Popular backend technologies
Tags: tutorial, backend, development
Published: 2023-01-24 21:22:16

**What is backend?**
Backend is the server side of a 3-tier application. Is is responsible for processing business logic and accessing data tier. However it is important to mention that some parts of business logic might appear on the frontend (the more logic appears the thicker the frontend tier will be).

Basically backend (back-end, or back end) is everything that the frontend is not.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/p3bwh7rglorke8epfik7.jpg)

**[The most popular back end technologies](https://bluebirdinternational.com/popular-backend-technologies/)**

**Java**
[Java](https://bluebirdinternational.com/java/) is one of the most popular programming languages. It has been used by developers for more than 20 years. It is very a versatile, platform-independent, object-oriented, general purpose programming language. Oracle owns Java since 2009. It can be used for Android application development, web applications development, image processing, game development and to almost anything else. According to Oracle there are more than 12 million developers using Java programming language.

Java backend technologies were used on the following websites: Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay. But for example NASA also prefers Java for Backend Development.

If you are in need of [Java programmers](https://bluebirdinternational.com/java-programmer/), contact Bluebird and [Hire Java Developers](https://bluebirdinternational.com/staff-augmentation/hire-java-developers/) within days!

**PHP**
It is a general-purposed, server-side scripting language. Main area of use: building dynamic websites. It can also run from command prompt and used to build client-side applications.

Today most websites use PHP. This ratio moves between 60–70%.

PHP can be used to build dynamic websites, managing forms, managing cookies, programming server-side file commands and even to create desktop applications.

The following websites use PHP backend:

Facebook, Wikipedia, Tumblr, Slack, DocuSign, WordPress, Yahoo.

**Python**
Python is the programming language with the most dynamically growing popularity. It is a versatile programming language. Its syntax is simple and easy to understand with an elegant and readable code. It is a very high-level programming language with an open source code.

Python can be used for web development, machine learning, AI development,game development, desktop application development and even for web crawler development.

Python can be found on the following websites:

Mozilla, Spotify, Pinterest, but it is also used by Google, Facebook and Youtube.

Backend technologies — [Bluebird](https://bluebirdinternational.com/)

**JavaScript**
No, it is not a mistake. Even though [Javascript](https://bluebirdinternational.com/staff-augmentation/hire-javascript-developers/) is known as a frontend scripting language, there are software frameworks (ex.: Node.js) which can be used for backend side development.

Node.js has excellent scalability and speed, which is essential for websites with high traffic. Development time can be a fraction of other programming languages given that both frontend and backend use Javascript.

A Javascript backed can be found on the following websites: LinkedIn, eBay, PayPal, Netflix, Uber, but it is also used by Google.

**Kotlin**
Kotlin is perfectly adapted for backend development. Concise and expressive codes can be made with its help. Another great advantage of Kotlin is, its compatibility with Java. This was the original plan: JetBrains aimed to create a modern, safe and interoperable language for JVM (Java Virtual Machine). Other uniquness: Kotlin was developed with the aim to dynamize the sales of IDEA.

Currently Kotlin is one of the most dynamically growing language on GitHub

The good old Java libraries are accessible from Kotlin anytime.

Kotlin backend can be found on the following websites: Trello, Shazam, Uber, Postmates, Evernote, Kickstarter, Coursera, etc.

**Ruby**
Ruby is a general purpose open source programming language. Ruby on Rail’s framework can be used for building web applications.

The advantage of using Ruby is its high scalability, it enables developmenttime-and cost-efficiently, and its codes are clear and consistent. However, the availability of documentation is insufficient, and it can be problematic in case of web applications for which running time is a key factor. It is less widespread than other programming languages.

Ruby can be used for web application development, thus for e-commerce solutions or streaming services.

Ruby backend can be found on the following websites: Airbnb, GitHub, Shopify, etc.

**Go**
Go is a programming language developed by Google that is. sintactically similar to C. Its popularity has been relatively low to date.

Go is very efficient in managing concurrent users, as a result millions of users can use the same online service at the same time. Besides, Golang is an open source programming language with a clear syntax.

Its advantages are speed, simplicity, automatic memory management, scalability.

Go backend is used by the following companies: Google, Dropbox, Docker, etc.

**C#**
C# is one of the most popular, object-oriented programming languages of the .NET framework. Previously .NET applications were only available for Windows, but in 2016 .NET Core was introduced.

With the arrival of .NET Core, Microsoft made .NET available on MacOS and Linux.

C# backend can be found on the following websites: MSN, Bing, StackOverflow, GoDaddy.

**Choosing the right backend technology for your business**


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mpd0vg71uac2kqtvv1hp.jpg)
Comparison of backend technologies based on popularity, community, and job offerings.

**Popularity**
It was measured based onPYPL (Popularity of Programming Language) index. The index is calculated by Google, based on how frequently users google for training materials for a given programming language.

_The size of the community_

The number of registered questions about the given programming language on StackOverflow (until May 15th, 2020)

_The size of the active community_

The number of active threads related to the given programming language on StackOverflow (until May 15th, 2020)

_How easy it is to find a project as a freelancer_

[Bluebird’s](https://bluebird.hu/it-contracting/) own internal survey based on the number of incoming project requests in IT Contracting

_How easy it is to find a project as an employee_

[Bluebird’s](https://bluebird.hu/it-fejvadaszat/) own internal survey based on the number of incoming project requests in IT Recruitment.

* source: [https://mxx.news/backend-language-to-learn-in-2020-comparing-community-job-market-cloud-support-and-performance/](https://mxx.news/backend-language-to-learn-in-2020-comparing-community-job-market-cloud-support-and-performance/)

* source: Bluebird’s own internal survey based the number of requests in IT Recruitment and IT Contracting

If you are looking for a backend job, [check out Bluebird’s job offers!](https://bluebirdinternational.com/it-jobs-and-it-projects/)