IBM
IBM JavaScript Backend Developer Professional Certificate
IBM

IBM JavaScript Backend Developer Professional Certificate

Launch your Back-End JavaScript Developer career. Build the skills and hands-on experience to get job-ready in under four months. No degree or prior experience required.

John Rofrano
IBM Skills Network Team
Michelle Saltoun

Instructors: John Rofrano

Included with Coursera Plus

Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise

(344 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 months at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Earn a career credential
Share your expertise with employers
Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise

(344 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 months at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Earn a career credential
Share your expertise with employers

What you'll learn

  • Develop back-end applications using JavaScript technologies like Node and Express and manage code using GitHub repositories.

  • Deploy and scale applications using Docker, Kubernetes, Microservices, and Serverless computing. 

  • Design, develop, use, and integrate REST APIs in back-end applications to communicate with client-side technologies. 

  • Employ DevOps practices and Agile methodologies to continuously build and deploy secure software.

Overview

What’s included

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Taught in English
Recently updated!

August 2025

126 practice exercises

Professional Certificate - 13 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

Software Engineering, Software Development Life Cycle, Unified Modeling Language, Back-End Web Development, Front-End Web Development, Object Oriented Design, Software Architecture, Web Development, Application Development, Agile Methodology, Software Design, Integrated Development Environments, Programming Principles, Software Design Patterns, Python Programming, and Scrum (Software Development)

What you'll learn

  • Describe the Web Application Development Ecosystem and terminology like front-end developer, back-end, server-side, and full stack.

  • Identify the developer tools, online editors like JSFiddle, and integrated development environments (IDEs) for building and testing web applications.

  • Create and structure basic web pages using HTML and style them with CSS.

  • Develop dynamic and interactive web pages using JavaScript, including DOM manipulation, form validation, and client-side scripting techniques.

Skills you'll gain

Javascript, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Bootstrap (Front-End Framework), Back-End Web Development, Browser Compatibility, Web Development, Scripting, Responsive Web Design, and Application Programming Interface (API)

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

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

What you'll learn

  • Describe JavaScript development concepts, list ES6 features, outline data structures, and explore arrays, DOM, AJAX, and debugging techniques.

  • Explore handling errors and exceptions, functions and events, apply string manipulation and error-handing techniques, and traverse the DOM.

  • Compare functions, values, reference types, and strategies in promises and async/await, and discuss modifying the appearance of DOM elements.

  • Employ JavaScript functions, services, tools, and libraries to create and style navigation and pages, and AJAX to fetch and display data from APIs.

Skills you'll gain

Javascript, Debugging, Ajax, Data Structures, JSON, Event-Driven Programming, Software Development, Front-End Web Development, Web Development, Web Applications, Scripting, Git (Version Control System), HTML and CSS, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), Application Programming Interface (API), and Computer Programming

What you'll learn

  • Create server-side applications using the Node.js JavaScript run time. 

  • Extend your Node.js applications with third-party packages and frameworks, including Express. 

  • Use npm to manage Node.js packages in your Node.js application. 

  • Develop asynchronous callback functions and promises to complete asynchronous operations.   

Skills you'll gain

Node.JS, Back-End Web Development, JSON, Javascript, Application Programming Interface (API), Web Applications, Web Development, Restful API, Web Servers, Full-Stack Web Development, Server Side, Authentications, Middleware, Cloud Applications, and Computer Science

What you'll learn

  • Explore cloud native applications concepts and methodologies, recognize CNCF’s impact, and analyse the benefits of CI/CD, Agile, and Scrum.

  • Recognize the DevOps culture, and its significance, differentiate between TDD and BDD, and explore the principles and characteristics of MongoDB.

  • Implement CI/CD practices and connect and integrate user stories using Zenhub to facilitate the Agile development process.

  • Enhance application functionality using tools and techniques, store, manage, and perform basic data operations using MongoDB and CRUD operations.

Skills you'll gain

CI/CD, DevOps, Cloud-Native Computing, Scrum (Software Development), Agile Methodology, User Story, Test Driven Development (TDD), MongoDB, Behavior-Driven Development, NoSQL, Continuous Integration, Software Development Methodologies, Software Development, Cloud Applications, and Continuous Delivery

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

Kubernetes, Docker (Software), Command-Line Interface, OpenShift, Istio, Containerization, YAML, Application Deployment, Microservices, CI/CD, Cloud-Native Computing, DevOps, and 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

Containerization, API Gateway, Serverless Computing, IBM Cloud, Application Deployment, Restful API, Microservices, Scalability, OpenShift, Application Development, Software Architecture, Istio, Cloud Applications, Kubernetes, and Cloud Computing

What you'll learn

  • Implement fundamental back-end development concepts with Node, Express, and NoSQL databases

  • Develop secure RESTful APIs using Node and Express to communicate with databases

  • Apply authentication and authorization mechanisms and implement error handling

  • Scale and deploy Node database applications on a cloud platform

Skills you'll gain

Node.JS, Middleware, MongoDB, Back-End Web Development, Authentications, Scalability, Application Deployment, Authorization (Computing), Restful API, NoSQL, Application Security, Databases, Javascript, Web Applications, Database Application, and Server Side

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

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

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

Application Performance Management, System Monitoring, Continuous Monitoring, Prometheus (Software), Grafana, Cloud-Native Computing, Distributed Computing, Data Management, Debugging, Microservices, Containerization, Kubernetes, Docker (Software), and DevOps

What you'll learn

  • Integrate and apply your JavaScript, Node.js, Express, and MongoDB skills

  • Build and deploy a real-world backend application using popular cloud-native concepts such as containers and serverless

  • Apply DevOps and Agile practices by employing CI/CD pipelines and developing user stories

  • Construct secure endpoint APIs within your application to ensure seamless communication with the front-end and databases

Skills you'll gain

Node.JS, MongoDB, Back-End Web Development, CI/CD, Application Programming Interface (API), Kubernetes, Containerization, NoSQL, JavaScript Frameworks, Server Side, Microservices, Full-Stack Web Development, Application Deployment, Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, Restful API, Secure Coding, Software Technical Review, Databases, and Database Management

What you'll learn

  • Describe the role of a software developer, typical career paths, and emerging opportunities in the field

  • Explain how to prepare for a job search, including researching companies, identifying suitable roles, and developing key

  • Apply strategies for networking and assessing job listings to effectively target and pursue software development positions

  • Demonstrate readiness for each stage of the interview process, including technical challenges, behavioral questions, and post-interview follow-up

Skills you'll gain

Communication, Interviewing Skills, Software Development, Problem Solving, Software Engineering, Verbal Communication Skills, DevOps, Cloud Computing, Professional Development, Engineering Software, Application Development, Relationship Building, and Professionalism

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
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Michelle Saltoun
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Sachin Jambur
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Richa Arora
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Rav Ahuja
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Upkar Lidder
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John Rofrano

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IBM

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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 (10/1/2024 - 10/1/2025)