Frontend Vs. Backend Development – What's The Difference?

[Music] hi I'm Martin career foundry co-founder and former web developer today I'm going to explain the differences between front and back-end programming I'll also show you where full stack development comes into play we know that web development is the process of building websites and applications it's not about the design of the website rather it's all about the coding and programming powers its functionality this functionality relies on various layers the front end otherwise known as the client-side and the back end otherwise known as the server-side let's take a look at each of these layers in more detail the front end of a website refers to everything that the user experiences directly it's what you see and interact with on your browser things like layout fonts colors menus and contact forms are all driven by the front-end so let's imagine you want to start a business selling cupcakes you need a website to tell customers about your products and let them know where your shop is located this is what's known as a static website the content stays pretty much the same and the necessary information that determines what's on the page is contained within the front-end code itself first up there's HTML this is the fundamental coding language that creates and organizes web content so it can be displayed in the browser then there is CSS which is used to style the HTML elements of your web page CSS is used to define layouts colors and thoughts the third member of this all-important trio is JavaScript used for more interactive elements such as drop-down menus modal windows and contact forms when used as a front-end language JavaScript executes in the browser together these three languages creates everything that's visually presented to you when you visit the website the backend of a website is all about what's going on behind the scenes this may also be referred to as the server side the backend is essentially the part of a website that the user doesn't see it's responsible for storing and organizing data and ensuring that everything on the front end runs smoothly it does this by communicating directly with the front-end so back to your cupcake business things are going well and you want to expand the functionality of your website you don't just want to provide information you want your customers to be able to interact with your website in other words you want to turn your static website into a dynamic one it means that the website's content can change based on the user input and what's stored in the database for example a user might be looking for gluten-free cupcakes when they type the query into the search box in the front-end of the website the application looks through all the product data stored in the database or the backend the backend returns the relevant information in the form of front-end code the browser then displays this code as a list of filtered results so in this case a list of gluten-free cupcakes available in your store to make your site dynamic you need a database to manage all the customer and product information the database stores all the website's content in a way that makes it easy to organize retrieve edit and save of course back-end development relies from back-end languages some common back in languages include Ruby PHP Java and Python in recent years javascript has also been introduced as a back-end language it is now possible to code the back and purely in JavaScript using node.js for example nodejs is a JavaScript runtime environment which basically enables you to execute JavaScript code outside of the browser in other words it makes it possible to use JavaScript as a back-end language so now we've got a dynamic web app that makes use of both front-end and and technologies fronting languages make sure your website looks great and that it's easy to interact with behind the scenes the back end holds together all of the front-end components and enables extra functionalities such as storing purchase information and product details or creating secure user accounts both sides have very different roles but the two must work together in order for the website to function if you're keen to learn web development but aren't sure whether to go down the front-end or back-end routes it's important to consider the day-to-day tasks of each if you like the idea of working with visual design and bringing them to life creating a first-class user experience you'll probably enjoy working with the front-end as a front-end developer you'll be in charge of implementing the websites layout and building interactive and navigational elements front-end developers are also responsible for ensuring optimal display across different browsers and devices other typical tasks include carrying out usability tests fixing bugs maintaining software workflow management and developing tools that enhance how the user interacts with the website in any browser if you enjoy working with data figuring out algorithms and coming up with ways to optimize complex systems you might prefer working as a back-end developer back-end developers are responsible for building and maintaining the technology that powers the front-end as a back-end developer the code that you create ensures that everything the front-end developers build is fully functional it is also your job to make sure that its server application and database all communicate with each other to do this you'll use server-side languages such as PHP Ruby Python Java or JavaScript just like front-end developers back-end developers work closely with the product owner to really understand the requirement of the project typical back-end development in creating integrating and managing the data base building server-side functions using back and frameworks developing and deploying content management systems working with web server technologies and building and integrating api's then there are developers who work in both the front end and the back end these are known as full stack developers full stack developers are experts in every stage of the web development process to qualify as a full stack developer you need to be proficient in both front-end and back-end languages and frameworks as well as in server network and hosting environments it also be expected to understand business logic and user experience we do distinguish between front down and back-end but it's important to have a grounding in both these days is not so much a question of should I learn front-end or back-end development most employers will expect you to be comfortable in each area if you're new to the field make sure you build up a solid overview of the entire development process and have a clear understanding on how everything works once you've got this foundation in place you can drill down to specifics and decide where to specialize further down the line no matter where you are at in your career you'll always work closely with both front down them back-end developers get to grips with both and you'll be off to a great start now you hopefully have a good idea of the differences between front-end and back-end and how they work together to create a functional user friendly website if you enjoy this video don't forget subscribe to our YouTube channel and see you next time

Channel: CareerFoundry

Views: 46,971

Rating: 4.9514065 out of 5

Keywords: What is the difference between frontend and backend development?, frontend and backend development, frontend, backend, full stack developer, full-stack, what is full-stack developer, what does a web developer do, developer, web developer, coding, programming, learn to code

Id: eCUeoPp-5do

Length: 8min 31sec (511 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 12 2018