Hello,

It's been 6 years since I began learning PHP, and I have been able to create websites of any complexity on Laravel and Yii2 for the past 3-4 years. Furthermore, I can deploy a server on nginx + php/node.js. As a self-taught person, I prefer not to work in firms and have obtained good compensation.

However, I'm wondering where to go next. While I've dipped my toe into frontend development with vue.js and keeping up with ES updates, repeating what I was doing a few years ago bothers me. I'd like to delve further into backend development. Something lower-level, yet highly useful and essential. Please suggest areas to explore.

I'm not just seeking greater compensation or status. I'm primarily motivated by my desire for novelty. I've experimented with a variety of programming languages (Java, C++, C#) but am not interested in them. Instead, I'd prefer an advanced backend course, books, courses, etc. In brief, what are some directions to pursue in backend development beyond PHP?

There are numerous interrelated and fundamental topics to explore, such as designing corporate application architectures, orchestrating infrastructure (including clouds, message brokers, and microservices), and optimizing workloads.
However, one lifetime is not enough to fully comprehend all these topics. While some may have a basic understanding of these concepts from articles online, delving deeper reveals a vast array of details and nuances that can take months to master.

The PHP world is much broader than your description.
Can you work with RabbitMQ, Redis, MongoDB, and ElasticSearch? Are you capable of writing autotests and deploying via Docker, at least one CI/CD? If you can't do all of these, then your knowledge of PHP is just average.

On the other hand, if you can do it all and want to specialize in backend development, my personal preferences are Go and/or Node.js. However, if you need an immediate answer, I won't argue with you.

Try increasing your salary by ten times and notice how many new project opportunities arise.

Consider registering a sole proprietorship, recruiting programmers, and directing their work towards development projects if you truly possess the necessary skills.

What options can we used to explore beyond PHP, Please explain.

software development company

It's great to hear about your experience and the progress you have made in PHP and frontend development. If you're looking to delve further into backend development and explore areas that are lower-level yet highly useful and essential, there are a few directions you can consider:

1. System-level programming: This involves working closer to the operating system and writing code that interacts with hardware or low-level systems. Languages like C and C++ are commonly used for this type of development. You can explore areas such as developing device drivers, embedded systems, or optimization techniques.

2. Distributed systems and networking: This field focuses on designing and building large-scale distributed systems that communicate over networks. It involves understanding protocols, network stack, and scalability challenges. You can explore technologies like TCP/IP, HTTP, RPC frameworks, message queues, or even dive into distributed database systems.

3. Cloud computing and infrastructure: With the increasing adoption of cloud platforms, expertise in building scalable, reliable, and secure backend systems is highly valuable. You can explore technologies like cloud serverless architectures, containerization with tools like Docker and Kubernetes, infrastructure-as-code using tools like Terraform, or cloud provider-specific services.

4. Big data and data engineering: Handling and processing large volumes of data requires specialized skills. You can explore technologies like Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, data streaming frameworks like Apache Kafka, or dive into data warehousing and analytics platforms.

5. Security and web application hardening: As cybersecurity becomes increasingly crucial, knowledge of secure coding practices, vulnerability assessment, and threat mitigation is highly valuable. You can explore areas like encryption, authentication, authorization, secure coding techniques, penetration testing, or even delve into security certifications.


There are several advanced backend options outside of PHP that you can explore. Here are a few popular ones:

1. Python: Python is a versatile and powerful programming language used extensively in backend development. It has a clean syntax, a rich ecosystem of libraries and frameworks, and is known for its simplicity and readability. Flask and Django are two popular Python web frameworks often used for backend development.

2. Ruby: Ruby is another elegant and expressive language often associated with web development. Ruby on Rails (Rails) is a widely-used web framework that follows the convention-over-configuration principle and focuses on developer productivity. It's known for its scalability, ease of use, and rapid application development capabilities.

3. Go: Go (or Golang) is a modern, statically-typed programming language developed by Google. Go provides built-in support for concurrency, making it well-suited for developing highly scalable backend systems. It's known for its simplicity, strong performance, and efficient memory utilization.

4. Node.js: Node.js is a JavaScript runtime that allows you to run JavaScript on the server-side. It's built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine and has gained significant popularity for building scalable and real-time applications. Node.js is commonly used in combination with frameworks like Express.js or Nest.js for web development.

5. Rust: Rust is a relatively new systems programming language that focuses on safety, speed, and concurrency. It provides fine-grained control over memory allocation and has built-in safety features that prevent common programming errors like null pointer dereferences and data races. Rust is gaining attention for developing fast and secure backend systems.