Apollo GraphQL

This list is an update to the list I created seven years ago https://alternativeto.net/lists/8010/back-end-web-development/ which focused on the server-side aspect of web applications. The web and development has changed a lot since then and rather than re-write history, decided to create a new list based on current patters and shifts in enterprise environments. These details are based on both what I've seen in the professional world as well as for hobbyists and web development enthusiasts who run their own projects. The general pattern for back-end development will cover three main points for each function: Self Hosted Option Third-Party Service Option AWS Option I also cover any GUI interfaces available for folks who don't want to interact with these services using a terminal. In addition to consulting the documentation for each of the tools below, I'd like to shout out the following projects which also played a big part in informing the overall structure of this list: Jeff Delaney's 100 Second Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@Fireship Kamran Ahmed's Roadmaps: https://roadmap.sh Stack Overflow's Developer Survey: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2025/ The beginning of this list will cover some common languages used to build server-based APIs for web applications, including Python, Javascript, C#, and Go. Honorable mentions, some of which were from my original list, include the following: Rails with Ruby: one of the best developer experiences but counterbalanced by terrible performance from a speed and efficiency perspective. This framework is still really popular in India. Spring Boot with Java: A very common enterprise-based application framework and particularly popular in China. But it requires Java, which I wouldn't wish on anyone. Laravel with PHP: PHP gets a lot of hate, but I used it back 20 years ago and am still fond if it. PHP is generally useful for Wordpress-based sites too. Has performance issues though since it is an interpreted language. Phoenix with Elixir: Also a great developer experience and is very popular on the Stack Overflow survey. Only reason I can't recommend is because you will be learning Elixir just to use Phoenix because it isn't a language really used for anything else mainstream. Note that I don't plan on covering anything AI related for the development process. Of Generative AI, wickedest of technological inventions, I shall neither speak nor give direction. Update: 10-11-2026: The Deno team has announced they will no longer maintain their runtme after October 2027: https://deno.com/blog/cloudflare. I'll be removing all the references to this ecosystem since I don't want to encourage folks to buy into something that will be unsupported a year from now.

This list is inspired by the Kamran Ahmed's "2019 Developer Roadmap." https://github.com/kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap Without further ado, my take on the most important technologies to learn for back-end web development in 2019!

JAM (Javascript API Markup) stack sites are the new black in the web-development world, so if you are looking to try your hand at the latest trend, take a look at the best tools of the trade, right here in this list. If you are confused about the value that can come from a JAMStack site, that is because JAMStack is one of the most poorly explained concepts on the web, specifically describing what problem it solves and what solutions it replaces. The purpose of JAMstack is essentially to create the same sort of website Drupal or Wordpress would build for you, but outsource the back-end functionality as much as possible, especially for static-sites, so that developers are focused on front end. This is done by using Javascript to define the front end behaviour, APIs to provide functionality to back-end hosted services, and Markup, which defines formatting. The rest of the stack can be outsourced to external infrastructure, whether it is CDNs for content delivery, back-end-as-service support like Firebase, and CMS used to define content like Contentful. Essentially, all you are left with is text files in a static respository like Github Pages, which is the basis for the site. No webserver is even required because the CDN serves the pages based on what is built from the Github Pages. This results in a significantly reduced attack surface and a super fast website loading time that doesn't rely on a central server for uptime.