When you work with a web developer to design a website for your company, there’s a good chance that you won’t understand much of the terminology and concepts used by website development professionals. Though it’s not a requirement that you know as much about web development as the company you work with, it is a good idea to be familiar the terms “front-end” and “back-end” as they can help you to differentiate who does what when it comes to web design and development.
◾ Front-End Web Development
When you hear the term “front-end” in terms of the web and websites, you’re hearing about the part of the web that users interact with, which includes everything they see when they’re navigating the internet, from fonts and colors to drop-down menus and sliders. A front-end web developer is responsible for writing a website’s user-facing code and is responsible for creating the user’s immersive experience on a website. At a minimum, front-end developers must know and use three main programming languages: HTML, CSS and Javascript; and they should also be familiar with a number of different frameworks like Bootstrap, Backbone and Foundation. Front-end web developers work closely with web designers to create mockups, or wireframes, and to develop them into the final product. A simple analogy is that of a house. The front-end web developer is responsible for the interior design of the house that’s been built by a back-end web developer.
◾ Back-End Web Development
Back-end web development is what makes front-end web development possible. The back-end consists of a server, an application and a database and the developer has to build and maintain the technology that runs those components. All together, they enable the user-facing side of a website to exist and work. Back-end web developers must know server-side programming languages like PHP, Python and Java, and they must be able to use tools like Oracle and MySQL to find, save and change data and to send the right data back to the front-end user. When you go to a website that looks simple on its face, like Google, you can be sure that there are an army of back-end web developers whose job it is to see that all of the information you need shows up on your search results page.
To find out more about what a web developer does and how great websites are created, call Axis Software Dynamics at (469) 535-7500. To find out more about our services, including website creation, custom software development and mobile app development, visit us online at axissoftwaredynamics.com.
