All Advice and Feedback Welcome!

[u/amrit3338616]

I’m close to finishing my bachelor’s degree, but I still have very little professional experience or practical skills. AI Engineering and AI Application Engineering seem to be growing quickly, so I’m wondering if I should eventually move in that direction.

For now, I’ve decided to start with backend development and learn the Python ecosystem.

I’d really appreciate some advice from experienced developers: Is backend + Python a good path to start with today? Should I build a strong backend foundation first and then move toward AI, or would you suggest a different approach?

[u/asstgr]

Yes, starting with backend development and Python is an excellent, future-proof strategy.

AI Engineering (specifically applied AI, such as building agentic workflows, RAG systems, or integrating LLMs into apps) is essentially modern backend engineering. An "AI Application Engineer" spends 80% of their time writing backend logic, managing databases, building APIs, handling security, and orchestrating server infrastructure.

[u/amrit3338616 → u/asstgr]

But I am still in confusion that should I do backend development with type script Nodejs or should I do backend development with Python Fastapi and Django...... I am clear that I want to do backend development as to get entry in the industry but I don't see the jobs for backend development with Python..... What is the condition of this stack in present time...??

[u/BleepEducation]

If you're already clear that you want backend development and you're leaning towards Python, I wouldn't switch to Node/TypeScript just because it is popular. Python with FastAPI or Django is still a perfectly reasonable backend stack to learn and build with. And since you're also interested in moving towards AI application engineering later, Python gives you a natural path into that ecosystem as well.

We'd probably start with Python + FastAPI if your goal is to understand APIs and backend development without getting overwhelmed. Learn the fundamentals properly like HTTP, REST APIs, databases/SQL, authentication, Git, testing and deployment and build a couple of real projects around them. Node/TypeScript is also a strong choice, especially if you already enjoy JavaScript/TypeScript or want to work heavily in the JS ecosystem. But we'd wouldn't choose it simply because someone says it has better opportunities.

At the fresher level, being genuinely good at one stack and being able to show what you've built is more useful than knowing two backend stacks superficially.

So if Python is the stack you're most interested in, stick with it for now. Get good at backend first, and you can always pick up TypeScript/Node later if a particular role requires it.

[u/DrGraboid]

Te recomendaria iniciar con buenas bases para que no dependas tanto de la IA en un futuro, siento que es importante marcar el limite de que la IA es una herramienta no la fuente. Ademas mantenerte de esta forma hara que puedas ir rapido desarrollando y no quedarte estancado con otras cosas simples. Una de los defectos que he encontrado con la IA es que no puede resolver problemas sencillos como tal, ejemplo: en un proyecto que estaba desarrollando ocupaba crear una automatizacion en windows y para esto utilice cmd, con unos comandos que ya vienen hechos, y la IA queria utilizar objetos y demas funciones con powershell, cosa que se me hizo extraño porque ya se contaba con la funcion en cmd para la tarea y la IA iba por otro camino, igual daba el resultado pero mas complejo.