What is Back-end vs Front-end? Explain main differences

Front end vs back end is one of the most common terms in web development. If you are new to application programming you might find these terms a little confusing because of their similarities in making application functions. The blog will provide you with general knowledge about back-end, front-end, and skills to land a job in programming. 

What is the back-end?

Have you ever wondered how a click on a website can lead to different sites or where your information goes when signing up for a free trial. These are such the behind the scenes of a website, which is in charge of back-end developers. 

Back-end developers make sure the website works properly by concentrating on databases, back-end logic, application programming interfaces (APIs), architecture, and servers. They use code to make browsers communicate with databases, store, understand, and delete data. Back-end developers work on server-side tasks including data storage, security, and other functions. 

What is the front-end?

The visible portion of apps is built by front-end developers, who are also in charge of how users interact with websites. In contrast to the back-end, the front-end develops the user interface (UI), which establishes the look and aesthetics of each component of a website or application. If you want to build a website, it is necessary to contact a front-end developer to have a general look of the website at the beginning. The front-end developer determines the website layout such as place to put pictures and the navigation. A lot of work of front-end developers decide how intuitive and easy the navigations are to users. 

Skills required to become a back-end developer

In order to become a back-end developer, it requires some specific skills and expertise in programming languages. Being a back-end developer needs to have proficiency in tools like SQL Server and Oracle to store, organize, and adjust data. Back-end developers often need proficiency with version control software, PHP frameworks, and debugging back-end systems and apps. Some programming languages that any back-end developers should master can be mentioned as: Python, Java, and Ruby.

Back-end programming languages

Python

Back-end developers use Python to write data structures and algorithms to create websites. The main advantages of Python is its minimal length and straightforward syntax. Python is incredibly simple to learn and has a ton of online courses and documentation. Python is well-versed in adaptability and has a good layout. Softwares that is developed using Python can be used on various operating systems without the need for an interpreter.

Java

Developers use Java to create compatibility with other platforms, and to build applications. This programming language has become global both great for client-side and server-side applications, web and mobile applications. Java is mainly used for enterprise applications and cryptocurrency apps because of its security scalability characteristics. 
Read more: Why Use Java for Back-end Development?

Ruby on Rails

Full-stack developers often use Ruby because this language includes almost everything a site needs to run. Ruby works especially well for high-traffic websites.

Day-to-day responsibility of a back-end developer

• Build and maintain website
• Write high-quality code
• Perform quality assurance (QA) testing
• Monitor efficiency and speed
• Troubleshoot and debug
• Train and support

The back-end salary is extremely competitive in the labor market. According to a statistic of Payscale (2022), the average salary of back-end developers is $88,494/Year.

Read more: The Most Popular Programming Languages – 1965/2022 – New Update

Skills required to become a front-end developer

Being a front-end developer requires expertise in specific programming languages such as HTML, JavaScript, CSS. 

HTML

HTML is the standard programming language for establishing a webpage's general content and structure. This basic building block needed to develop websites, a language that allows you to make notes in digital documents that are different from regular text.

JavaScript

Front-end developers can determine what the page will do through JavaScript. 

CSS (cascading style sheets)

CSS was created as a way to help speed up the development process. When knowing the basics of CSS, learners can start to work with different frameworks and libraries. Front-end developers use CSS to create a webpage's colors, style, layout, and fonts for the applications.  

Responsibility of a front-end developer:

• Create a user interface (UI) that determines each part of a site or application and its appearance.
• Front-end developers take part in the formation of how users interact with the applications. 

The front-end salary is slightly lower than back-end. According to a statistic of Payscale (2022), the average salary of front-end developers is $78,098/Year. 

Front end vs Back end: Main differences

Back-end developers and front-end developers should always collaborate together in projects. The back-end and front-end are different but attached, they are kind of the two sides of the same coin and the role of both is crucial to web development. The main difference between backend and frontend might be its visibility to end users, backend is the brain and frontend is the look. The picture below shows the comparison of frontend and backend in web development, it might provide some important information you should know. 

At the end of the day, the common purpose of backend and frontend is to bring the best experiences to users. Front-end makes the website interface intuitive and easy to interact with, and backend ensures that the interaction will properly follow users’ acts. 

Final words: What is Back-end vs Front-end? Explain main differences

It can be said  that you can always become a developer by self-study since there are lots of online courses and materials that are approachable. However basically a professional developer requires expertise in programming languages and specific skill-sets. Many factors that might affect the developer salary such as degree, certifications, outstanding projects and achievements. 

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