FrontEnd vs BackEnd: Which One Should I Choose?

Developing a website is a wonderful task that now every individual wishes to do. There are more than 1 billion websites running today and more than 200 million of them are active. Web Development has become one of the most demanding and highest-paying jobs in India or outside India. The integral part of web development is Frontend and Backend. As Web Development is acing up the technology, both the frontend and backend developers collectively work on it. Hence, it’s always been confusion as to which profession to choose between the two (FrontEnd or BackEnd).

In this article, we’ll give you a clear path so that you may decide which profession to choose – Frontend or Backend. So, let’s dive deep into the further lines and understand them clearly.

What is FrontEnd Development?

With a count of more than 26.8 million front-end developers in the world and many more to come, it is sure that front-end developers are and will be always in demand. Front-end development (or client-side development) is the development of a web page where users can see and interact. JavaScript is the primary language using which developers make pages, interactive and responsive. Front-end development is an integral part of web development. It is all about bringing life to the webpage and satisfying customers’ needs. Developers can create buttons, icons, menus, and NavBar, and add additional features.

Skills Needed For FrontEnd Development:

• Programming Languages – HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• Frameworks – React or Angular
• Version Control System – GitHub

Are you a beginner in this field? Here’s a roadmap to guide you following the path of How to Become a Front-End Developer?

What is BackEnd Development?

Backend (or server-side) development is the backbone of the website as it supports a website. It takes care of all the backend codes which are responsible for fetching data and delivering it to the user. Making use of the API (Application Programming Interface), the website is able to communicate with other platforms. 

Skills Needed For BackEnd Development:

• Programming Languages – JavaScript, Java, and Python
• Frameworks – NodeJS or ExpressJS
• Strong grip on Data Structures and Algorithms
• APIs and DBMS
• Deployment and Cloud Providers 

Back-End Developer Roadmap will give you a roadmap to follow the step-by-step procedure you need to follow in order to be a backend developer. 

Frontend Vs Backend – Career Comparison

1. Salary and Future Growth

Salary: Front-end and back-end developers are always in demand and hence, their profession is highly paid. Salary for front-end and back-end developers may differ from region to region and also level-based (freshers to experienced). So, here’s a chart that displays the salary of front-end and back-end developers in India and outside India:

You can always experience immense growth in this profession (frontend or backend) and this is going to elevate in the coming future. Both professions require skills and learning. Learning any technology is neither easy nor hard, it’s just how interested you’re. Be it a front-end or a back-end developer, you always have to stay updated with the current trends developers follow. 

Future Growth:

• For Frontend – You can create a responsive and mobile-first approach using front-end technology. It will always be in demand. Since the use of JavaScript and TypeScript has increased to a greater extent than Python, one can predict that front-end development is running at its pace.
• For Backend- Because the backend holds the website, without it frontend is nothing. The backend holds the responsibility of fetching the data, and also the overall functionality of the website. A report shows that 54% of developers assume that back-end development should be more valued in the upcoming modern digital world. Additional features like scalability and flexibility are all because of back-end technology and that’s the reason for its huge demand in the market. Companies are and will be hiring more back-end developers, hence the future scope can be assumed with this. 

2. Job Satisfaction

Choosing front-end or back-end development as a profession depends on multiple factors such as:

• What skills do you have?
• are you interested in coding?
• are you good at problem-solving skills?
• how good you’re at designing the page?

If your answer satisfies the questions, you’re all ready to choose the career. Suppose, you’re someone who’s good at designing the page, wants less coding, and is not too good at DSA, then in that case you may look for front-end development.

And, if you’re someone who’s good at DSA, and has problem-solving skills, you may then opt for back-end development. A back-end developer gets a huge amount of salary as compared to a front-end developer. 

3. Learning/Coding 

• For Frontend – Frontend development (or client-side) is all about developing a web page that functions well and looks great. Being a front-end developer requires knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You need to have a good command of these languages. Having a degree or not doesn’t matter these days if you truly have the will and skills to become a front-end developer. Also, the front end requires less coding, unlike the back end for which you need to have complete knowledge of the front end and back end. Even if you have got less interest in DSA, it’s completely fine with the front end. For being a front-end developer, knowledge of the three fundamental languages (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) and some frameworks is enough and you get hands-on practice after implementing a few web pages. It’s not easy to learn but also not too difficult. 
  Here are the Top 10 Front End Developer Skills That You Need.
• For Backend – Being a backend developer requires knowledge of programming languages (Java, Python, PHP), strong DSA, APIs, and databases. A backend developer is one who acts as the backbone of web development. You need to have rigorous practice and skillful knowledge in order to become a backend developer. 
  Know about some of the crucial skills to become a Backend Developer.

With this being said, if you’re looking for an enriching course that can help you to become a proficient full-stack developer – then this Full Stack Development with React & Node JS – Live course is the best fit which covers all the important tools/technologies related to web development. This full stack development course is a 10-week guided program driven by the best modern web development practices to make you interview-ready.

Conclusion

Choosing any domain depends on your interest and skill, so before choosing front-end or back-end development as your career, make sure you have the required skills. Also, apart from this, the salary of a front-end developer differs from that of a back-end developer. Both (front-end and back-end) are the best profession any developer can have and both are the highest-paying ones. Therefore, you should definitely consider these factors before jumping to any conclusion. 

FAQs

Q1. Should you choose front-end or back-end?

Ans. The answer to this question is that it depends upon your interest and skills. If you’re a designer who loves to create wonderful UIs, then the front end would be better for you. But if you’re someone who’s good at logical thinking, DSA, and data management, then the back-end development would be great. 

Q2. Why do most of the people consider backend better than the front end?

Ans. Frontend and backend, both are considered the two most popular terms in web development. In general, it is observed that the back-end developers are paid higher than the front-end developers. Also, back-end development requires huge skills (in terms of coding and DSA). Considering these factors, people consider the backend better than the front end.

Q3. Which developer has the highest salary – Front-end or Back-end?

Ans. As per various reports (based on glassdoor and ambition box), back-end developers receive a bit higher salary when compared with front-end developers.

Q4. Which is easy – frontend vs backend?

Ans. Front-end is considered technically easy as compared to the backend because the backend requires more solid skills such as strong command over programming languages, DSA, data management skills, etc. whereas the front end requires designing skills along with programming language.