Front End Developer vs Backend Developer: Skills, Roles, Salary Explained
Creating a website involves more than one task. Using a responsive and user-friendly website is relatively easy because an expert designs the front end. You must have heard the terms front-end and back-end developer, but if you need clarification about what they really mean, we are here to help you tell you everything you need to know. This article will explain the comparison between front End developer vs back end developer in Web Development Services.
Let’s face it: the world is changing. We’re all moving towards a more digital way of living and working, meaning we need to understand how the web works. Before hiring or pursuing your career as a developer, it is important to know both terminologies to make the right decision.
What is a Front-End Developer?
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A front-end developer, or web developer, is one of the most critical roles in a company. They are responsible for the design and implementation of the interface. The front-end developer usually creates the interface you see in your mobile application and website. The front-end developer is also responsible for creating navigation buttons and helping improve the website’s visibility.
A front-end developer ensures their design works online using coding languages such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. In short, a front end developer is responsible for creating the parts of the website or mobile application that the user interacts with.
In addition to technical skills, front-end developers should also have strong communication and problem-solving skills. They often work closely with designers and back-end developers to develop and iterate on web applications and websites.
Front-End Developer Role and Responsibilities
- A front end developer is responsible for creating a responsive website layout. It includes working on the designs presented by the designer and implementing them on the website.
- A front end developer ensures that the website is responsive and user-friendly.
- They also ensure that the content, images and videos are placed correctly on the website.
- A front end developer improves productivity with the use of frameworks.
Frontend Developers Skills
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Frontend developers are the backbone of the software development lifecycle. You can only have a good website with quality and a user-friendly interface. Some crucial skills for frontend developers are:
1. HTML & CSS
Frontend developers use HTML to structure the content of a website. It provides the foundation for building styles (CSS) and behavior (JavaScript). HTML defines the meaning and structure of content on the web and is a fundamental technology for building web pages. HTML is used to create the structure and layout of a website, including the headings, paragraphs, lists, links, and other content displayed in the user’s web browser. It also adds images, videos, and other media to a website.
In short, frontend developers need to learn HTML and CSS because it is a crucial part of building websites and web applications. Without a strong understanding of HTML, it isn’t easy to create a well-structured, easy-to-use, and visually appealing website.
2. Frameworks
Front-end developers use CSS and JavaScript frameworks to streamline their development process, make their code more efficient, and build user interfaces that are consistent and easy to maintain. CSS frameworks provide pre-designed styles and layout modules that frontend developers can use as a foundation for their own designs, which helps them save time and create a more cohesive look for their projects.
On the other hand, JavaScript frameworks provide a structure for organizing JavaScript code and often include features like data binding, making it easier for developers to work with data and build interactive user interfaces. By learning CSS and JavaScript frameworks, front end developers can improve their productivity and the quality of the products they build.
3. Version Control
Here are several reasons why frontend developers should learn version control:
- Collaboration: Version control allows developers to work on the same codebase simultaneously without overwriting each other’s changes. It also makes it easy to track changes made to the codebase and who made them.
- Backup: Version control systems keep a record of all the changes made to the codebase, which can be helpful in case something goes wrong. If a bug is introduced, developers can use version control to revert the codebase to a previous version.
- Reproducibility: Version control makes it easy to recreate a specific codebase version, which can be helpful for testing and debugging.
What is a Back-End Developer?
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Ever thought about what happens behind the website? You enter all the information, and where does it go? How are all the pages performing and collecting your activity on the website? Well, your activity and information are saved in the database, which is connected to the website.
A back-end developer works with the server side of the website or mobile application. Back-end developers ensure that the website is working correctly, connected to the database, and running smoothly without any errors and delays. A back-end developer uses languages like Python, Ruby, and Java to ensure that the website’s backend is working correctly.
Back-End Developer Role and Responsibilities
- Back end developers are responsible for connecting the website with the database and also managing the database.
- They help the team to achieve rapid response times.
- Back end developers are responsible for coding and debugging the website or application.
- Back-end developers develop smart solutions to make the website responsive and user-friendly.
- They also work on software version control using tools like Git, CVS, Git, or SVN.
Back End Developers Skills
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Backend developers are always in demand, but if you’re looking for a reliable backend developer, they need a good skill set and experience with some particular languages and functionalities. Here are some important skills you need to become a Backend developer.
1. Python
Python is a popular language for backend development because it is easy to learn and use, has an extensive standard library, and has a large and active developer community. It is a dynamically-typed language, which means that you don’t need to specify the type of a variable when you declare it, and the interpreter will figure out the type at runtime. This can make the development process faster because you don’t need to spend as much time writing type annotations.
Moreover, Python also has a large standard library, which means it has many functional modules and functions you can use in your backend application. For example, the os module provides functions for interacting with the operating system, and the JSON module provides functions for working with JSON data. Python is a cross-platform language, which means that you can develop backend applications that run on multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.
2. Java
Java is a popular language for backend development because it is fast, reliable, and secure. Java is an object-oriented language based on the idea of “objects” that can represent real-world entities and encapsulate data and behavior. And that is why it is essential to learn Java if you want to design and organize complex backend systems.
Java is a cross-platform language, meaning you can write code that will run on any device with a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) installed. This makes it easy to deploy your backend applications to various environments.
3. Knowledge of API
Backend developers often need to learn APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) because they are essential to many web and mobile applications. APIs allow backend developers to build functionality other applications or servers can access. For example, a backend developer might build an API that allows a mobile application to access data from a database or a web application to access a third-party service such as a payment processor.
Difference between frontend and backend. Front End Developer vs Backend Developer
There are vast differences between frontend and backend developers. And here, we have a brief comparison of front-end vs back-end development.
Parameter | Front-End Developer | Back End Developer |
Language | HTML, CSS and JavaScript | PHP, Java, .NET, Server, and API |
Technical Skills | ● Experience in graphic design.
● Basic knowledge of SEO. ● Excessive knowledge of Version Control ● Experience in creating responsive designs ● Knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
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● Familiarity with backend languages
● Knowledge of back-end frameworks ● Experience with databases and server handling ● Experience with data structure and algorithms. |
Service | Front-end development services can not be offered solely. | Back-end development services can be offered independently. |
Tools | jQuery, HTML5, Bootstrap and Git etc. | MySQL, PHP, Laravel, Django. |
Which is better?Front End Developer vs Backend Developer
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Now that you’ve understood the meaning of front-end and back-end developers, the question arises which is better? Front-end development of back-end development. The front end and back end are both different from each other; that is why there is no comparison between them. One can not function without the other one, so you need both on the team.
It also depends on your choice or where your interests lie. We suggest exploring coding and Web Development and then deciding what you want to pursue. If you have more interest in handling and creating databases, then back-end development should be your priority. Otherwise, if you like to design and work on page layouts, you should start learning front-end technologies.
Salary comparison between Front End Developer vs Backend Developer
The salary of front-end developers and back-end developers varies according to the project, location and complexity of tasks they are performing, so it is hard to give exact numbers about how much they get paid. The developers are either paid according to the project or as full-time employees, which also changes the salary figures. But one thing that we notice is that front-end developers usually get paid more than back-end developers. According to a survey, front-end developers make around $122,786 per year, while an experienced or mid-level front-end developer makes around $106,553 per year.