Have you ever been listening to someone who works deep in an obscure niche of tech talk only to realize that you only understood two out of the nine words in that last sentence? It’s ok. Most of us have been there.
Welcome back to DevSpeak, where we dispel confusion around dense tech jargon. Often people who are fully capable of understanding some big topics in technology are pushed away, simply because they don’t know the lexicon. No more! DevSpeak is here to clarify!
Today we’re diving into three terms you’ll hear pretty often across all sectors… front end, back end and full stack development!
Front End Development: The Dining Area
Imagine you’re going out to eat at a restaurant. The dining area is designed just for you down to every detail. It’s comfy and well-lit with a relaxing ambiance. The waitstaff is friendly and ready to answer your questions. It’s a polished user experience. This is similar to what front end development is all about.
Front end developers work on everything you see and interact with on a website or app. They design the layout, choose the colors, and ensure that the buttons and links work as expected. They test and make sure everything is up to the standards of the customer.
Just like how a restaurant’s dining area is crafted to create a pleasant atmosphere and make your dining experience smooth, front end developers use languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create an engaging and user-friendly interface.
Back End Development: The Kitchen and Staff
Now, think about what happens behind the scenes in the restaurant’s kitchen. The chefs prepare the food, the kitchen staff manages the inventory, and the dishwashers clean up. There is an entire different workplace with its own systems and procedures going on back there just one wall away from you!
This is what back end development is like. Back end developers work on the server, database, and application logic that you don’t see directly. They ensure that when you place an order (like submitting a form or searching for information), it gets processed correctly and the right information is delivered back to you. This is back end development. Even though it’s all working to serve your need as the user, none of it is designed for your eyes.
Full Stack Development: The Restaurant Manager
This brings us to full stack. Let’s think about the restaurant manager. This person understands both the dining experience and the kitchen operations – and more importantly, how they work together. They ensure that everything runs smoothly. They troubleshoot problems in the front of the house where customers are all the way to the back of the house where food is prepared. They handle staff, manage inventory, and resolve any issues that arise. They are often the ones who have the best context to deal with issues that affect the entire pipeline from prep table to dining room table!
This is similar to what a full stack developer does. Full stack developers are skilled in both front end and back end development. They manage the entire web development process, ensuring that the user interface and the server-side functions (work seamlessly together. Just like a restaurant manager coordinates every aspect of the restaurant, a full stack developer oversees both the visual and functional aspects of a website or app.
Now You Have the Full Stack
That’s all for this DevSpeak. These aren’t huge concepts, but they’re important pieces to understand the language developers use. Hopefully these short summaries give you a little more context and confidence to take part in the greater conversations out there about technology! We don’t all start from the same knowledge level, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t all have valuable input!
