When you eat at a restaurant, there are often many cooks preparing different parts of your meal. Similarly, for the websites and applications you use every day, many roles are involved in delivering these projects to users. If you were to look up a list of high-paying IT jobs, web developer roles would certainly feature prominently—and with good reason. The digital world that we all live in would not be possible without developers creating, architecting, and maintaining the technology that we use every day on our devices. We need them for digital success online.
However, it can be confusing for aspiring developers to understand some of the terminology associated with web development. Finding the right area for you will depend on a greater understanding of web developers’ roles, responsibilities, and technologies. For example, suppose you are a visual person. In that case, you might want to design a stunning website that offers an excellent experience for its end users. Or, if you’re more analytical, you might be interested in working with the technologies that power a high-performing e-commerce site. Likewise, if your interest is mobile devices, your passion may lie in creating the next big social media app.
While job roles and titles may vary, web developer roles are usually split into front-end, back-end, and full-stack. In this post, you will learn about each of these, their differences, and the skills required to gain a job in these areas.
Full-Stack Web Developer
A full-stack developer is someone equally comfortable working with front-end and back-end technologies. Full-stack developers have skills and knowledge in all areas of the web development project cycle. For example, they have relevant expertise in the planning, architecture, design, development, deployment, and maintenance of the website or web app. Full-stack developer positions are generally at a more senior level. It can take some time to gain the knowledge, professional experience, and skills to become a full-stack developer. As a result, roles in this area are in high demand and are some of the best-paid jobs in the IT industry.
What is full stack web development? (Check out my practice project)
Front-End Web Developer
A front-end developer is someone who works on all parts of a website or web app that users will interact with. This can be anything from the style, colors, buttons, menus, or user interactions as they click, swipe, and interact with the site. The skills of a front-end developer can vary, but they will always focus on three leading technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
For example, suppose you are a front-end developer assigned the task of adding a newsletter sign-up option to the home page of a website. In this case, you would use HTML to build the display elements, such as the input area for the user to type their email address and then the button to click to send it. You can then use CSS to position, color, and style these elements on the page. Finally, you can use JavaScript to process the activity when the user clicks the button. This could be something like checking if the email address is valid and then sending that email address to the website for storage under newsletter members.
While HTML and CSS skills are essential, the most critical skill is usually JavaScript. It is the powerhouse of front-end technology. This is mainly because of its versatility and the fact that it is paired with powerful libraries and frameworks such as React by Meta. These can be used to build rich, user interface-driven enterprise websites and web apps that are fast, secure, and highly scalable. The salaries of front-end developers are competitive and can vary based on experience. Generally, front-end developer roles will be available for junior, intermediate, and senior-level professionals. As an aspiring developer, this is a great area to get started in. Entry into the job market for a junior position is possible with some fundamental demonstrations of core concepts and skills and an eye-catching sample portfolio.
Back-End Web Developer
A back-end developer works on the parts of a website or web app that the end users don’t see. These activities occur behind the scenes, particularly on the web server, in the database, or in constructing the architecture. Back-end developers are responsible for creating and maintaining functionality when users request information or when the website needs to communicate with another part of the web architecture for processing. For example, performing an account login or completing an online purchase using a credit card. A back-end developer will facilitate the interaction of the website and the content stored in the database.
As a result, back-end development requires different languages, skills, and tools. While these can vary, they generally consist of knowledge relating to back-end programming languages, database management systems, APIs, and web servers. Salaries are similar to front-end developers and depend on experience. Still, the salary may be higher in some instances, especially for entry and senior-level positions. This is because getting started with back-end technologies requires more setup, configuration, resources, and general IT structural knowledge. This is in contrast to the front-end, where you can start learning some elements using only a web browser. The road to back-end development is generally long as you must have a proficient understanding of the needs of front-end technologies. This can include things like the inner workings of the Internet, networks, and servers. It’s pretty common for aspiring developers to first start with the front-end and then move to the back-end once they have acquired specialist knowledge.