Front-End vs Back-End vs Full-Stack – What Is the Difference?

A modern website combines an eye-catching design decorated with animations and sliders, user-friendly navigation, and extensive functionality that meets all users’ needs. All these features are the hallmarks of web developers’ work in different directions. In today’s market, there are front-end, back-end, and full-stack specialists, each of them responsible for their development area. 

In this article, we will analyze the difference between front-end vs back-end vs full-stack developers, find out what skills are required in positions, and define the direction of each practice. 

What is a Front-End Developer?

The front-end part of web development involves everything that users directly interact with. Varieties of fonts, colors, styles, graphics, and everything you see on the Internet are what a front-end developer deals with. The main task of a professional in this area is to create an attractive, visually clear, and user-friendly interface. Professionals use a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript coding languages to turn boring black-and-white pages into bright masterpieces. 

Here is a list of key expert responsibilities:

• creating a user-friendly UI and improving it based on customer feedback;
• constructing a menu for easy navigation through the resources; 
• ensuring the responsiveness of the sites on all devices;
• ensuring cross-browser compatibility;
• building static and interactive page elements and features; 
• maintaining the cleanliness of the code;
• testing the website to identify and eliminate errors.

Front-End Developer Skills & Qualifications

A professional who deals with the forepart of applications and websites has to understand the combination of programming and design. Such a professional requires creative thinking and the ability to implement ideas into engaging user interfaces. As we have already mentioned, specialists use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript programming languages to fulfill their designs. However, that is far from all. 

Here are a range of other hard skills that a front-end dev should have:

• Bootstrap, ReactJS, and AngularJS: allows building responsive and consistent web pages that will look perfect on smartphones, laptops, and tablets;
• jQuery and LESS: libraries help to simplify coding tasks and improve site performance;
• Ajax: provides smooth data loading in the background to increase the performance of overloaded pages;
• Vue.js: allows the building of lightweight, flexible, and reactive user interfaces;
• Adobe XD or Figma: helps create interactive design prototypes to visualize and test user interfaces.
• Git: allows managing and collaborating on code projects.

In addition to strong technical qualifications, specialists have soft skills that facilitate communication and help to create unique projects. It is crucial because the dev works closely with UI/UX designers and back-end devs. Thus, experts must come to a common vision of the project and operate as a single mechanism. 

Such soft skills help in this matter: 

• Teamwork: listen to the opinions of others and collaborate in a common environment to run the project smoothly;
• Problem-solving: recognize and confront problems, both in the application and in the team; 
• Attention to detail: see every small aspect of the design and functionality to ensure a perfect final result;
• User-centric thinking: focuses on understanding user needs to construct the most user-friendly interface.

So, everything you see now is the efforts of forepart constructors. They strive to make each resource as convenient and visually appealing as possible.

What Is a Back-End Developer?

In addition to the external attractive side, where everything looks simple and engaging, every site has a complex mechanism inside. Back-end developers are responsible for it. The main focus of the expert is the server, the application, and the database, which should work in a coordinated manner to ensure the smooth functioning of the resource. Here are a few more tasks that devs face daily:

• creating and managing databases for reliable data storage;
• building and integrating Application Programming Interfaces, APIs, to integrate different parts of the resource;
• optimizing server-side code and database queries to improve the performance;
• ensuring the correct display and operation of interfaces;
• building the website architecture;
• checking the health of apps and fixing errors to prevent major breakdowns;
• site scaling.

What Skills Does a Back-End Developer Have?

Internal technology specialists have a large scope of tasks related to data protection, resource performance, correct functioning of all features, and much more. Their qualification sets aim to ensure smooth collaboration between applications, servers, and databases within the resource. Ultimately, end-users should have a pleasant experience using a website where everything operates fast and is error-free. 

To achieve the goals, the professional involves experience with the following technologies:

• PHP, Ruby, Python, Java, .Net: allows building full-fledged applications;
• MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server tools: helps in data storing and managing; 
• Express.js: helps in managing APIs and web servers using minimal code; 
• AWS or Azure: offers a reliable and flexible infrastructure platform in the cloud;
• GraphQL API: allows fetching precise data from servers to reduce over-fetching or under-fetching of information;
• Version control with Git: provides tracking changes in the program, collaborating with teams, and managing different project versions; 
• CI/CD pipeline setup: automates code deployment to improve software construction efficiency and reduce errors;
• Linux server management: provides a secure environment for inside services;
• Shell scripting: automates tasks in Unix-like operating systems.

Like a front-end specialist, an internal professional often works in a team, so they need communication abilities. In addition, it should be borne in mind that specialists in this area work with code, which requires care and high concentration to avoid mistakes. Also, you should be prepared for routine tasks. 

In a nutshell, a back-end dev has the soft skills: 

• Collaborative approach: cooperate in a team and reach joint decisions with colleagues helps to achieve the ideal in the design and functionality; 
• Analytical thinking: analyze tasks to find ways to implement them; 
• Attention to detail: catch every element of the code, find errors, and fix them;
• Flexibility: adapt to rapidly evolving web trends;
• Result-oriented approach: the desire to build high-quality products.

What Is A Full-Stack Developer?

Front-end and back-end web technologies are dependent on each other and correlate with each other. For example, a spectacular website design is impossible without complex settings within databases and servers. A person who knows both sides is a full-stack developer. They know how to create convenient UIs and can set up all the conditions for displaying and storing them with minimal or no assistance. Here is a list of duties that a full-stack dev can perform:

• creating code for sites; 
• work on software design and construction;
• implementation of databases and servers; 
• ensuring the responsiveness of the pages; 
• testing and fixing errors;
• implementation of new functionality; 
• working with front-end and back-end developers  to build and maintain the page;
• ensuring system security. 

Full-Stack Dev Skills

Full-stack specialists combine front- and back-end development. They use HTML and CSS programming languages for design and involve Python, PHP, Linux servers, and many other tools for internal customization. Although their arsenal of qualifications is extensive, you should understand that their knowledge in a particular area may be worse than that of developers in each area. So, if you plan to make large customizations and reformations on your site, we recommend engaging experts who can provide more expertise in the desired niche. 

As for the role of a full-stack expert, it is perfect for early-stage software building. In addition, due to their comprehensive understanding of technology, they can be a team leader who will ensure excellent communication between both parties, help choose the vector, and delegate duties. It requires the following soft skills: 

• leadership; 
• problem-solving; 
• teamwork; 
• analytical thinking; 
• time management;
• result orientation.

Front-End vs Back-End vs Full-Stack Comparison

Summarizing all the responsibilities, let’s compare each position and identify the key features. 

You may check the cost of hiring a specialist for each technology here.

Final Words

When choosing between front-end vs back-end vs full-stack, you should consider your wishes and project goals. If front-end and back-end experts can focus on the design or functionality of your resource, a full-stack professional will help to cover both sides. If you hire a team for a large-scale project, your team may consist of three specialists. In this case, a full-stack expert will be able to ensure that all developments are consistent with each other and establish mutual understanding. 

If you are looking for web development outsourcing or considering staff augmentation, feel; free to contact us for a detailed consultation on these issues. We will find the perfect match for the smooth growth of your project.