About front-end and back-end web development

Question

Hey, I have a series of questions and would appreciate if the answers are given serially :
1. Does front-end web entail only css, html and jscript? Like, when working on a site, and I'm a front-ender, all I do is build the site to look good and leave out the other workload for the back-ender? If so, how does this go hand in hand? Won't the back-ender have troubles reading and knowing your html tags and attributes in case he needa to call them in scripts?

2. Second, are back-end languages same as server-side languages?

3. If (no2 === True) {
out of all the scripting languages - php, python, java, ruby - which is optimal for backend and can you use more than one languages in your site?
}

4. else {
what's the difference between back-end and server side?
}

5. //Would update this Q&A with more questions I might come up with.

Answer 1

1. Mostly. Front-end (i.e. client-side) devs can also be very helpful with back-end (i.e. server-side) stuff. You can use a pre-processor or templating language to generate front-end components, use common libraries, etc. so that all team members can work together smoothly. Generally, good dev teams will be up front about their style guides (like variable naming conventions specific to their code base, etc.) so the front and back end devs will have an easier time knowing what each thing is. Commenting your code also helps.

2. Yes. Basically.

3. Yes, you can use more than one. Which one is optimal depends on what specific functionality you want to implement in your website / web app.

4. Nothing. Back end is more common parlance. Server-side is more technically correct.

5. Feel free to split up questions.

Answer 2

5. Thanks! ☺

Web apps are part of websites. You can have a website without a web app but you can't have a web app without a website (at least not in my experience).

6. That's a tough question. There will be lots of different opinions on this. I confess: I work more on the front end. My back end "partner in crime" jokingly said turing machine and lambda calculus. If you're just looking for a place to start, I think Node.js might be good. It's like JavaScript for the back end.

7. Java for e-commerce because most payment gateways of any repute will have APIs compatible with Java. Blogs are more common and there are any number of content management systems available where you don't have to reinvent the wheel. PHP is common.

Answer 3

Janning⭐
A web app doesn't need a website, they don't even need to have a front end at all.
All a web app is is an application that runs from a HTTP server.
Your web app could be fully RESTful like DynamoDB, PayPal and others.
A proper web app should be able to function regardless of its appearance. separation of concerns and all that...

Answer 4

Janning⭐
Well yeah...
I guess it's just a difference of perspectives.
I mostly work on back end systems so I see a web app as what goes on in the background.
I create some API in PHP/ Node/ Python and then HTML, CSS goes on top of that.
For me the API and application are the same thing and everything else is just decoration

Answer 5

Who is better - backend or frontend?) Depend on the project you are building. Sometimes the salt is jn server-side, database, it can be really huge and make a lot of stuff.
But sometimes backend is simple, but all crazy things written on javascript and CSS.
Try to do both and then decide, which job you like more...

Answer 6

5. Hey Janning⭐ ,beautiful name. I had always thought wep apps were no much different from websites. Now, what's the difference between the two?

6. What is the most general and basic backend language to learn.

7. Which backend languages is good for ecommerce and blog sites, respectively.

Answer 7

Hi Aidan Haddon-Wright,

Would it be fair to say it sounds a bit more like you're talking about a web service (such as an API) instead of a web application?

Answer 8

☺Aidan Haddon-Wright,

Yeah, that's what my brilliant back-end partner thinks too, so I can totally see that. ☺

I have much respect for the back-end folks because most of what you all do requires a ton of brain power, while I get to do the fun stuff ... like nudging an element a few over a bit in the layout, resizing the viewport, playing with the zoom levels, and checking for compatibility issues across devices and browsers to make sure the change shows up well under every supported combination of circumstances. 😄 Being wired to appreciate aesthetics really helps fuel the patience required because it's rewarding when something finally looks nice. Not something I think most back-end folks experience over that sort of thing. This is likely to be a mind-numbing endeavor for people who can do mental acrobatics in their sleep, but I bet you derive similar satisfaction when you get something complicated or tricky to work. 🎉