Two Aspects of Modern Web Development – Back-End Vs Front-End

In this article we are going to explain the Two Aspects of Modern Web Development – Back-End Vs Front-End.

Before we get technical and geeky with you, let’s start with the basics so you have a better understanding of web development.

Web Development – What is it?

Although web development generally refers to web markup and coding, it includes all related development tasks such as client-side scripting, server-side scripting, server and network security settings. , the development of electronic commerce and the development of content management systems (CMS).

There is however Two Aspects of Modern Web Development – Back-End Vs Front-End which we will explain in this article.

Two Aspects of Modern Web Development – Back-End Vs Front-End

Development comprises of two main parts, they are:

• Front-end Web Development – This is what the website user sees visually and interacts with when navigating around a website, this also includes – font, colour, images, navigation menu, website slides. This is all made with a mixture of HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP.
• Back-end Web Development – Back-end Development refers to the server that hosts the website data, consisting of code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP) and images. This type of web development consists of three areas: a server, an application, and a database. The Web Code that’s written by a back-end web developer is what communicates the database information to the users browser.

Building, creating and maintaining a website basically refers to web development. Some functions, such as web design, web publishing, web programming, and database management, fall under the category of web development.

Since websites and applications took over the Internet, people have widely noticed that these websites have different styles, patterns, colours, and their own themes. These different styles, patterns, colours, and themes may seem very simple and easy to develop, but they require a lot of effort and experience to develop.

It is the developmental workings that happen behind what a user can see on the front-end that makes the website look great on the front-end, run efficiently, and also give the user a perfect user experience while navigating the website.

Web development skills are in high demand. The web development field is divided into two phases, front end (visual user side) and backend (developer/server side).

Other Web Development Tools

In recent years, many content management tools and systems (CMS) have been developed to make it easier for developers to create websites, and they are very popular among developers and development tools. Some of these platforms include:

• WordPress
• Drupal
• Joomla 
• Magento
• Web Flow
• SharePoint

Many large organisations use content management systems (CMS) to have their websites developed. They also have professionals and dedicated web development teams to develop, design and maintain their business website for them.

This group of professionals are known as web developers and web designers. These developers are divided into two categories: frontend developers and backend developers.

Front-end web developers decide on the overall look and feel of the website, user journey and experience when navigating the website and designing it accordingly.

Backend web developers decide how the website should work and work accordingly on the website development. using code such as (HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP) some developers specialise in a certain type of code so more than one developer may be required in a web development project.

When you develop a website, your front-end developer works on the look, feel, style, and layout. Meanwhile, your backend developers will work on the database, site backend user issues, performance issues and site security.

What Is Front-End Web Development?

When was the last time you looked at a website, and thought how has this website been developed?

• How have these colour gradients and transitions been created?
• How do these buttons change colour when you hover your mouse over them?
• What is the logic behind it?

The answer to all your questions is that all these features are constructed through the development of the front end. The specialists who perform these tasks are known as Front-end web developers.

Front-end development defines how the website will visually look. The front-end web developer will implement the website’s visual design.

What languages are Used by Front-End Developers for Front-End Development?

As we have learned, the front end is the part of the website that interacts with the user. Front-end developers implement website design through some coding languages ​​such as HTML, CSS, and JAVASCRIPT.

Front-end developers should also be familiar with frameworks such as Bootstraps, Foundation Backbone, AngularJS, and EmberJS. These frameworks increase the fluency of coding languages ​​and ensure that the content is beautiful no matter what device your website is being viewed on by the user.

What is Back-End Web Development?

• How does a website work?
• What makes the website interface possible?
• Where is all the information and data stored?
• Where are all your inquiries and questions stored?

Therefore, the answer to these technical questions is down to back-end development, back-end developers work mainly with code and not on visual design. Their primary job is in developing code that makes a visual front end element work the way it should for a user.

Font-End Vs Back-End Web Development

There is no obvious comparability between these two web developments and we cannot compare which is greater or more difficult and which is less. Both require a great amount of skill and knowledge.

Some developers purely specialise in just one area, others specialise in other areas. To sum it up, none of these developments can run without the other they are necessary and dependent on each other to work well.

What Different Kinds of Skills are Required by Front and Back-End Developers?

Front-End Web Developers

Front-end web developers handle the design, appearance, and user interface of the website. The programming language expertise they need has been mentioned above.

But as front-end developers, good design thinking skills are important, understanding a website user and how they interact with a website.

A front-end web developer also needs to be familiar with design programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, (A great online course to learn Adobe Illustrator if your just starting out) also Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, or Figma, so that you can create visual elements you see on a website, themes, and other elements necessary for website design. They also need to have a basic knowledge of HTML and CSS, and knowledge of web hosting, CMS installation and configuration, email configuration and domain name registration.

Back-End Web Developers

Back-end developers need very professional thinking and analytical skills. Back-end developers are designing and developing systems that users will interact with on the website.

In most cases, they process the code by perfectly writing the code then executing, and then debugging it. As a back-end developer, you need to understand web servers and how data is stored, and if it is stored securely. But its not just about having great coding skills, things such as:

• How will the new features be implemented on the website?
• Website traffic volume and where its coming from?
• Can the website expand without fail as the traffic increases?

A back-end web developer also needs to be able to test a website so that when it is presented to the end user, it does not show any errors and is functioning correctly.

If their are issues present on the website, how do they troubleshoot and fix those issues in a timely manner? so it does not interfere with the website’s user experience.

Write For Mazzine™

We hope this article about the Two Aspects of Modern Web Development – Back-End Vs Front-End has helped in understanding the differences between the two.

Designing a website does not end once it’s designed, websites need to be maintained overtime. Websites also need to rank-well to be found on search engines, we also share some Tips and Fundamentals for Designing an SEO-Friendly Website.

Interested in writing for Mazzine™? We would love to hear from you! – Join our community of writers from around the world. – Check out the guidelines on the Write for us. page.