Difference Between Front End and Back End

By Edward 3 years ago

Each highly functioning application or platform needs to have two components, the front end, and the back end. In other words, when it comes to app development there is no debate which one is better than the other, as both are necessary components for a functional application. Here we will go over some differences between the front end and the back end side of the app, tell what each one of these does, and what coding languages are used.

Functions 

Front-end developers have a task to craft what users can see, and they often collaborate with UI designers. The reason why this is important is that users need to intuitively figure out how to use a certain app. If the interface is confusing the user experience will be poor and the app won’t perform well. Luckily, we already have figured out templates that are by now familiar to digital natives, and they are widely used and improved upon in order to craft a satisfactory user experience. 

Back-end developers create an infrastructure that supports the front-end side. Meaning it’s up to a back-end developer to ensure the button does what it is supposed to do. So, logic, algorithms, data storage, and machine learning are all up to back-end devs to figure out. 

Front-End Development

In order to construct a satisfactory user experience or interface, front-end devs usually rely on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The frameworks commonly used for front-end are Angular, React, Ember, and Backbone. 

HTML helps them create some core design elements of the site, whereas CSS helps them in creating some of the more appealing elements or features on the platform These two languages are frequently updated and these updates expand the capabilities of both HTML and CSS. JavaScript is used to make the site more dynamic as it is an event-based language.

Back-End Development

Those who specialize in back-end coding need to be familiar with certain databases that are commonly used nowadays.

Some of the popular databases that you should be familiar with as a back-end dev are Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, NoSQL, Oracle, Teradata, IBM DB2, and EnterpriseDB. 

The languages used for creating the back-end part of the websites and apps are PHP, Java, C++/C/C#, Ruby on Rails, and Python. You can also simply purchase a finished infrastructure and the service is called BaaS which stands for Backend-as-a-Service.

These can be really useful when you are building a familiar app and working on a tight schedule, but then you can’t really make changes to the infrastructure to accommodate additional features. Technically, you can but you risk compromising the entire app if you don’t know what you are doing. 

Full-Stack Development 

Finally, there are full-stack developers who can build an entire app. They specialize in both front-end and back-end development and they are great project leaders. Instead of getting multiple full-stack devs who are expensive, you get one who can mediate between front-end and back-end teams.