Should I learn front-end, back-end or full-stack programming?

As a developer, you may be thinking: What will be the best software development technology and programming language in 2019? How are they used in software development? If you're thinking about this, you've come to the right place.

This article will compare front-end and back-end development technologies, starting with the basics, and then gradually comparing their differences, such as the requirements for development skills. , development potential, career development and salary, etc.

1. What is front-end development?

Front-end development mainly involves websites and apps, what users can see from the browser or the App screen. Simply put, everything you can see from the browser or app screen belongs to the front end. (Recommended: WEB front-end development video tutorial)

Front-end of website and mobile app

Let’s take the webpage you are browsing now as an example . The content on the web page, the images, the gaps between paragraphs, the icons in the upper left corner, the notification button in the lower right corner, all these things belong to the front end.

The front-end of the mobile app is the same as the website. For example, the content, buttons, and pictures you see all belong to the front end. In addition, because the screen of a mobile device is touchable, the application's responses to various touch gestures (such as zoom in/out, double-click, slide, etc.) also belong to the front end, and they are the active part of the front end.

These things are developed by front-end developers who use development technologies such as Ionic, Swift, Kotlin, Bootstrap, Angular, Vue, jQuery, React.js, etc. We will introduce more about these development techniques later.

Front-end of the Internet of Things

Any device that can connect to the Internet is an Internet of Things device. You might be wondering what the front end of an IoT device would look like. Any kind of smart device, such as smart refrigerators, remote POS machines, smart watches, smart wallets, they all need to provide some kind of interface so that users can operate these devices. Therefore, this interface is an interactive medium, and the elements that make up this interface are the front-end of the Internet of Things.

But strictly speaking, IoT devices do not have a real front end. But they all have firmware installed, similar to the front-end of a mobile app. These firmwares can be developed in various programming languages ​​such as C, C, Lua, Python or JavaScript.

2. What is back-end development?

Back-end development is "server-side" development, which mainly involves the "back-end" of the software system. For example, servers used to host website and app data, and middleware placed between back-end servers and browsers and apps, they all belong to the back end. Simply put, the stuff you don’t see on the screen but that is used to power the front end is the backend. (Recommended: Backend development video tutorial)

Backend of website and mobile app

The backend of website involves setting up server, saving and Get data and the interface used to connect to the front end. If front-end developers care about the appearance of the website, then back-end developers care about how to improve the speed, performance and responsiveness of the website through code, API and database integration.

Similar to the front-end, the back-end of a mobile app is the same as the back-end of a website. You have these options for building a backend for your mobile app: cloud platforms (AWS, Firebase), your own servers, or MBaaS (Mobile Backend as a Service).

Back-end development uses Ruby, Apache, Nginx, PHP, MySQL, MongoDB and other technologies. We will introduce more about these development techniques later.

Backend of the Internet of Things

The cloud platform is an important component of the backend of the Internet of Things. There is evidence that most IoT devices rely heavily on cloud servers through which they upload, process and download data.

The backend of high-end IoT solutions even involves artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Backend platforms for IoT projects include Amazon IoT, Google Cloud, MQTT Broker, IFTTT, and more.

3. So what are the differences between front-end and back-end?

##Comparison of front-end and back-end technology stacks

4. Which one is better, front-end or back-end developer?

Whether you want to do front-end development or back-end development, in addition to technical aspects, you also need to see what is more important to you.

If aesthetics and product feel are more important to you, then you may be inclined to choose front-end technology. If your focus is on making your website, application, or software more efficient and responsive, then your goal may be back-end development.

A big part of what a front-end designer does is making what the user sees on their mobile or PC screen look great and be easy to use. In contrast, backend developers only care about writing clean code.

If you are trying to decide between front-end and back-end that one is better than the other based on what is said above, then this in itself is a wrong assumption. In fact, they are all irreplaceable and equally important when building a website or application.

Some people are gifted with visuals, while others are good at solving problems through logic and technology. Apple is what it is today thanks to Steve Jobs (the front-end visionary) and Steve Wozniak (the back-end genius).

5. Front-end and back-end developers

Now, you have a good understanding of front-end and back-end development Understand, next it’s time to learn more about front-end and back-end developers. Here's a brief look at the job titles, skills, and responsibilities of front-end and back-end developers.

Through these points, you can get a comprehensive understanding of the skills of back-end and front-end developers.

Job Titles for Front-End and Back-End Developers

There are many job opportunities for developers, and depending on your specific expertise, experience, and interests, you can apply for one of the following End or front-end development positions.

Front-end:

● Front-end development engineer;

● Front-end Web designer;

● Android development engineer;

● iOS development engineer;

● Front-end DevOps engineer;

● Front-end JavaScript development engineer;

● Front-end UI engineer;

● HTML/CSS development engineer;

● Front-end testing engineer;

● Front-end SEO expert.

Back-end:

● Back-end development engineer;

● Junior back-end development engineer;

● Web development engineer ;

● DevOps engineer;

● Software engineer;

● WordPress development engineer;

● Cloud computing engineer;

● REST expert;

● Server/system administrator;

● Database architect;

● Java development engineer;

● Python development engineer;

● PHP development engineer.

Skill requirements for front-end and back-end developers

The skills required for different positions and levels are different, but no matter what, to become a front-end or back-end Developers absolutely need to master certain skills.

The roles and responsibilities of front-end and back-end developers

What are the roles and responsibilities of front-end and back-end developers? Before you apply for a job or hire a front-end or back-end developer, make sure you know these things.

Salary comparison between front-end and back-end developers

Front-end developer:

The above data comes from PayScale

（https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Front_End_Engineer/Salary）

The above data comes from Glassdoor

（https://www.glassdoor.co.in/Salaries/us-front-end-developer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,22. htm)

Backend Developer:

The above data comes from PayScale

（https://www .payscale.com/research/US/Job=Back_End_Developer/_Engineer/Salary)

The above data comes from Glassdoor

（https://www.glassdoor.co.in/Salaries/us-backend-developer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3 ,20.htm)

6. What is full-stack development?

Some people can do both front-end and back-end development, they are called full-stack developers.

Becoming a full-stack developer or hiring a full-stack developer has both advantages and disadvantages. Although the number of developers can be reduced to half of the original number, their level has also been reduced accordingly. A developer who specializes in front-end or back-end development will always know more about a single area than a developer who knows both areas.

There are many technology development stacks similar to the full stack, such as MEAN stack, LAMP stack, .NET stack, Python-Django stack, ROR stack, etc. Developers are free to choose to become experts in these technology stacks.