Ultimate Guide to the Back End of a Mobile App [2022]

The backend of a mobile app is where plenty of strategizing and planning in mobile app development occurs. Like architects laying out every section of a sturdy and sound structure, backend mobile app developers technically determine how the app will function once completed by developing its framework. Most of the time, this is done via the backend’s software stacks. 

While frontend and backend development are both important aspects of mobile app development, the bulk of frontend development arguably can’t be done without the support of backend development. The backend’s roles in mobile app development are nothing short of crucial with this considered.

What Is Backend Development?

Many developers use the term “server-side” development interchangeably with backend development. What it simply means is that they develop the architecture of the website that is masked by the more visible frontend framework. All parts of the content are rendered from any server, which is also connected to a database from where they are fetched.

Almost every mobile app development company has a different approach to backend development. However, you will notice that a conventional backend architecture is often composed of that trinity of app server, web server, and database. More dynamic architectures include other familiar basic services found in an app like push notifications and email alerts, to cite a few. 

To provide a brief summary of backend app development, here’s a list of the areas of mobile app development that will pretty much be impossible to create and hone without a proper backend architecture:

• Planning a Strategy for Development – What tools should you use when creating your app? In particular, backend development involves the creation of your app’s roadmap to success. It includes crucial steps like pinpointing the right audience for your app, knowing what competition you will be facing, and coming up with goals that you need to achieve throughout the course of development. 
• UI/UX – the majority of an app’s success hinges on how users react to its UI/UX design. It is what delivers all the app’s functionalities, after all. The backend basically gives developers the greatest opportunities to make the app more responsive to the user’s needs and even lend to the overall style of the design. 
• Regular Testing – Whether it’s the performance and security or device compatibility, the backend is also responsible in making sure that the app is still in good, working condition with every change or modification introduced.
• Post-Development Steps – Backend development still involves providing continuous technical support even well after the app has already been deployed.

What Are Backend’s Software Stacks? Why Are They Important in This Area of App Development?

Order and organization are at the crux of backend development. Without these two aspects, backend development won’t be able to render an app’s functionalities accurately and the transmission of the information from the database to the browser won’t go smoothly. 

Backend development needs its own structure of software to allow it correctly render any app. This is where software stacks come in. More often than not, these stacks are made up of essential areas like the web servers as mentioned above. 

But it can also include the API (application programming interface) that pretty much houses all the resources (e.g. programming languages, operating system, specific frameworks, etc.) the developers need to perform backend development properly. 

That said, a software stack effectively maps out the entire server-side process looks like each time a user uses any function a specific app is offering.

Different Kinds of Software Stacks

Not all stacks will obviously look the same in any given app unless it’s a clone of the other. In fact, there are literally hundreds of variations to existing stacks. 

Newer ones continue to be created over time. These are but some of the software stacks that are still widely used by app developers depending on any type of project that they are handling:

• LAMP Stack – Stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. It’s one of the oldest and most reliable because it is mainly PHP-based, meaning it’s open-source and usually keeps development costs down. 
• MEAN Stack – Uses MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js. Ideal for teams that work solely with Javascript. This stack also has plenty of flexibility and can save plenty of vital resources when used by a Javascript-focused development team.
• Django Stack – Includes Django, Python, Apache, and MySQL. Capitalizes on the sophisticated design of the Django framework. Often used when rapid app development is necessary. 

When trying to decide on a stack to use, it’s often recommended to take into consideration how the app will function optimally for any kind of stack used to create its backend. 

Besides the user’s minimum-viable-product, what software stacks developers use should mainly be determined by such factors as:

• The importance of scalability in any given app. Most of the time, the stack the developer chooses should be able to accommodate new additions to keep the app from becoming stagnant and even prevent the collapse of the entire framework. 
• The skills and strengths of each member of the development team. Oftentimes, it’s best to opt for stacks where the team has the most experience in and are familiar with. 
• How the app owner wants to structure the data of any given app should never be overlooked because the stack the developer chooses has its own database format that the app will inevitably adopt once finished. 
• The app’s security and how long-term maintenance will be fulfilled are also affected by the backend’s software stacks. If an app has a well-planned software stack foundation from the start, it shouldn’t be hard to maintain these essential aspects of an app. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The back end of a mobile app is, indeed, where all the real magic happens. It’s the main aspect of app development that lets any app stand out from the more generic ones out there. Without it, it’s practically impossible for you as the app owner to include specific features that you want to add, which you deem are essential to your users.