Forward Deployed CourseSHEET 04 · ROLES · REV 2026.10
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ENGINEERING ROLES

FDE vs web developer

Quick answer

A web developer builds sites and apps; an FDE builds data and integration pipelines inside customer infrastructure.

WEB DEVELOPERFORWARD DEPLOYED ENGINEER
MAIN OUTPUTWebsites and web appsA working deployment inside one customer's systems
CLIENT TIMELower than an FDEHigh: discovery, demos and handover every week
WRITES PRODUCTION CODEYesYes
PAYSee FDE salary in India for bands by experience and city.

Skills to add

Stage 1

Python

The default language of data, integrations and LLM tooling.

Stage 2

SQL

The language of the customer's data warehouse and application databases.

Stage 2

REST APIs

How systems talk to each other over HTTP.

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COMPARISONFDE vs software engineerOpen →COMPARISONFDE vs software developerOpen →COMPARISONFDE vs backend engineerOpen →COMPARISONFDE vs frontend engineerOpen →COMPARISONFDE vs full stack developerOpen →COMPARISONFDE vs web app developerOpen →DEFINITIONWhat is a Forward Deployed EngineerOpen →