Introduction:
In Web development, frontend and backend a core parts to create any application. Frontend represents to users how to show your user interface design, such as text, icons, buttons, and layout. The backend works behind the application to manage the data storage and processing tasks of the application.
In this article, we’ll cover the role of the frontend and backend development, how to show your UI design, and how to manage your data behind the application.
Frontend Development
It is also known as the client-side of the application. It refers to the user interaction of the web page, like colours, images, buttons, and the navigation section. The person who designs the user interface and user experience is known as the frontend developer.
This includes many parts such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and frameworks such as Angular and React.js. This consists of an imperative part of web development, which provides the design of the home page.
Technologies used in Frontend
Many technologies are used in frontend development, which are explained below:
HTML: It stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is used to create the structure of the website, display the text, links, images, and forms of a web page.
Syntax:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>My Simple Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Welcome to My Website</h1>
</body>
</html>
CSS (Cascading Style Sheet): CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. It is used to design the webpage. It includes such as fonts, colours, layouts, and making a responsive website. This shows how HTML elements are displayed in the web browser. To use the CSS in three ways: Inline CSS, internal CSS, and external CSS.
Syntax:
Inline CSS:
<p style="color: red; font-size: 16px;">This is a red paragraph.</p>
Internal CSS:
<style>
p {
color: blue;
font-size: 18px;
}
</style>
External CSS:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
JavaScript: JavaScript is a core part of the frontend programming language that adds interactive and dynamic webpages. With the use of this can be used to create animations, form validation, and make it interactive. JavaScript works on the client-side and server-side of the application. It is a single-threaded, lightweight, and cross-platform. It uses many frameworks and libraries such as React.js, Angular.js, Vue.js, etc.
Syntax:
<script>
console.log ("Hello, XYZ!");
</script>
Frontend Frameworks and Libraries:
It includes many frameworks that are shown below:
React.js: React.js is also known as a JavaScript library. It provides a user interface and enhances dynamic design for web applications. Facebook created React.js. It is a component-based component architecture, single-page applications, virtual DOM, and improves user experience.
Syntax:
import React from 'react';
function Hello() {
return <h1>Hello, World!</h1>;
}
export default Hello;
Angular.js: Angular.js is also known as a JavaScript framework. It helps to make modern web applications. With the help of this, you can easily create a single-page application. Google creates it. It provides extended HTML code with new attributes. This follows an MVC (Model View Controller) architecture and makes your code maintainable, clean, and easier to manage.
Syntax:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" ng-app="myApp">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>AngularJS Example</title>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.8.2/angular.min.js"></script>
</head>
Vue.js: Vue.js is also known as a lightweight JavaScript framework. It helps to build user interface designs and makes it easy to manage with other projects or libraries. It uses a reactive, component-based and very useful for beginners. It handles a two-way data binding approach and uses component-based architecture.
Syntax:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Vue.js App</title>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/vue@2"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="app">
<h1>{{ message }}</h1>
</div>
<script>
new Vue({
el: '#app',
data: {
message: 'Hello, Vue.js!'
}
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
Backend Development
Backend development is also known as the server-side of the application. It manages database interactions, server configuration, and cloud service, and handles the API. This uses many server-side programming languages such as Node.js, Python, Java, and PHP. It handles many databases like MySQL, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL. The person who manages the database behind an application is known as the Backend developer.
It manages the architecture of a website, and includes many activities like writing API, managing libraries, and working system components without a user interface.
Technologies used in the Backend:
Many technologies are used in Backend development, which are explained below:
Java:
Java is widely used in programming languages and backend side development, and with the use of this, you can easily create complex Android-based applications. It's uses in the backend side of the application. It uses frameworks like Spring Boot for building RESTful APIs, handling logic, and connecting with the database.
PHP:
PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor. It is widely used in programming languages and is mostly profitable for backend development because it's an open-source, cross-platform tool. This provides many features like fast execution time, cost-effective, etc. It is used with different databases MySQL, PostgreSQL.
Python:
Python is widely used in backend development because it enables developers to work quickly and handle systems efficiently. These support several collections of libraries, easy code integrates, flexibility, and readability, etc., frameworks like Flask and Django to manage RESTful APIs, handle user interactions, and user authentication.
Node.js:
Node.js is the most used backend-side development language and executes JavaScript on the server-side of the application. It's not a framework nor a library. This language is most trustworthy; many big companies such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, Uber, etc., use event-driven architecture, non-blocking operations, which are built for handling large connections with the database. It connects with a database such as MySQL or MongoDB and handles RESTful API services.
Backend Frameworks
It includes many frameworks that are shown below:
Express.js:
It is a Node.js framework used for the server-side of the application. It's uses for single-page and multi-page web apps. With the help of this can be used to create different HTTP requests. The developers can easily set up routes with methods such as app.get() or app.post() and handle JSON or form data using its inbuilt middleware. It supports static files and allows custom error handling and third-party modules, which makes it a suitable framework for web applications and microservices.
Express is widely use in the MERN stack that includes MongoDB, Express, React, and Node. It simultaneously enhances speed and flexibility for development, making it one of the most popular frameworks for modern backend applications.
Django:
It is a Python framework used for large and complex web apps. It helps with creating, updating, reading, and deleting operations. This enhances many features like security, scalability, and speed. It supports DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) concepts and follows the Model-View-Template (MVT).
With Django, developers can create robust backends, APIs, or full-stack applications. Popular sites like Instagram and Pinterest use Django. It is just the thing for content management systems, social networking, and data-focused web apps.
Full Stack development
Full-stack development includes both the frontend and backend of a web application. A full-stack developer has an insight into how the entire system works together. This versatility allows them to build entire applications all alone or comfortably move across teams. Due to the flexibility and comprehensive knowledge that full-stack development offers.
Conclusion
In this article, understanding the basic difference between frontend and backend development is an important part of web development. The mainly use of frontend is to handle HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but backend handles the application of the database if you are specializing in full-stack developer to create dynamic, responsiveness, and high-performing websites.