If you’re interested in a software development career, it’s important to distinguish its two main disciplines: front-end and back-end. To make matters worse, you might want to add full-stack to the equation.

These three different areas are essential in programming. While the first two are highly specialised roles, the last one is a blend between both jobs and contributes whichever way.

Front-end and back-end are often tricky to tell apart as they are both fundamental fields of software development. To understand this essential issue and for you to make an informed decision about your future career track, you must grasp the differences and connections between the two main development careers.

The front-end developer manages the visual layer, while the back-end developer handles the server-side and the background processes that users don’t interact with directly.

This brief and shallow overview captures the riddle between front-end and back-end. They use different programming languages and frameworks, but are equally important in making a functional website or web application. Essentially, it’s important to connect and act effectively as one to be successful. In this article, we’re going to take a deeper look into those two types of development areas and talk about the skills you should master to excel in both career paths.

What Is a Front-end developer?

Front-end development codes and designs the interface of a website or app. These features, such as page layout, menu, media, buttons, accessibility, responsiveness, or animation, are directly experienced by the user on the browser.

Some of the most common job titles in front-end development include, for instance, Front-end Developer/Engineer, CSS/HTML Developer, Web Designer, Front-end SEO Expert or UI/UX Designer.

It is the front-end developer’s task to create the whole visual layer, style and aesthetic of the website or app, hence the value of creativity. This specialist is responsible for enabling the functionality generated by his/her partner, the back-end developer.

Main Front-end programming tools

There are many different types of technologies and stacks, but front-end development usually implies mastering the main front-end coding languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

• HTML is the coding backbone of a website and ensures the proper formatting of text and images
• CSS establishes the visual appearance of HTML documents.
• JavaScript controls the dynamic elements and their interaction. This programming language adds personality and dynamism into websites through automation and animation. In fact, according to Statista, this has been the most used programming language among developers worldwide up until 2021.
• But… proficiency in top front-end programming frameworks like React, Vue.js, Angular or Bootstrap, is also an advantage.

What Is a Back-end developer?

Back-end development focus on functionality: servers, APIs, frameworks, database and more. Essentially, users don’t directly communicate with the server side, but back-end developers write code to enable the front-end features that users interact with. Back-end Developers, Java Developers or Software Engineers play a role behind the scenes so that those resources communicate seamlessly.

Several companies are looking for employees with a strong technical background who are also business savvy, so that they can understand the specific requirements and develop an efficient approach to design the technological solution.

Main Back-end programming tools

Besides building web applications and the business logic, back-end developers are also responsible for monitoring the site functionality, testing, troubleshooting, and identifying areas for improvement.

While some organizations search for candidates who have strong skills in a particular programming language, others search for the capability to program in various. The back-end arsenal relies on various elements including:

• Programming languages such as Java, Phyton or PHP.
• Frameworks provide support for applications based on a single programming language. Django, Laravel, and Ruby on Rails are some of the most reliable backend frameworks.
• Web servers like Apache, Node.JS or Nginx are responsible for managing client requests.

These features (programming languages + frameworks + web servers) are built on top of each other. Thus, the notion “stacks”. One of the biggest choices a back-end developer has to do is to decide on which tech stack to master.

Most IT experts would agree that for you to succeed as a back-end professional, you’ll have to be motivated, have a solid knowledge of programming, and keep an eye on new technologies and industry developments.

With a technological market in constant evolution, it is fundamental for PrimeIT to accompany all the dynamism of the sector, being this one of the strategies to keep the skills of our team updated through Prime Academy. Thanks to qualified mentors, we provide top-level training in technical, behavioural, and linguistic areas. Sounds interesting? Improve your capabilities and develop your career with us. Send you CV and join our team!