactJS in the web development domain, it gets easy to ignore the backend. Normally, users are more likely to notice what’s served before their eyes and not take note of what goes behind the scenes. Backend web development involves the part of coding which is not seen by the user. Most often, backend web developers are responsible for the code behind juggling data to and from the frontend.
Needless to say, backend web development does deserve a lot of attention. As per the task, the right programming language should be chosen. Here are some interesting server-side web development programming languages worth considering:
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1. PHP
PHP starts the list on basis of its popularity and widespread use. Not many people agree to love PHP, but chances are that like it or not, you may have to come across it someday. Almost all active web users have come across some sort of implementation of PHP code, considering about 75% of websites use PHP. PHP has come a long way since its creation way back in 1994. It has grown massively, and it is now being used on a multitude of servers and can be integrated with a large number of frameworks and templates.
It is also compatible with a good number of Content Management Systems. Interesting frameworks include Laravel, Symphony and CakePHP. Assuming prior knowledge with a scripting language, a newbie will find it very easy to learn PHP. With a huge community of developers, beginners have lots of resources to choose from. Little processing power demands make PHP fast. Recently, the latest version, PHP7 came out, leaving many anticipating the next release.
2. Python
Gone are the days when Python was restricted to desktop programming. Now, in the realm of backend web development, python is rising among the ranks. Most server-side programmers nowadays have adopted Python as a substitute for PHP. It may have been around for decades, but it keeps on dominating and getting better with time. Python is popular, easy, with a very low learning curve.
Python is flexible and seen as some as the gateway programming language to learn other programming languages. We can’t speak of python web frameworks without mentioning Django. It is robust and capable of catering to all your backend needs. Feel free to check out these best Python frameworks.
3. Java
Just like Python, Java has risen to be a multipurpose language. It’s used for desktop software development, android development and most importantly, for web development. As much as one may love the newer technologies such as Node.js, Java has been around for a long time, which makes it stable and ultimately safer. If you’re going to venture into server-side development with Java, the Spring framework is a very versatile framework.
4. Ruby
Ruby has an active community, which translates to awesome documentation and impressive open-sourced dependencies. To add to the fun, ruby’s code is simple and also expansive. With the Ruby on Rails framework, a developer can get a RESTful API up and running and serving CRUD resources in hours. Not just prototypes, but functioning APIs with security, unit tests, functional tests and databases.
Somehonourable mentions include Perl, Scala, .NET and JavaScript (Node.js). Of course, this list may come across as opinionated to many. That being said, there are a lot of other options which many will like to see or some which should be expunged. Feel free to mention this in the comment section.