IBM
IBM Back-End Development Professional Certificate

Early bird sale! Unlock 10,000+ courses from Google, IBM, and more for 50% off. Save today.

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.

John Rofrano
IBM Skills Network Team
Abhishek Gagneja

Instructors: John Rofrano

Top Instructor

26,361 already enrolled

Included with Coursera Plus

Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise
4.7

(1,103 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

6 months to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise
4.7

(1,103 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

6 months to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • 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

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Taught in English

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

 logos of Petrobras, TATA, Danone, Capgemini, P&G and L'Oreal

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: Software Development Life Cycle
Category: Software Engineering
Category: Unified Modeling Language
Category: Software Architecture
Category: Programming Principles
Category: Software Development Methodologies
Category: Application Development
Category: Software Development Tools
Category: Software Design
Category: Development Environment
Category: Software Design Patterns
Category: Engineering Software
Category: Program Development
Category: Integrated Development Environments
Category: Python Programming
Category: Systems Development
Category: Agile Methodology
Category: Software Documentation

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: GitHub
Category: Git (Version Control System)
Category: Collaborative Software
Category: Command-Line Interface
Category: Web Applications
Category: DevOps
Category: Version Control
Category: Open Source Technology

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: Linux
Category: File Management
Category: Automation
Category: Unix
Category: Linux Servers
Category: Unix Commands
Category: Bash (Scripting Language)
Category: Network Protocols
Category: Scripting Languages
Category: Unix Shell
Category: Command-Line Interface
Category: Software Installation
Category: Operating Systems
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: Object Oriented Programming (OOP)
Category: Data Structures
Category: Python Programming
Category: Web Scraping
Category: Pandas (Python Package)
Category: NumPy
Category: File Management
Category: Computer Programming
Category: Data Import/Export
Category: Application Programming Interface (API)
Category: Jupyter
Category: Restful API
Category: Data Manipulation
Category: Data Analysis
Category: Programming Principles

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: Application Deployment
Category: Python Programming
Category: Application Programming Interface (API)
Category: Unit Testing
Category: Restful API
Category: Application Development
Category: Flask (Web Framework)
Category: Style Guides
Category: Web Applications
Category: Programming Principles
Category: Software Development Life Cycle
Category: Artificial Intelligence
Category: IBM Cloud
Category: Code Review

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

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: Containerization
Category: OpenShift
Category: Istio
Category: Command-Line Interface
Category: Docker (Software)
Category: YAML
Category: CI/CD
Category: Cloud-Native Computing
Category: Microservices
Category: Application Deployment
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: Serverless Computing
Category: Microservices
Category: Application Deployment
Category: Restful API
Category: API Gateway
Category: Containerization
Category: Scalability
Category: Kubernetes
Category: Application Development
Category: Istio
Category: Cloud Applications
Category: Cloud Computing
Category: Software Architecture
Category: OpenShift

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: Application Security
Category: Secure Coding
Category: Security Testing
Category: Vulnerability Scanning
Category: DevSecOps
Category: Software Development Life Cycle
Category: Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)
Category: Vulnerability Assessments
Category: Threat Modeling
Category: System Monitoring
Category: Data Security
Category: Application Performance Management
Category: Development Environment
Category: Continuous Monitoring

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: Continuous Monitoring
Category: Application Performance Management
Category: System Monitoring
Category: Grafana
Category: Prometheus (Software)
Category: DevOps
Category: Interactive Data Visualization
Category: Docker (Software)
Category: Real Time Data
Category: Microservices
Category: Kubernetes

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: Back-End Web Development
Category: Django (Web Framework)
Category: MongoDB
Category: Application Deployment
Category: Kubernetes
Category: NoSQL
Category: OpenShift
Category: Database Systems
Category: Containerization
Category: Web Services
Category: Web Applications
Category: Databases
Category: Restful API
Category: Scalability
Category: Cloud Applications
Category: Microservices
Category: IBM Cloud
Category: Cloud Development
Category: Application Development

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructors

IBM Skills Network Team
IBM
84 Courses1,323,324 learners
Abhishek Gagneja
IBM
6 Courses203,755 learners
Joseph Santarcangelo
IBM
35 Courses1,968,245 learners

Offered by

IBM

Why people choose Coursera for their career

Felipe M.
Learner since 2018
"To be able to take courses at my own pace and rhythm has been an amazing experience. I can learn whenever it fits my schedule and mood."
Jennifer J.
Learner since 2020
"I directly applied the concepts and skills I learned from my courses to an exciting new project at work."
Larry W.
Learner since 2021
"When I need courses on topics that my university doesn't offer, Coursera is one of the best places to go."
Chaitanya A.
"Learning isn't just about being better at your job: it's so much more than that. Coursera allows me to learn without limits."
Coursera Plus

Open new doors with Coursera Plus

Unlimited access to 10,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription

Advance your career with an online degree

Earn a degree from world-class universities - 100% online

Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business

Upskill your employees to excel in the digital economy

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 (6/1/2024 - 6/1/2025)