Technology is evolving, and the Pandemic has accelerated it exponentially. Now everyone is online, and if your business doesn’t have a mobile app or at least a website, consumers may not even consider having business with you because they want to know you better and read reviews before even considering your product.
But building a mobile app or a software or a website for your business is not easy. Considering that you may not be a full-time developer yourself, you need to hire an excellent dedicated development team for your mobile app development or software development. You would have to consider front-end or back-end development. We will discuss the differences between the front-end and the back-end developers.
How Do Websites Work?
There are two elements in any website or mobile app, which we know as front-end, and the other part is called back-end.
Now for ease of understanding, let us take an example of Facebook, which successfully has a website and a mobile app, so let’s understand how Facebook works.
When we go to the Facebook website, we are welcomed with blue and black fonts and a FB logo somewhere in the middle of the screen. There’s a box asking for you to log in or create a new account and many other texts and links placed for changing languages, career, ads, etc., so up until this, you are just experiencing the work of a front end developer as these are all the visual parts for your eyes to be able to see which we also call the Client side.
Then the back-end part kicks in as soon as you click on the Proceed button after filling your credentials for login or sign up. This data is then sent to the FB servers to be stored and verified. The steps included any OTP sending or captcha verification.
Well, all these systems are built by the back-end developers. When everything is verified, then you can visit your Facebook homepage. That’s why the back-end is often called the Server-side.
The front-end developers need to ensure that the visual elements are correctly linked to the back-end developers’ functions and features.
So let’s understand about Front End Development in little more detail:
What is Front-end Development?
The element of web development that focuses on what consumers see on their end is referred to as front-end development. It comprises turning back-end developers’ code into a graphical interface and ensuring that data is shown in a clear and easy-to-read style.
In addition to ensuring that users can comprehend and use the graphical interface of the online application, front-end developers must ensure that the website or web application is usable across a variety of devices.
Mobile phones and tablets, for example, are available in a variety of screen sizes and operating systems. The front-end developer’s job is to ensure that websites and apps work on all platforms and devices. Then there are web browsers like Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. If we can see the same website on Chrome as we do on Mozilla Firefox, it’s only because of the front-end developers’ efforts.
Now, let’s move on to back-end development:
What Is Back-end Development?
The server-side parts of a website or web application are the subject of back-end development. Website architecture, scripting, and database communication are all aspects of this development style.
Back-end code facilitates communication between browsers and database information. back-end developers work on how a website works, which means they may use APIs, database-interactive code, libraries, data architecture, and other tools. The back-end and front-end development give users a functional and interactive experience.
Front-end Vs. Back-end
As a frontend developer, you need to learn at least three front end languages:
HTML
Sections, columns, text, images, links, and tables are all described and marked in HTML so that a browser can display them appropriately. An image on a blog post, for example, would appear as an <img> in HTML code, signaling to browsers that they must display an image.
CSS
The style and structure of a webpage are controlled by CSS. It aids developers in managing the formatting, presentation, and layout of a website or web application. While HTML describes the elements on a page, CSS determines how the content is displayed to visitors.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a robust client-side programming language primarily used to improve user engagement with the software such as animations, transitions, interactivity. Bootstrap, Angular.js, React.js, and more libraries and frameworks are included.
However, back-end development is more complex than front-end development. Learning how to connect website users and databases is the cornerstone for any back-end work.
On the other hand, backend developers should be familiar with at least one server-side programming language and a database management system.
When it comes to choosing a back-end language, the most popular choices are:
Java
Java, in particular, was created to be executed on a server. Two popular Java frameworks are Spring, and Java Server Faces.
Python
The most extensively used programming language is Python. It’s versatile and straightforward to use. Developers use Python frameworks such as Django and Flask to create back-end applications. Django is a high-level Python web framework for rapid website development. It’s open-source and free, with a sizable and active user base.
PHP
PHP has the advantage of being simple to learn as a back-end development programming language. It also works with various content management systems (CMSs), including WordPress and Joomla. Facebook, Wikipedia, Tumblr, MailChimp, and Flickr are just a few websites that employ PHP.
C# is the language of choice for many in back-end development in Windows environments.
Other languages used for back-end development include NodeJS, Perl, and Ruby.
Conclusion: What to Choose?
The front-end and back-end developers for your project are chosen depending on the project’s requirements. There is sometimes a debate among inexperienced developers over which one is the greatest, but there should be none because you will need both talents at some point to have your website finished and functional.
Even if you have the best front-end developers on the planet, deploying software with poor logic will make it challenging to market your product. Similarly, you may have access to competent back-end developers, but clients will not have a positive experience if your UI is complex. Both of these sections are included in the software development process.