Front-end vs. Back-end vs. Full-stack: Which Developers Accelerate Your Business Growth?

Quick Overview: For making competitive web applications, the programming skills of the developer play a crucial role. Your project needs to meet the market dynamics. Thus, it can be accomplished with the right developers. Putting it simply, we have compared all the three types i.e., Frontend vs. Backend vs. Full-stack developers. Read the article till the end to make a wise choice. 

In today’s tech-savvy world, our reliance on the Internet has skyrocketed. Everyday activities, from online shopping to ride-hailing, are now accomplished with a few clicks only. Simultaneously, businesses offering online services via web applications can compete effectively in the market. 

Forbes has shared that as of February 2023, there are around 1.13 billion websites globally. Among them, 82% were deactivated, which implies that approximately 200 million websites are active today. It also raises the question that web developers’ demands are high. Accordingly, it will show an increasing trend. For showcasing your service to a global customer base it is pivotal to have a web application and for that, you need to hire developers. 

When it comes to building a web app, the first matter of consideration would be the technology stack. Depending on the technology stack you can finalize the developers. But, the major dilemma that startups or businesses face is what programming languages are and which is frontend vs. backend development better. 

Frontend and backend both are coding languages. These are the core technologies for developing web applications. In this article, we are going to discuss every facet of both development types and compare them to ascertain the right developers for your business needs. Stay tuned!  

Table of Contents

• Frontend Development
• Backend Development
• Frontend vs. Backend: Battle Between the Programming Languages
• Full-Stack Development
• Frontend vs. Backend vs. Full Stack Developers
• Final Decision: Which one should you choose for your project? 

Frontend Development

Frontend development is all about building a user interface and programming aspects of the website. It mainly deals with creating and maintaining the website design components. Your website should be responsive and equipped with design elements. 

Frontend developers work with programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and many others. Using these languages you can structure your website from scratch. In addition to that, these languages allow developers to adjust and enhance the icons, graphics, shapes, etc. These are client-side elements for the web app development procedure. 

Do you know? Only 10% of front-end developers can have essential technical and non-technical skills. Hence, to evaluate your requirements and frontend developers’ primary role and qualifications, here are the skills that assist you in hiring frontend developers based on your business requirements. 

What Skill Sets Every Frontend Developer Should Know?

• Experience in working with all the front-end programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. 
• Good knowledge of version control software, testing, debugging tools, Cross-Browser Compatibility, Performance Optimization, Web Accessibility, and responsive design techniques. 
• Should have a keen eye for design principles and user interface aspects. 
• Proficiently expert in strong coding skills, and a deep understanding of user experience. 
• Should be familiar with frameworks like Bootstrap, AngularJS, Vue JS, React Js, and Ember JS.
• Knowledge of third-party libraries like jQuery.
• Effective communication skills to work with designers closely and undertake user experience (UX) and design interface discussions.
• Develop strategies to enhance the performance and responsiveness of the web applications. 
• Essential soft skills include collaboration, teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity.

Roles & Responsibilities of Frontend Developers 

• Primarily responsible for creating an intuitive and interactive user interface (UI).
• Manages client-side user interface (UI) as per the user’s feedback and requirements. 
• Optimizing the overall website design and making it device-friendly.  
• Strategize the development process to improve the functionality and simplify the user navigation of the website. 
• Collaborate with designers on planning and preparing user experience analysts, mockups, wireframes, etc.
• Ensure implementation of search engine optimization (SEO) principles to improve the indexing of the website in the search engine.
• Testing for errors or issues and tackling them accordingly.
• Proper organizing of the task and workflow to meet the deadlines.
• Making user-friendly websites and applications perform efficiently on various devices and browsers.  

Now, let’s explore backend development and the skills required for making an informed choice.

Backend Development 

The backend development process is usually performed to maintain the server-side functionality of your website. Developing a website and applications must be developed by integrating APIs, third-party libraries, and other backend components. Backend developers ensure the utilization of programming languages. It effectively structures websites or apps and helps in data storage solutions. 

Aside from that, backend development is a wide-scoped field. It needs you to understand the skills of developers. Here is the list of responsibilities that assist in hiring backend developers for your startup or enterprise. 

What Skill Sets Every Backend Developer Should Know?

• Should have a good understanding of server-side programming languages such as PHP, Ruby, Python, Java, Nodejs, and many more, for creating web applications.
• Hands-on experience with SQL and NoSQL servers to search, save, or modify the data and provide it back to the user in front-end coding. 
• Efficient communication skills for working with stakeholders to gather requirements and decode them into specific structures.
• Knowledge of software version control, deployment tools, server management, database management, etc. 
• Expertise in widely used PHP frameworks such as Laravel, Symfony, and CakePHP. Having in-depth knowledge of PHP programming languages increases the preference of developers over others.
• Some of the non-technical skills that assist you in selecting developers efficiently are problem-solving, strategic thinking, and effective management.

Roles & Responsibilities of Backend Developers 

• It mainly handles the components implemented together to set up the user-facing side of the website.
• You will get appropriate data storage solutions and quick accessibility.
• Troubleshoot backend issues and smoothly undertake the process.
• The backend developers work to oversee application programming interfaces and operate them across various platforms.  
• It effectively handles writing the codebase from the server side and controls the system that is invisible to the end user. 
• The whole backend development covers the process of servers, apps, websites, databases, etc. 
• Builds versatile website architecture to upgrade anytime in the future. 
• Execute the analytics and algorithms while writing code and integrating APIs. 
• Backend developers simply organize a website system logic and enhance it to run effortlessly on various devices.
• You will get established payment gateways that permit users to input their data and safeguard them from any fraudulent activity.

Frontend vs. Backend: Battle Between the Programming Languages 

Now, you have reached the ultimate differential stage i.e., Frontend vs. Backend. So, it gives you the exact idea that both the frontend and backend development processes are completely different. However, you need to look for a developer of both types to build a web app. Let’s dig into the difference.  

• Firstly, frontend and backend are different concepts. As frontend deals with client-side programming to make the user experience better. On the other hand, the backend is the server-side matter that undertakes site functionality and creates servers using the appropriate database. 

• The front end is essential to make responsive web design and operate to deliver design elements. While the backend managed to integrate APIs and other components. Moreover, it is necessary to enhance website performance.

• Frontend developers are well-versed in programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Backend developers work on PHP, Python, Java, Ruby, Nodejs, etc. 

• Regarding frameworks, Frontend development prominently focuses on using React, Vue, and Angular. However, Backend development considers ASP.NET, Node, and PHP frameworks. The popular pick among PHP frameworks is Laravel, WordPress, and Symfony. 
• Frontend developers are closely linked to work with UI/UX designers, web designers, and Graphic designers. Backend mainly discusses software developers and web developers. There are app developers as well who work on iOS, Android, Flutter, and so on. 

Therefore, the above difference concludes that frontend and backend development are poles apart. Both require specialized and skilled developers. But there is a catch to this. There is a midway sort of solution i.e., Full-stack development. It was merged years ago and is increasingly in demand. 

However, it increases the confusion of the people among the three. So keep reading to understand the full stack. Alongside, the differentiation between frontend developers vs. backend developers vs. full stack. It gives you a proper understanding of which will fit your business needs and budget. 

Full-Stack Development 

Full-Stack development is an equal blend of both frontend and backend languages. It performs to overcome the limitations of both and extend their advantages. By utilizing both languages, the full-stack developer is responsible for undertaking tasks and roles of both types of developers. Full-stack developers should know the primary backend and frontend frameworks. It is essential to manage client-side and server-side issues proficiently.  

Normally, full-stack developers easily handle servers, databases, hosting, responsive web design, data storage, and other elements of web applications. For a better understanding, let’s look at the skills of the full-stack developers. 

What Skill Sets Full-stack Developers Must Have?

• Proven knowledge of front-end languages and frameworks such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, Angular, Vue, and React. Additionally, knowledge of backend languages and frameworks like PHP, Ruby,  Node.js, Django, etc. 
• Expertise in handling database management like MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Oracle, and software version tools. 
• Testing the codebase and debugging the errors of the web applications.
• Should have expertise in working with web services or APIs like representational state transfer (REST) and simple object access protocol (SOAP).
• Proficiency in specific technology stacks ranging from Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) stack, Django stack, and others. 
• Apart from that, full-stack developers must also be equipped with soft skills like multitasking, team player, creative mindset, communication, and time management skills.  

Well, the responsibilities criteria of full-stack are somewhat the combination of backend and front-end developers only. So, you can analyze the weightage of full-stack over both types of developers. Ultimately, hiring full-stack developers can save you the cost of hiring two different types of developers. As a result, you can decrease the average cost of investment.  

Frontend vs. Backend vs. Full Stack Developers

Now, the most crucial part is to differentiate between Frontend vs. Backend vs. Full Stack. All three developers help you to get insights into their tech stack, qualifications, roles, and web development process. So, let’s first start with backend vs. full-stack developers. 

Difference Between Backend vs. Full Stack  

• Backend developers as the word suggests are majorly accountable for working for the server side, while full-stack smoothly manages the server side and database for the web applications.

• Backend developers usually specialize only in backend programming languages and frameworks. Full-stack developers can benefit your business with over and above backend languages and tools.

• The main objective of backend development is to organize and optimally use logic to resolve issues related to user experience on the website or applications.

• Backend developers utilize a limited number of tools and libraries based on the backend programming needs, however, full-stack developers essentially require a range of tools and third-party libraries to balance the frontend and backend requirements. 

Must Read: How to Hire Full Stack Developers From India?

Comparison Between Frontend vs. Full Stack

• Frontend developers ensure the development of web applications is aesthetic and appealing to the users. It works proactively to design a website and make it interactive. While full-stack developers mainly deal with website design aspects, data storage, etc. 

• In front-end vs. full-stack developers, front-end primarily works with HTML & Javascript. But if you hire full-stack developers you can get the benefit of various programming languages that are not just limited to frontend programming. 

• Front-end development is preferable to work with Bootstrap and Foundation. Full-stack development is better performed with the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) stack, MEAN (MongoDB, Express, Angular, and Node) stack, MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, and Node) stack, and MEVN (MongoDB, Express, Vue, and Node) stack.

• Frontend developers normally work and discuss with designers and full-stack developers are linked with each team member of the project to operate on various stages of the web development cycle.  

Final Decision: Which one should you choose for your project? 

After the detailed evaluation of all three web app development models. So, in the battle of full stack vs. backend vs. frontend, which will be your perfect pick? Well, the answer will depend on your preferences and requirements. Undoubtedly, all three have their own set of feathers and benefits. However, in the dynamic landscape of web programming, it is critical to have the amalgamation of multiple technologies. 

For instance, if you have a website and need to fix the design and layout styling issues, hiring front-end developers is the right decision. Similarly, when you are looking for data storage and server-side programming, going for backend developers will be cost-effective. 

For startups or new businesses who are in search of cost savings experts for both frontend and backend can choose full-stack. Because a single specialist instead of two different persons can be competent with the project needs.

Wrapping up

To summarize frontend developer vs. backend developer vs. full stack, outsourcing these developers will be a budget-friendly and better option than hiring in-house or freelancers. There are a couple of best web app development companies that you can choose from.

We can assist you with your accurate requirements irrespective of which developers you are looking for. Whatever your project necessities would be among full-stack vs. backend vs. frontend developers, you can get in touch with us at Rlogical Techsoft. Our experts will make your project accomplish the sales target efficiently!