Two Sides Of The Same Coin: Front-End And Back-End Development

Front-end and back-end development are the engines driving any website development process. To those of us who aren’t developers or software engineers, even basic terms like front-end and back-end development can be overwhelming. When you add in different code languages, wireframes, scripts and more…things can get pretty confusing. 

The good news is, you don’t need to know how to do those things to understand how they’ll help your organization. In fact, understanding the fundamentals of front- and back-end development allows you to better strategize and collaborate towards your overall marketing goals. 

What is Front-End Development?

Front-end development or “client-side” refers to the development of everything a user will see when interacting with your website. Front-end development relies on HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

• HTML (HyperText Markup Language) provides the basic structure of the website. HTML adds headings, paragraphs, make line breaks, insert images, create links and much more by adding element tags.

• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) helps to style the content. It’s also what allows a website to adapt to different screen sizes and types. CSS works with HTML to assign styles to different elements. For example, CSS could assign a font and color to a paragraph tag in HTML. 

• JavaScript is the logic-based programming language used to create interactive websites. JavaScript is more complicated than HTML and CSS because it allows users to interact with the website through buttons, confirmation boxes, calls-to-action and more. 

A front-end developer is responsible for the visual feel of your website. They’re focused on the user experience. Front-end development is often referred to as “client-side” because it focuses on what’s accessed by website visitors. Front-end developers need to ensure that a website and all its elements will look the same on different devices and different browsers.

What you need to know: Front-end development is the programming and layout that make up the visual elements of a website.

What is Back-End Development?

Back-end development or “server-side” refers to how a site works. This part of a website is hidden, only accessible to developers and admins. The function of the back-end of a website is to access information that users request, then transform the information and return it to the user in a different form. Back-end developers achieve this in three parts: server, application and database. 

• Servers are the machinery behind a website. They’re high-powered computers that store files, information and security. The primary function of a server is to deliver files that make up web pages per user requests.

• Applications are computer programs that use a browser and web technologies to perform tasks over the internet. They’re coded and require a server to fulfill requests. Back-end developers typically write code for these using Ruby, Python or SQL.

• Database refers to the collection of information about a website. The information is easily stored and managed. A web database needs to be accessible from the internet.

When working on a website application, back-end developers will ensure that these three elements work together to make sure that a site is functioning and updating in a responsive and timely manner.

What you need to know: Back-end development is the code that lends functionality to the visuals and layout of front-end development.

Front-end development uses programming languages to determine what a user sees while back-end development uses programming languages to ensure that everything stays running behind the scenes. Together they make up the seamless websites that your organization needs to function.

At Pyxl, we have a team of developers skilled in front-end and back-end development. They understand code so you don’t have to! Let us help your organization. CONTACT US

Updated: Apr 13, 2022