Front-end or Back-end? Where do you belong?
Tags: devjournal, webdev, beginners
Published: 2022-03-31 16:02:18

## Table of Contents
1. [What is Front-end?](#what-is-frontend-development)
2. [What is Back-end?](#what-is-backend-development)
3. [Which is for me?](#which-is-right-for-me)
4. Conclusion

### What is front-end development?
The front-end of a website or application refers to the visual components that the user sees and interacts with. Therefore, front-end development ensures the visual elements are functional and are user-friendly.

#### Key skills
- HTML/CSS and JavaScript
- SASS, jQuery, Elm, etc.
- Frameworks such as Angular JS, Bootstrap, Lodash, React, Vue.js, node js, etc.
- Client side and server side rendering
- GIT and GitHub
- Responsive design and browser developer tools

#### Careers in front-end development
- Web designer
- Front-end SEO specialist
- User Experience (UX) designer
- User Interface (UI) designer
- Front-end developer
- [Front-end engineer](https://www.codecademy.com/learn/paths/front-end-engineer-career-path?utm_source=ccblog&utm_medium=ccblog&utm_campaign=cp_pp_2020&utm_content=front-vs-back-end-blog)
- HTML/CSS developer
- Front-end testing and QA engineer

### What is back-end development?
The back-end development refers to aspects of a website or application that are not visible to the user. This focuses on the transformation and storage of user data and the ability to serve up data in a scalable and highly effective manner.

#### Key skills
- Python, Java, PHP, Ruby, Node, etc.
- Django, Flask, Larvael, Ruby on Rails, etc.
- TensorFlow, FastApi, Pillow, etc.
- Website architecture, scripting, etc. 
- Database Management Systems
- Application Program Interface (APIs)

#### Careers in back-end development
- Back-end developer
- Java developer
- Full-stack web developer
- [Back-end engineer](https://www.codecademy.com/learn/paths/back-end-engineer-career-path?utm_source=ccblog&utm_medium=ccblog&utm_campaign=cp_pp_2020&utm_content=front-vs-back-end-blog)
- SQL developer
- postgreSQL/MySQL developer

### Which is right for me?
When considering front-end or back-end development, you need to take a look at your interests, strengths, and career plans.

#### You may like front-end if...
- You have strong visual/design sense.
- You are less interested in the dry details of how information reaches people.
- You enjoy working with simple and complex designs, bringing them to life, and/or building amazing user interfaces and experiences
- You have a strong interest in how ordinary people perceive and use the internet.
- You are a people person with a strong sense of teamwork.

#### You may like back-end if...
- You have a keen eye for details and logic.
- You are more curious about what's going on "under the hood" of interesting things, rather than the surface appearance.
- You possess strong critical thinking skills.
- You enjoy figuring out algorithms, designing the architecture of a system, and/or coming up with initiatives to improve the speed and performance of a system

### Conclusion
In the end, no matter what you decide to focus on, you can always switch. Front-end and back-end all are intertwined. Knowledge from one will always help with learning the other. Whatever you decide to do, simply make sure it is for the right reasons and you're doing it for you.

Happy coding!