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Skills by kind of work

Different kinds of software work draw on different skills. This page maps out what tends to be useful where, so you can aim your learning rather than collecting topics at random.

This is informational only. It describes skills that are commonly useful for a kind of work. It is not a claim about job availability, salary, or a promise that completing any path leads to employment.

// Roles

Six kinds of work

Most people end up somewhere between a few of these rather than exactly on one.

Backend Developer

Works on the part of a system that holds the business rules and the data. Designs APIs other software depends on, models data, and is usually the person who finds out why a page is slow.

Core skills

  • A server-side language, commonly C# in .NET teams
  • API design with stable, documented contracts
  • Relational data modelling and SQL
  • An ORM, and awareness of the SQL it generates
  • Authentication and authorization
  • Automated testing, including integration tests

Supporting skills

  • Containers and deployment basics
  • Caching and performance diagnosis
  • Message queues for asynchronous work
  • Observability: logs, metrics and tracing

Technologies

C#.NETASP.NET CoreWeb APISQLEntity Framework CoreApplication SecurityAutomated Testing

Paths that cover this

Frontend Developer

Builds the interface people actually use. Responsible for whether an application is understandable, accessible and fast on real devices.

Core skills

  • Semantic HTML and accessibility
  • Modern CSS layout with Flexbox and Grid
  • JavaScript and TypeScript
  • A component framework, commonly React
  • State modelling and data fetching
  • Responsive design across device sizes

Supporting skills

  • A meta-framework such as Next.js
  • Performance measurement and bundle management
  • Component and end-to-end testing
  • Working from designs and design systems

Technologies

HTML & CSSJavaScriptTypeScriptReactNext.js

Paths that cover this

Full-Stack Developer

Works across both sides. Valuable on smaller teams, where being able to follow a feature from the interface through to the database removes a great deal of coordination.

Core skills

  • Everything in the backend core list
  • Everything in the frontend core list
  • API contract design from both sides of it
  • Version control and collaborative workflow

Supporting skills

  • Containers and deployment pipelines
  • Architecture fundamentals
  • Security practices across the stack

Technologies

C#ASP.NET CoreSQLEntity Framework CoreReactNext.jsTypeScriptDocker

Paths that cover this

AI Application Developer

Builds features on top of AI models rather than training them. Much of the skill is engineering discipline: treating model output as untrusted, grounding answers in real data, and knowing when not to use a model at all.

Core skills

  • A programming language, commonly Python for AI work
  • Accurate mental models of what language models do
  • Prompt design and structured output validation
  • Embeddings, vector stores and retrieval
  • Tool calling with validated arguments
  • Evaluation of output quality

Supporting skills

  • API development, commonly with FastAPI
  • Cost and latency management
  • Prompt injection and data boundary awareness
  • Containers and cloud AI services

Technologies

AI FundamentalsGenerative AI & LLMsPythonFastAPILangChain & LangGraphCloud AI Services

Paths that cover this

Cloud / DevOps Engineer

Concerned with how software gets built, deployed and operated. Makes releases routine and reversible, and makes problems visible before users report them.

Core skills

  • Containers and image building
  • CI/CD pipeline design
  • A cloud platform, commonly Azure or AWS
  • Identity and least-privilege access
  • Secret management
  • Monitoring and alerting

Supporting skills

  • Infrastructure as code
  • Networking fundamentals
  • Cost management
  • Incident response and rollback practice

Technologies

DockerDevOps & CI/CDMicrosoft AzureAWSGit & GitHub

Paths that cover this

Data-Focused Developer

Specialises in how data is stored, queried and kept correct. Often the person who turns a report that takes thirty seconds into one that takes half a second.

Core skills

  • SQL to an advanced level, including window functions
  • Schema design and normalisation trade-offs
  • Indexing and execution plan analysis
  • Transactions and isolation levels
  • An ORM and its performance characteristics

Supporting skills

  • Data migration and backfill strategies
  • Reporting and aggregation at scale
  • Data privacy and retention requirements

Technologies

SQLSQL ServerPostgreSQLEntity Framework Core

Paths that cover this

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