When talking about web development, we often hear about front end and back end and full stack. While front end is about user-related features of the product such as design and other part of web that users interact with, full stack unites front end and back end technologies, and back end deals with maintenance and update of the web application that is with the server side, – as “CodeUp” explains. The back end works to support the front end of the web application and includes application, server, and database. In other words, back end is the ‘backside’ of the website and is practically invisible for a regular user, but yet highly important.
1. Back End Developer Salaries in Different Countries
Before making a hiring decision regarding back end devs you’re going to hire for your dedicated team, learn more about the world trends and back end developer salary in various countries, learn about the ways experts can be hired.
In the United States, the average salary for a back end developer is $72,043 annually, according to PayScale. In Netherlands, back end devs get $37,924 annually (PayScale), while in Germany their median annual wage is $43,852 (PayScale), French web devs earn $30,000 per year (PayScale). A Ukrainian back end web developer earns less than European colleagues with annual salary $27,500 (PayScale).
We would like to point out that back end developer salary is higher than a regular web designer salary, but almost equals to front end developer salary, but of course, it is lower than full stack developer salary.
2. Popular Back End Technologies
Back end uses a number of technologies, tools, frameworks, and server-side languages like Ruby, PHP, Python, .Net, and Java. According to Medium, they are used to build an application. Some of the back end tools are Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server that are used to change or save data, so it’s then served back to the client in front end code.
Back end experts also use PHP frameworks like Symfony, CakePHP, and Zend; version control software like Git, CVS, or SVN; Linux. Of course there is a number of technologies that a back end developer uses that are different from those that a front end web developer deploys, however, back end devs should also be aware of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Python and PHP are the most popular back end coding languages. While PHP is used for server-side specifically by the majority of devs, according to TechNotification, Python has dynamic features and simple script. Both languages are open-source, are simple and readable and common all over the world. They have a big number of available extensions and frameworks for PHP and Python, they are both portable and have very clear documentation. At the same time, they have different orientation – PHP encompasses whole code during development (object-oriented), while Python produces the code in separated modules (aspect-oriented). PHP is more flexible, while Python has a tight code. Python is good both for full-stack developer and front end developer, while PHP is used for back end only. Python uses tabs and spaces and no symbols, while PHP is good for those who code in C, because it has similar symbols. Python is open for all technologies, and PHP only in web development. Python does not need any additional security tools, while PHP does. So if you are choosing between the two key languages, you should consider the purpose you are going to use it for, because they actually are not rivals.
3. What Types of Back End Developers Are in Demand and How Much They Cost
Due to a variety of web developer jobs, coders have an opportunity to master a few programming languages to work as back end or front end experts, they use various frameworks and with time decide which one is the most comfortable to work with. You might often encounter so-called confrontation front end vs back end, but in fact, it does not exist, because these are parts of one product, they are both necessary to make the website function well. Sometimes devs use special networks to reduce the coding and accelerate the overall process.
There are various types of back end developers depending on their specialization and experience. Of course, their salaries are different too. For example, back end engineer salary is a little higher than regular web developer salary. The salary of the senior back end developer according to PayScale is $120k+ annually, a Mid level .Net Back End Developer gets $65,000 to $75,000 annually, JavaScript (Back End) & some PHP Software Engineer in U.S. is offered $115,000 to $145,000 annually, Back end Engineer (Ruby on Rails) can be paid $100,000 to $140,000 per year, Back end Developer (C#) are paid $100,000 to $125,000 annually.
4. Overview of the Best Ways to Hire Back End Developers
After you decide what are the specific techniques of potential web app coder of your future startup or product, you will face various methods to find the best experts. , According to Proposify, there are three main ways to hire skilled staff: freelance, local hire, or outstaffing.
In most cases, the option of freelance hire is considered when only one or two candidates are needed, and if the case is not of a long-term cooperation. Of course, freelance is cheap, but if you are looking for dedicated devs who can work overtime and be as interested in your project as you, hiring freelance coders would be a mistake. Freelance offers low cost and hourly payment, but it cannot guarantee devotion and engagement of the workers, plus you will spend a lot of time for testing your potential employees which is prior to a hiring decision.
Local hire is the most expensive due to office expenditures and your limitation with the dev pool. But in-office workers seem to be devoted and engaged into the process, and it seems so easy to control and manage them. In fact, when hiring locally employers often create an artificial limitation in the developer pool, because in the specific area there’s a restricted number of the experts you need that means you can overpay them, or there might be no such a professional in your city at all. Moreover, you spend money on the office expenditures, when in the Internet and communications era, you can easily manage projects and control people working remotely.
Outstaffing and outsourcing are the most popular and effective hiring methods that the majority of organizations use. Experts are outsourced for a specific project with everything that is applied to HR management such as payments, coordinations, quality control. The employers engagement in the project in terms of outsourcing is not required, and this is not considered to be a reliable option in IT market.
Outstaffing is relatively cheaper than outsourcing and offers an employer a freedom of action and control over the hired team. Outstaffed developers concentrate on your project only, they work from the office of outstaffing company which makes them highly manageable for you or your CTO. This seems too complicated, but a businessman who wants to be engaged into his project and get a devoted team of devs will be able to assess all the advantages of outstaffing.
If you decide to hire a team of back end coders to join your project, consider the option of outstaffing as the best one. Your business will greatly benefit from this hiring model, because you will get a skilled team of experienced developers able to work remotely and yet become an inevitable part of the existing dev team of the company. You will save costs and control of the ongoing work processes will be solely in your hands. If you ask where to look for outstaffing companies, the answer is Ukraine. This country has demonstrated a great potential on the IT market having an outstanding programmer pool. Ukraine is the best country to look for outstaffing due to international experience, high quality level of the Ukrainian developers and low rates of the programmers salaries. A dedicated team of web developers with international experience are those people whom you trust and rely on, they will be totally engaged in your project, and you will receive reasonable bills for their services.