Front and back ends - wikipedia Front and back ends In software engineering, the terms front end and back end refers to the separation of concerns between the presentation layer ( front end ), and the data access layer ( back end ) of a piece of software, or the physical infrastructure or hardware. In the client -- server model, the client is usually considered the front end and the server is usually considered the back end, even when some presentation work is actually done on the server. Contents 1 Introduction 2 Software definitions 2.1 Web development as an example 2.1. 1 Both 2.1. 2 Front - end focused 2.1. 3 Back - end focused 3 Hardware definitions 4 See also 5 References Introduction In software architecture, there may be many layers between the hardware and end user. Each can be spoken of as having a front end and a back end. The front is an abstraction, simplifying the underlying component by providing a user - friendly interface, while the back usually handles business logic and data storage. In telecommunication, the front can be considered a device or service, while the back is the infrastructure that supports provides this service. A rule of thumb is that the front ( or `` client '' ) side is any component manipulated by the user. The server - side ( or `` back end '' ) code usually resides on the server, often far removed physically from the user. Software definitions In content management systems, the terms front end and back end may refer to the end - user facing views of the CMS and the administrative views, respectively. In speech synthesis, the front end refers to the part of the synthesis system that converts the input text into a symbolic phonetic representation, and the back end converts the symbolic phonetic representation into actual sounds. For major computer subsystems, a graphical file manager is a front end to the computer 's file system, and a shell interfaces with the operating system. The front end faces the user, and the back end launches the programs of the operating system in response. In compilers, the front end translates a computer programming source code into an intermediate representation, and the back end works with the intermediate representation to produce code in a computer output language. The back end usually optimizes to produce code that runs faster. The front - end / back - end distinction can separate the parser section that deals with source code and the back end that generates code and optimizes. Some designs, such as GCC, offer choices between multiple front ends ( parsing different source languages ) or back ends ( generating code for different target processors ). Using the command - line interface ( CLI ) requires the acquisition of special terminology and memorization of commands, so a graphical user interface ( GUI ) acts as a front end desktop environment instead. Web development as an example Another way to understand the difference between the two is to understand the knowledge required of a front end vs a back end software developer. The list below focuses on Web development as an example. Both Version control tools such as GitHub, SourceForge, or Mercurial File transfer tools and protocols such as FTP or rsync Front - end focused Markup and web languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and ancillary libraries commonly used in those languages such as Sass or JQuery Asynchronous request handling and AJAX Cross-browser compatibility issues and workarounds Search engine optimization Basic usage of image editing tools such as GIMP or Photoshop Specialized web editing software like Dreamweaver or Expression Web Accessibility concerns Back - end focused Scripting languages like Go, Nodejs, PHP, Python, Ruby, or Perl Automated testing frameworks for the language being used Database administration Scalability Security concerns, authentication and authorization Data transformation Backup methods and software Note that both positions, despite possibly working on one product, have a very distinct set of skills. Hardware definitions In network computing, front end can refer to any hardware that optimizes or protects network traffic. It is called application front - end hardware because it is placed on the network 's outward - facing front end or boundary. Network traffic passes through the front - end hardware before entering the network. In processor design, front end design would be the initial description of the behavior of a circuit in a hardware description language such as Verilog, while back end design would be the process of mapping that behavior to physical transistors on a die. See also Front - end web development Client -- server model Out - of - box experience Modular programming Observer pattern Publish -- subscribe pattern Pull technology Push technology Remote procedure call References Jump up ^ Thapliyal, Vimal. `` Difference Between Frontend and Backend MVC -- Joomlatuts ''. joomlatuts.net. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 30. Jump up ^ Gutierrez - Osuna, Ricardo. `` L18 : Speech synthesis ( back end ) '' ( PDF ). tamu.edu. Texas A&M University. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ Bin Muhammad, Rashid. `` Operating Systems Notes ''. www.personal.kent.edu. Kent State University. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 30. Jump up ^ O'Dell, Mike. `` Network Front - End Processors, Yet Again June 2009 Communications of the ACM ''. cacm.acm.org. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 30. Jump up ^ `` Front - End Design Online Documentation for Altium Products ''. techdocs.altium.com. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 30. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Front_and_back_ends&oldid=807876432 '' Categories : Software architecture Software engineering terminology Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia বাংলা Български Dansk Deutsch Español 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Bahasa Melayu Nederlands Polski Português Русский Svenska Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 30 October 2017, at 16 : 20. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what does frontend and backend mean in programming
Answer: presentation layer