Verified answer

Ken:

Front disc pads are fairly straight forward. As you are just starting out, make certain that you have a repair manual that walks through each required step. Better yet is having someone who knows brakes to show you how.

I use a 'C' clamp to compress the piston back into the caliper bore. This is inexpensive and effective. A basic set of metric wrenches and sockets will get the job done. It is good to have a torque wrench to secure the mounting bolts correctly (most also call for use of thread lock compound).

Rear drum brakes are more involved but can still be done at home. Just make certain that you do one side at a time! Do not take both sides off, because you will need to refer back to the other side to see how it goes back together (I know you are asking about disc brakes, but many cars have rear drums).

Rear drum brakes have a 'leading' and 'trailing' shoe. On many applications these can be installed incorrectly. Need to match the new to old shoes.

Many front disc brakes have an inboard and outboard pad - some are interchangeable. Need to make certain that these are installed correctly (usually it is very obvious on the front).

There is a lot of technique to doing brake jobs: how the rotors are machined, using anti-seize (or grease) on metal-to-metal contact points, applying a membrane on rear of brake pads, installing anti-rattle brake hardware, bleeding brakes (something that is not done often enough on most cars).

It is not too hard to do a good brake job with the right tools, procedure and attention to detail.

Marc