IBM
IBM Back-End Development Professional Certificate
27,543 enrolled
Top instructor
IBM

IBM Back-End Development Professional Certificate

Prepare for a career as a back-end developer. Gain the in-demand skills and hands-on experience to get job-ready in less than 6 months.

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Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise

(1,152 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule
6 months at 10 hours a week
Earn a career credential
Share your expertise with employers
Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise

(1,152 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule
6 months at 10 hours a week
Earn a career credential
Share your expertise with employers

Overview

  • Master the most up-to-date practical skills and knowledge that back-end developers use in their daily roles

  • Learn to deploy and scale applications using methodologies and tools, Docker, Kubernetes, microservices, and serverless functions

  • Write back-end applications with object-oriented programming languages including server-side Python while using version control and package managers

  • Employ continuous integration / continuous development (CI/CD) and monitoring methodologies to facilitate software development life-cycle automation

What’s included

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Taught in English
123 practice exercises

Professional Certificate - 11 course series

What you'll learn

  • Explain the principles of software engineering, the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), and software development tools, technologies, and stacks

  • Differentiate between programming language types and apply basic programming constructs such as loops, conditionals, and functions using Python

  • Summarize key software architecture and design approaches, including common architectural and deployment patterns

  • Outline the roles, skills, and career paths in software engineering

Skills you'll gain

Category: Object Oriented Programming (OOP)
Category: Software Engineering
Category: Software Architecture
Category: Software Development Life Cycle
Category: Back-End Web Development
Category: Software Development
Category: Front-End Web Development
Category: Software Development Methodologies
Category: Python Programming
Category: Application Deployment
Category: Full-Stack Web Development
Category: Software Documentation
Category: Web Development
Category: Programming Principles
Category: Development Environment
Category: Unified Modeling Language
Category: Agile Software Development
Category: Software Design Patterns
Category: Software Design
Category: Web Applications

What you'll learn

  • Describe version control and its place in social and collaborative coding and in DevOps.

  • Explain basic Git concepts such as repositories and branches used for distributed version control and social coding.

  • Create GitHub repositories and branches, and perform pull requests (PRs) and merge operations, to collaborate on a team project.

  • Build your portfolio by creating and sharing an open-source project on GitHub.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Git (Version Control System)
Category: GitHub
Category: Collaborative Software
Category: Software Versioning
Category: Version Control
Category: Code Review
Category: Microsoft Windows
Category: Unix Commands
Category: Command-Line Interface

What you'll learn

  • Describe the Linux architecture and common Linux distributions and update and install software on a Linux system.

  • Perform common informational, file, content, navigational, compression, and networking commands in Bash shell.

  • Develop shell scripts using Linux commands, environment variables, pipes, and filters.

  • Schedule cron jobs in Linux with crontab and explain the cron syntax. 

Skills you'll gain

Category: Linux Commands
Category: Shell Script
Category: File Management
Category: Linux
Category: Scripting
Category: Bash (Scripting Language)
Category: Automation
Category: Unix
Category: File Systems
Category: Command-Line Interface
Category: Network Protocols
Category: Linux Administration
Category: Unix Commands
Category: OS Process Management

What you'll learn

  • Develop a foundational understanding of Python programming by learning basic syntax, data types, expressions, variables, and string operations.

  • Apply Python programming logic using data structures, conditions and branching, loops, functions, exception handling, objects, and classes.

  • Demonstrate proficiency in using Python libraries such as Pandas and Numpy and developing code using Jupyter Notebooks.

  • Access and extract web-based data by working with REST APIs using requests and performing web scraping with BeautifulSoup.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Pandas (Python Package)
Category: Web Scraping
Category: Python Programming
Category: Data Structures
Category: NumPy
Category: Object Oriented Programming (OOP)
Category: Data Manipulation
Category: Programming Principles
Category: Application Programming Interface (API)
Category: Computer Programming
Category: Data Import/Export
Category: Jupyter
Category: Data Collection
Category: Data Processing
Category: Data Analysis

What you'll learn

  • Describe the steps and processes involved in creating a Python application including the application development lifecycle

  • Create Python modules, run unit tests, and package applications while ensuring the PEP8 coding best practices

  • Build and deploy web applications using Flask, including routing, error handling, and CRUD operations.

  • Create and deploy an AI-based application onto a web server using IBM Watson AI Libraries and Flask

Skills you'll gain

Category: Python Programming
Category: Application Deployment
Category: Flask (Web Framework)
Category: Unit Testing
Category: Style Guides
Category: Restful API
Category: Code Review
Category: Artificial Intelligence
Category: Software Development Life Cycle
Category: API Design
Category: Programming Principles
Category: Natural Language Processing
Category: Web Applications

What you'll learn

  • Explain what a database is and create an entity relationship data model for a relational database.

  • Compose SQL queries to insert, select, update, and delete data in a database.

  • Use Django ORM to build object-oriented databases.

  • Integrate Bootstrap into your Django template and build interactive web pages.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Django (Web Framework)
Category: Relational Databases
Category: Full-Stack Web Development
Category: Model View Controller
Category: SQL
Category: Authorization (Computing)
Category: Databases
Category: Object-Relational Mapping
Category: Authentications
Category: Bootstrap (Front-End Framework)
Category: Application Deployment
Category: Back-End Web Development
Category: Content Management
Category: Data Modeling
Category: Responsive Web Design
Category: Cloud Applications
Category: IBM Cloud
Category: Application Development

What you'll learn

  • Using containers, learn how to move applications quickly across any environment.

  • Build cloud native applications using Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift, and Istio.

  • Describe and leverage Kubernetes architecture to set up and use an entire lifecycle-based container management system.

  • Create and leverage a YAML deployment file to configure and create resources such as pods, services, replicasets, and others in a declarative way.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Kubernetes
Category: OpenShift
Category: Containerization
Category: Istio
Category: Command-Line Interface
Category: Docker (Software)
Category: Cloud-Native Computing
Category: Application Deployment
Category: YAML
Category: DevOps
Category: Microservices
Category: Scalability

What you'll learn

  • Summarize the fundamentals of Microservices, their advantages, and contrast with monolithic architectures.

  • Create REST API endpoints and invoke them using cURL and Postman; Use SwaggerUI to document and test APIs.

  • Create, and deploy microservices using Docker containers and serverless technologies like IBM Code Engine.

  • Practice hands-on with labs and projects using a no-charge cloud-based environment.

Skills you'll gain

Category: IBM Cloud
Category: Microservices
Category: Restful API
Category: Containerization
Category: Application Deployment
Category: Serverless Computing
Category: Flask (Web Framework)
Category: Docker (Software)
Category: Cloud Computing Architecture
Category: Application Development
Category: Scalability
Category: Software Design
Category: Istio
Category: Cloud Applications
Category: OpenShift
Category: Kubernetes
Category: API Design

What you'll learn

  • Explain security by design, learn to develop applications using security by design principles; perform defensive coding following OWASP principles.

  • Describe IBM cloud container vulnerability; perform vulnerability scanning and pen testing with Kali Linux.

  • Describe what to look for in app performance; perform troubleshooting using logging, stack trace, and log analytics.

  • Discuss concepts like Golden Signals; list tools for monitoring and troubleshooting; and test monitoring in action with Prometheus and Grafana.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Secure Coding
Category: Application Security
Category: Threat Modeling
Category: DevSecOps
Category: Vulnerability Scanning
Category: OSI Models
Category: Vulnerability Management
Category: Software Development Life Cycle
Category: Code Review
Category: Vulnerability Assessments
Category: Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)
Category: Security Testing
Category: Penetration Testing
Category: Key Management
Category: Development Environment
Category: DevOps
Category: Encryption

What you'll learn

  • Explain the importance of monitoring and describe concepts like Golden Signals

  • Demonstrate your knowledge of observability with Instana and explain the pillars of observability, cloud native observability, and types of sampling

  • Implement logging and demonstrate your knowledge of telemetry using OpenTelemetry and tracing using Kubernetes

  • Develop hands-on experience with a variety of tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, Mezmo (LogDNA), OpenTelemetry, and Instana

Skills you'll gain

Category: Application Performance Management
Category: System Monitoring
Category: Continuous Monitoring
Category: Grafana
Category: Prometheus (Software)
Category: Docker (Software)
Category: Real Time Data
Category: Network Monitoring
Category: Debugging
Category: DevOps
Category: Microservices

What you'll learn

  • Demonstrate proficiency to develop and deploy backend services and applications

  • Apply your back-end development skills to author microservices and REST APIs in Flask

  • Create and query databases like MongoDB and integrate with Django apps

  • Containerize microservices using Docker and deploy using Kubernetes, OpenShift and serverless

Skills you'll gain

Category: Flask (Web Framework)
Category: OpenShift
Category: Back-End Web Development
Category: Application Deployment
Category: NoSQL
Category: MongoDB
Category: Kubernetes
Category: Django (Web Framework)
Category: Web Applications
Category: Application Programming Interface (API)
Category: Microservices
Category: Containerization
Category: Cloud Applications
Category: Restful API
Category: Scalability
Category: IBM Cloud

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IBM

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Frequently asked questions

¹ Median salary and job opening data are sourced from Lightcast™ Job Postings Report. Content Creator, Machine Learning Engineer and Salesforce Development Representative (1/1/2024 - 12/31/2024) All other job roles (8/1/2024 - 8/1/2025)