Boot.dev Blog
What do Tech Layoffs Mean for Budding Developers?
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
So we're officially in a recession, and now the question is, "what does a recession mean to me as a brand-new developer?". It's scary stuff. As you can see in this chart, tech stocks are getting hit hard.
The 8 Top Back-end Programming Languages for 2026
by Natalie Schooner - Computer science educator and technical writer
A backend programming language is what a programmer like you uses to create internal systems that work in the background of a web application. Backend developers make a lot of money and are growing in popularity and desirability.
What is a DevOps Engineer's Salary?
by Natalie Schooner - Computer science educator and technical writer
The median DevOps engineer's salary is $103,994 in base pay, with around $28,514 in additional pay through bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing according to Glassdoor. Salary.com estimates the average is closer to $125k, while BuiltIn puts the average closer to $128k in base pay, with an additional $15k in cash compensation.
Boot.dev Beat: October 2022 Edition
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Happy Halloween! We released a ton of new stuff on Boot.dev this October, and I've had a blast figuring out new mediums and tools we can use to create content. Anyhow, here's to a great November glass clink. If you ever want to connect with me personally you can just reply here, I'd love to chat.
How Much Do Backend Developers Make?
by Natalie Schooner - Computer science educator and technical writer
The short answer? On average, backend developers make either $82,462, $95,472, or $104,865 per year in base pay depending on who you ask. (I asked Glassdoor, Indeed, and Salary.com respectively.) StackOverflow uses medians instead, and their survey suggests the backend developers actually make upwards of $175,000 per year.
Trends in Developer Jobs: A Meta Analysis of Stack Overflow Surveys
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
I'm really interested in the trends we see in the software engineering job market. Sometimes it's really hard to tell a cohesive and accurate narrative about what's happening because it just happens so dang fast, and very few people are collecting data on the matter.
The 6 Best Backend Project Ideas for Beginners
by Natalie Schooner - Computer science educator and technical writer
Want to become a backend developer? Not surprising. Backend developers enjoy an average base salary of $160k per year, not to mention comprehensive benefits. And best of all? You no longer need a four-year degree to learn backend development. With the help of some of the best backend projects, you can prepare yourself for a backend development job in about nine months, even if you're a total beginner.
Makefiles to improve your life
by Casper Andersson
During development you may sometimes notice you run a lot of commands to set up, build, test, and manage your project. Sometimes, these end up requiring several steps, or you have trouble remembering the exact command. One way to manage this is to set up aliases in your shell configuration. While this would work fine for yourself and for a single build system, it would not be possible to share it in a convenient manner.
Types of Functions in Python: A Concise Guide
by Eteims
Functions are one of the most versatile tools in any Python programmer's toolbox. They enable code reuse and provide a form of abstraction. Python offers many different types of functions. This article is a map of the different types you'll encounter as a Python developer.
Should You Learn Front-end or Back-end Development First?
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
So you want to get into web development, and you keep hearing about "front-end" and "back-end" positions. The question is, which should you learn first? As someone who's held both front-end and back-end positions, and even been a hiring manager, read on and I'll give you my thoughts.
The 7 Best Backend Bootcamps of 2026
by Natalie Schooner - Computer science educator and technical writer
So you're looking for the very best backend bootcamp of 2026. You're not alone – most backend engineers earn over six figures according to Glassdoor, plus they have wide and varied job prospects. It's a good gig.
Full-Stack Ops: Back-end and DevOps Roles are Merging
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
I believe that the job duties of "back-end" and "DevOps" engineers will coalesce to include almost everything that "the user doesn't see". There will still be room for specialization, but these roles will become less distinguishable overall.
CI/CD Isn't Just About Efficiency
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
DevOps principles, and CI/CD specifically, are generally presented as a more efficient way to run a software development organization. While I hold the belief that CI/CD is more efficient and effective than manually testing and deploying code, I'd like to talk about something we don't bring up quite as often.
Backend Engineer vs Data Engineer: What's the Difference?
by Natalie Schooner - Computer science educator and technical writer
The sexiest job title of the decade, data scientist, has spawned about a dozen equally sexy but somewhat confusing and overlapping job titles. The primary offshoot of a data scientist is a data engineer. Let's talk about the difference between a data engineer and a back-end engineer, because frankly, the lines can get quite blurred.
Do Better in Coding Interviews by Being Confident and Humble
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
I think we often do a great job of flogging the dead horse of whiteboarding problems when giving coding interview advice. Heck, that's what I've dedicated the entirety of Boot.dev to. While the hard skills you'll need to be able to solve technical interview problems are necessary, it's also critically important to work on your soft skills.
New 'Learn SQL' Course Launched on Boot.dev
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
I'm happy to announce that today we launched our new Learn SQL course! It was a ton of fun to write, but I also had a blast building the back-end infrastructure that allows students to write and execute SQL in the browser. If you've been wanting to gain a solid foundation of SQL skills, this course is for you!
The More Mentors, The Better (When Learning to Code)
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Vim or VS Code? Tabs or spaces? Rails or Django? The world of programming is fraught with decisions to be made. Sometimes experienced developers are able to share their beliefs in a somewhat objective way. That said, we're all human, and opinions can come across as gospel when we're not careful.
What is a Computer Scientist, and What Do They Do?
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
At work, computer scientists build and deploy programs, algorithms, and systems to solve real-world problems. In most tech jobs, they spend the majority of their time working in teams on new software products. Some computer scientists are more research-oriented however, and may spend time developing new algorithms or pushing the boundaries of what academia knows about certain CS questions.
Are You a DevOps Engineer If You Aren't Writing Code?
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
"DevOps" is one of the most misunderstood terms in the software development industry. To be clear, I'm not the arbiter of truth when it comes to the definitions of words. That said, I'm here to say two things:
How Long Does It Take to Become a Back End Developer?
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
I get really frustrated when I see people and companies online selling unrealistic dreams when it comes to coding education. It's quite lucrative when you're in the edtech industry to heavily exaggerate (or even lie) about how long it will take for learners to get job-ready. I teach backend development skills at Boot.dev and try my best to give students realistic goals they can reach for.
Keyup and Keydown Event Handlers in Vue 3
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
I recently spent far too long fighting with Vue's keyup and keydown functionality while building Boot.dev's front-end. I wanted to handle ctrl+period keyboard events and it took me forever to find the part of the documentation that addressed my use case. Hopefully, this guide can save you some time!
Boot.dev Hackathon September 1st, 2022
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Mark your calendar, because we're hosting another hackathon in the Boot.dev Discord server! The kickoff meeting will be on Thursday, September 1st at 4PM MST, you can RSVP for that event here in our Discord server. Everyone is welcome to participate, in fact, it's free and we'll have prizes for all the winners!
Write on the Boot.dev Blog
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
We've just opened up the Boot.dev Blog to public contributions! We're really excited to see all the great stories that our readers and students will create.
The Top 11 Computer Science Books for Self Study [2026]
by Natalie Schooner - Computer science educator and technical writer
In today's modern, fast-paced world, we look to StackOverflow, Reddit, and hands-on courses to learn about computer science and software engineering. But there are some real benefits to using books as an additional resource.
A Complete Overview of Computer Science for Beginners
by Winston Wagner - Technical author at Boot.dev
Getting into computer science can be a daunting task. There are so many career paths down which a computer education can take you, so many programming languages to master, and so many skills to learn. I'll give you a basic rundown of what computer science is, along with a plethora of resources and tools to help you carve out your own pathway into a computer science career.
