Front-end vs. Back-end
Summary
TLDRThis script clarifies the distinction between front-end and back-end development in website creation. Front-end focuses on aesthetics, using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to determine how a site looks, including images, content, and structure. Back-end, in contrast, deals with functionality and logic, often employing languages like Ruby, Python, PHP, or Java, and interacts with databases. The speaker uses the example of shopping on Zappos to illustrate the user interface (front-end) and the unseen processes (back-end) that occur during a transaction.
Takeaways
- 🌐 Front-end development focuses on the visual aspects of a website, including how things look, the images, content, and structure.
- 🛠️ The three primary languages for front-end development are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and these are the only ones needed for the front-end.
- 🔍 Back-end development, on the other hand, deals with the logic and data of a website, including user interactions and data-intensive processes.
- 🔑 Common back-end languages include Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, and others, but typically only one back-end language is used for a given website.
- 📚 The distinction between front-end and back-end is crucial for understanding the roles and responsibilities in web development.
- 🤔 The script clarifies a common confusion between Java and JavaScript, emphasizing that they are completely different languages with JavaScript being used for front-end.
- 🛒 The example of shopping on Zappos illustrates the front-end experience, showing how users interact with the visual elements of a website.
- 🛍️ The back-end processes are invisible to the user but are responsible for handling the logic behind user actions, such as adding items to a cart.
- 📝 The back-end is often represented by server-side scripts with file extensions like .PHP, which contain the programming logic for the website.
- 🔄 The back-end interacts with databases, which can be thought of as glorified Excel sheets, organizing data in rows and columns.
- 🔒 Security and data management are key back-end concerns, as they handle user information, credit card details, and other sensitive data.
- 📈 Understanding the difference between front-end and back-end helps in appreciating the complexity of web development and the skills required for each area.
Q & A
What is the primary focus of front-end development?
-The primary focus of front-end development is on how things look on a website, including the images, content, and structure of the site.
What are the three essential languages for front-end development?
-The three essential languages for front-end development are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
How does the role of back-end development differ from front-end development?
-Back-end development focuses on how things work on a website, including logic, data handling, user interactions, and processing tasks like credit card payments.
What are some common back-end programming languages?
-Some common back-end programming languages include Ruby, Python, PHP, and Java.
Why is it unusual for a website to use multiple back-end languages simultaneously?
-It is unusual because typically, a website will use one back-end language to ensure consistency and efficiency in the site's operation.
What is the confusion between Java and JavaScript, and how are they different?
-Java and JavaScript are often confused due to their similar names, but they are completely different languages. JavaScript is a front-end language, while Java is not typically used for front-end development.
How does the script illustrate the difference between front-end and back-end using the example of an online shopping site?
-The script uses the example of an online shopping site like Zappos to show that the front-end includes the visual elements and user interactions, while the back-end involves the server-side logic, database checks, and processing that happens behind the scenes.
What is a database in the context of back-end development?
-In the context of back-end development, a database is a system that stores and manages data, often compared to a glorified Excel sheet with rows and columns of data organized for easy retrieval and management.
How does the script describe the process when a user adds an item to a shopping cart on a website?
-The script describes the process as involving both front-end interactions, such as selecting size and adding to the cart, and back-end processes, such as database checks to confirm user details and directing the user to the appropriate pages like the cart or registration if necessary.
What is the purpose of the wireframe in the script?
-The purpose of the wireframe in the script is to visually differentiate between the front-end and back-end components of a website, helping to clarify which parts of the site are visible to the user and which parts operate in the background.
How does the script emphasize the importance of understanding both front-end and back-end development?
-The script emphasizes the importance by explaining that while users only see the front-end of a website, understanding the back-end is crucial for a complete grasp of how websites function and process data.
Outlines
💻 Understanding Front-End and Back-End Development
This paragraph introduces the fundamental difference between front-end and back-end development. The front-end focuses on the visual aspects of a website, including how it looks, the images, content, and structure, and is primarily built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In contrast, the back-end deals with the functionality and logic, including databases and data-intensive processes, and can involve languages like Ruby, Python, PHP, and Java. The speaker emphasizes that while there are only three core languages for front-end, a single back-end language is usually chosen for a website. Additionally, a common confusion between Java and JavaScript is clarified, highlighting that they are distinct languages with JavaScript being used for front-end development.
🛍️ Real-Life Examples of Front-End and Back-End
The second paragraph provides a practical demonstration of the concepts discussed in the first paragraph using the online shopping website Zappos as an example. It illustrates the user's interaction with the front-end of the site, which includes browsing products, selecting sizes, and adding items to the cart. The speaker then explains that these actions are facilitated by the back-end, which is invisible to the user but crucial for processing requests, checking databases, and handling user data. The back-end, in this case, is described as being written in PHP, which acts as a set of instructions controlling the website's functionality. The paragraph concludes by contrasting the visible front-end elements with the hidden back-end processes, reinforcing the distinction between how a site looks and how it operates.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Front-end
💡Back-end
💡HTML
💡CSS
💡JavaScript
💡Ruby
💡PHP
💡Database
💡User Interface (UI)
💡User Experience (UX)
💡Zappos
Highlights
Front-end development focuses on the visual aspects of a website, including its appearance, images, content, and structure.
Three primary languages are essential for front-end development: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Back-end development deals with the logic and data of a website, including databases and user interactions.
Back-end languages include Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, and others, but typically only one language is used per website.
Java and JavaScript are distinct languages with no direct relation, despite their similar names.
A website's front-end is always visible to users, while the back-end operates behind the scenes.
The back-end processes involve steps written in a specific language, such as PHP, which controls website functionality.
Databases function similarly to Excel sheets, organized in columns and rows, and are part of the back-end.
The back-end checks user information against the database to facilitate actions like adding items to a cart.
If a user's information is not found in the database, the back-end creates new pages, such as a registration page.
The transcript uses the example of a shopping experience on Zappos to illustrate the difference between front-end and back-end.
Users interact with the front-end by clicking and browsing, which is visually driven.
The back-end handles the logic of user actions, such as checking out and processing payments.
Understanding the distinction between front-end and back-end is crucial for web development.
The speaker simplifies the concept of front-end and back-end languages for easier comprehension.
The transcript emphasizes the importance of knowing only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for basic front-end development.
The back-end's role in processing user data and managing website logic is highlighted through practical examples.
Transcripts
okay so to get started let's make sure
that we're even in the right place and
doing the right thing what I mean is
there's a difference between the coding
languages for front-end and back-end
okay so let's just make sure that we
have is clear
all right front-end when you hear the
word front-end like front end
development or I'm gonna hire a
front-end developer what they're saying
is they're hiring someone to work on how
things look in the site okay so that's
the important part how things look and
that involves the images the content the
structure of the site okay it's a lot of
words right now I get it just kind of go
through with this and then we'll apply
it to some examples but for now the
takeaway is how things look the images
the content the structure right and
that's important because for those
features or things you want to do
there's only gonna be three languages
alright that actually I'm making it easy
for you there's only three languages
that you're gonna need to know for
front-end
there won't ever be a fourth or a fifth
at its basic most basic it is HTML CSS
and JavaScript those are the three
front-end languages okay so how does
that differ from the backend well
the backend now that is gonna be how
things work and you may think of this as
the logic or the data surrounding a site
essentially any site what a database is
gonna need some back-end
do it right those are just the rules
that's how it works and when we involve
how things work and logic and users and
making credit card payments all this
kind of data intensive you know stuff
the coding languages for that is going
to be Ruby Python PHP Java etc etc etc
right these are the the back-end
languages right this is probably all the
languages you know if you've heard of
another one it's probably on this list
somewhere okay you know the good thing
to take note of is as I said the
front-end is only those three languages
and the
back end you generally only choose one
back end language right so for any
website you're gonna have HTML CSS in
JavaScript and Ruby right or HTML CSS
and JavaScript and PHP but you don't
usually choose Ruby Python PHP and Java
all on one site Chrome and also another
question that I get this quite often
from students or they confuse you know
Java and JavaScript and I just wanna let
you know that they are totally different
totally different languages JavaScript
as you see a front-end language and it's
kind of like you know ham and hamster
right how like we kind of share the same
part of the word but really don't have
anything to do with each other yeah it's
like that
so for our purposes of doing this
front-end class HTML CSS and JavaScript
that's the important thing to understand
and so now I want to show you a way that
we can apply what we just learned to an
actual site okay so have you ever been
in a Zappos before probably it's this
place where you can come and buy some
shoes or apparently dresses or other
thing nice right whatevs
you get the point so you come here and
I'm gonna show you what is the
difference between front-end and
back-end but with real life examples
okay
so humor me here for a second I'm gonna
be just just the customer of the site
and I'm gonna walk through this site as
a user right and I'm gonna start just
like observing all right so I'm alright
I'm here I'm shopping right and I'm
observing I see some shoes see some text
here maybe hello maybe I'll click on
this here all right great
some shoes I could zoom nice boom boom I
can choose my size these are weird sizes
but it works okay sweet
five five this is for children all right
so uh I got my size I got it in the cart
proceed to checkout boom okay okay see
what I just said they're a few steps
things that we do every single day on
the internet right you just click around
you purchase something you buy something
whatever well um the reason I'm doing
this is because I want to show you what
is the difference between the front I'm
in the back end so the front end is
everything and how things look right
everything that we saw
it's the text it's the images right all
of this stuff the colors this is all the
front end and I can go back here all the
front ends all the front end and now
here's the thing you only ever see the
front end of a website you only ever see
the front end of a website you don't see
the back end let me show you what I mean
so what I made here is a little
wireframe and I'm going to go through
and illustrate which is the front end
and which is the back end so like I said
everything we saw is the front end but
what really happened when you were on
that homepage and when I clicked on the
shoe what really happened is it took me
to this back-end page now you didn't see
it right we didn't see anything but it
just happened so quickly the backend
page is made up of one language in this
case it's PHP and just like a file on
your computer like a dot docx or a dot
mp3 this is just a file on your computer
with a dot PHP extension and that says
hey this file has some some programming
in it that is written in PHP just a
bunch of steps really that go up you
know from the top to the bottom and what
these steps might say for example is you
know maybe it's like number one is this
person a user of the site zappos.com
right number two if they are send them
to the cart page simple stuff like that
well here's what happens when it needs
to check number one it says hey number
one is this person a user it goes and
looks in the database the database is in
that back-end part and it's in the
database but in first off a database
isn't really anything to worry about
it's really kind of like a glorified
excel sheet is what I think of it it's
columns and rows some data laid out in
there so this code is saying hey look in
that excel sheet database and you see
Chris's name in there and then it goes
oh yeah I see Chris's name in there and
then the database goes back to the PHP
and says yep everything's good send him
to the car let him ship out you know let
him get his shoes awesome ok let's take
another different scenario do that does
that make sense though right front-end
back-end in another scenario you know
perhaps somebody who comes that's not in
that but you know someone called Judd
comes right my friend John comes and he
comes
he clicks on the homepage and it goes to
the PHP in the backend and then they
don't find his name in that case the PHP
it's like the brain right it's gonna
control and say hey you know what let's
not let him ship out we don't have a
shipping information or his credit card
information but instead we'll make a new
page we'll send him to this register
page and then we create that register
page and then it goes to the car yadda
yadda yadda so those are some tips for
understanding the difference between
front-end and back-end how things look
versus how things work
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