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Discussion on: Beginner's guide to creating a Node.js server

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thomassalty profile image
Thomas Soos

I know it's a beginners' guide but how should I imagine an experts' guide? Is this what professional back-end developers do most of time? Writing these "server.js" and "routes.js" files? I'm just trying to understand what it looks like in the real world, outside of "localhost:3000"...

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lisahjung profile image
Lisa Jung

Hey @thomas Soos! What a great question. Professional back end developers are certainly expected to have mastered the skill sets covered in this blog. However, these skills barely scratch the surface of what you do as a back end developer!

The responsibilities of a back end developer may differ depending on the company he/she works for. In general, back end developer focuses on the logic necessary to make the app function quickly and efficiently. They also develop and manage database to store and secure info needed to run the app. Also, adding Auth and other security measures to your app are definitely important aspects of keeping your app secure.

Some of the skill sets that professional back end developers may focus on are security compliance and accessibility. database administration, managing version control and also the ability to work with front end developers to ensure that front and back end of the app are working together seamlessly.

Hope this helps!

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thomassalty profile image
Thomas Soos

Thanks a lot for the quick reply @lisahjung !

It certainly helps, but now I've got 3 more questions if you don't mind me asking 😀

1, I've thought accessibility is something that front-end developers work on. For example using semantic html, using alt texts for images and aria-labels for screen readers, etc, etc. Or, if you meant accessibility in terms of speed and performance of a website, I think that's also a front-end developer's responsibility by keeping the number of requests low, minifying and compressing necessary files, using CDNs, etc. So my question is:
What do you mean by "back end developers may focus on accessibility"? What do they do to improve it?

2, What if Auth and other security measures have already been added as well as a database? Or even when there's no database? I understand, that no website or webapp is "done" but what if these security measures have been added, they work fine and there are no security issues? What do back-end developers do in that case? Are they just going to start to work on a new app or website?

3, How does a node.js server look like in the real world? Should I imagine a normal server computer that has a more complex "server.js" stored in it? What port does it listen to? If it also listens to port 3000 or any other port, why don't we have to add the port number on URLs the same way we did with localhost:3000?

Once again, thanks a lot for your help! I do appreciate it 😉