The field of software development is divided into two parts: front-end development and back-end development. These two components work together to make webpages and web apps more functional. While the front end and back end of web development work closely together, they are two distinct development types. Today, we’ll delve deeper into both forms of development and cover the abilities you’ll need to succeed in each, as well as the tools, languages, and career prospects available in each.
Let’s get going!
We’ll talk about:
- What is front-end web development?
- What is back-end web development?
- What is full-stack development?
- Conclusions and next actions
What is front-end web development?
The client-facing components of a website or web application are the focus of front-end development. This involves things like creating and optimizing the user interface, working on crucial visual parts of web sites, and troubleshooting any website bugs. Developers use front-end coding and front-end languages to create complicated and effective web designs. There are particular languages, tools, and frameworks that you must learn in order to become a great front-end developer.
Let’s look at some of the most important front-end web development tools:
Front-end programming languages
To code websites and web applications, front-end developers generally employ Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and JavaScript. To construct and format web pages, we employ HTML and CSS. We can create basic webpages and online applications using these two languages. The initial layer of a website is HTML, which provides the framework for our sites. CSS is in charge of regulating how HTML is displayed on a specific page.
We can use JavaScript to enhance the functionality of our web pages. It’s a web browser runtime language that allows our pages to interact with and respond to user behavior in real time. Pop-ups, tabs, picture sliders, and other interactive components may all be added to our websites using JavaScript.
JavaScript libraries and front-end frameworks
Front-end frameworks provide us with a ready-made template or structure to work with when writing JavaScript code. They put JavaScript libraries together to speed up the coding process. There are numerous frameworks from which to pick. The following are some of the most popular frameworks:
- ▪ AngularJS
- ▪ Vue.js
- ▪ React
- ▪ Backbone
- ▪ Ember
We can use JavaScript libraries like jQuery to integrate the library’s code into our front-end website code.
Preprocessors for CSS
CSS preprocessors are programming languages that convert one type of data to an other type of data. They enable us to write code that is clean, clear, organized, and stable. SASS (Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets) is a popular scripting language and CSS preprocessor that adds new features and tools to basic CSS to make it easier to maintain.
Job prospects and average income for front-end developers
Front-end developers are in high demand, and this trend is expected to continue. Top digital firms like Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Lyft are on the lookout for talented front-end developers to join their teams. A front-end engineer’s average annual pay in the United States is roughly $125,501.
What is back-end web development?
The server-side parts of a website or web application are the focus of back-end development. Website architecture, scripting, and database communication are all aspects of this form of development. 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. Back-end development and front-end development work together to give users a functional and interactive experience.
Let’s look at some of the most important back-end web development tools:
Languages for back-end programming and scripting
Functional and object-oriented (OOP) programming languages are the two types of back-end programming languages. Declarative syntax is used in functional languages, and they place a strong focus on expressiveness. They avoid shared states and mutable data by creating pure functions. Classes and objects are used in object-oriented languages. This enables us to organise our applications into small, reusable code chunks. Those pieces of code can be used to construct individual instances of things.
The following are some of the most popular back-end languages:
- ▪ Python
- ▪ Java
- ▪ JavaScript
- ▪ Ruby
- ▪ .NET
- ▪ PHP
- ▪ R
- ▪ Haskell
- ▪ SQL
- ▪ Clojure
Back-end frameworks
Back-end frameworks help creating uniform and stable back ends easier and more convenient. The following are some of the most popular frameworks:
- ▪ Django
- ▪ Ruby on Rails
- ▪ Flask
- ▪ Asp .NET
- ▪ Spring Boot
- ▪ Back-end databases
Servers, programs, and databases make up a website’s back end. Databases are crucial because they enable websites and applications to manage user data. The database management system (DBMS) serves as a conduit between the database and the users. A database management system (DBMS) allows users to access, change, and manage data. SQL and NoSQL are the two most common database types. NoSQL databases are not structured, whereas SQL databases are. Among the most popular databases are:
- ▪ MySQL
- ▪ MongoDB
- ▪ Redis
- ▪ PostgresSQL
- ▪ Oracle
Job prospects and average pay for back-end developers
Back-end developers, like front-end developers, are in high demand. Back-end developers are needed by top IT businesses such as Salesforce, Apple, Twitter, and Stripe. Due to the more complicated nature of the task, back-end developers should expect a slightly higher income than front-end developers. A back-end engineer’s average annual income in the United States is roughly $126,880.
What is full-stack development?
Front-end and back-end development are combined in full-stack development. Full-stack developers can design entire websites and web applications as a result of this. Client-side, server-side, debugging, and database work are all things they do. Browsers, servers, and databases can all be programmed by full-stack web developers.
You’ll need solid familiarity with front-end and back-end development technologies as a full-stack developer. Web development stacks are used by full-stack developers. All of the fundamental components of a modern online application or website are included in these stacks, including front-end tools, back-end tools, and the database. Application frameworks and state management tools are examples of stacks. Among the most popular stacks are:
- ▪ LAMP: JavaScript, Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP
- ▪ LEMP: JavaScript, Linux, Nginx, MySQL, PHP
- ▪ MEAN: JavaScript, MongoDB, Express, AngularJS, Node.js
- ▪ Django: JavaScript, Python, Django, MySQL
- ▪ Ruby on Rails: JavaScript, Ruby, SQLite, Rails
Job prospects and average income for full-stack developers
Full-stack developers are in high demand since a developer who can work on both the client and server side is a tremendous addition to any firm. Full-stack developers are in demand at companies like Amazon, Walmart, Boeing, and Deloitte. A full-stack engineer’s national average income in the United States is roughly $106,274.
Conclusions and next actions
Front-end and back-end development work closely together to help produce accessible, useful, and efficient websites and applications, despite their differences. Front-end developers work with client-side components more closely, and back-end developers work with server-side components more closely. In the field of software engineering, both styles of development are critical. Even though we covered a lot today, there’s still a lot more to learn about web development, including:
- ▪ Algorithms and data structures
- ▪ Font stacks
- ▪ Network fundamentals
Check out Hong Kong Coding Club’s lessons in Web Programming to get started learning these concepts and more. You’ll learn about front-end tools like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as back-end essentials, in this hands-on learning route. By the end of the lessons, you’ll be ready to take your knowledge a step further and tackle more advanced web development issues.
Enjoy your learning journey!
