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Today, you rarely see vacancies looking for just a “developer”. Companies usually specify that they need a front-end or backend developer. And sometimes they talk about “full stack”. What do these words mean? What other developers are there and how is their career going? This is what we will talk about in this article.
How can this help teach kids to code? With this knowledge, you will be able to explain to them how the development world works and suggest what skills they need along the way.
What are frontend and backend?
A modern web resource or application is a complex software system in which data flies back and forth, and complex elements process requests, draw pages and ensure that each drop-down menu works. It is not surprising that creating such a website often requires a whole team, within which you need to clearly define functional responsibilities. It is at this point that the division into front- and back-end appears.
To draw an analogy with an airplane, a front-end developer designs the design of the future vessel, thinks about the location of seats that should be comfortable to sit in, but which will not hurt to run to the emergency exit if something happens. He will be responsible for drawing the flight attendant call buttons, thinking through the portholes, and calculating the luggage compartment volume.
On the other hand, the backend deals with systems that passengers cannot see, but without which the plane will remain on the ground. Engines, all the electricity, dozens and hundreds of functions and tools — the backend developer ensures that everything works like clockwork, allowing the plane to fly thousands of kilometers.
So, back to the development topic:
- The frontend is everything a user sees and interacts with.
- The backend is everything that allows the program to work.
Who is more important — the frontend or the backend?
This question actually makes no sense, as these specialists complement each other in a team. The speed of the program and the number of data errors depend on the professionalism of a front-end developer. And a good backend developer creates an elegant and user-friendly interface that puts everything at the user's fingertips.
What can be compared is the complexity of their work, and this is probably where the backend developer's job will be more difficult. His tasks require an understanding of how databases work, the ability to form queries and analyze answers. This requires knowledge of SQL and at least one serious scripting language like Python or PHP.
On the other hand, the frontend craft is “closer to the people”: it needs to think not about data streams and abstract commands, but about how a website or application should appear in front of the user. In his work, he uses HTML, the Internet's main language, a slightly more advanced dynamic markup language called CSS and JavaScript, which gives websites interactive features.
It's not easy to become a good frontend, it's easier. Therefore, it is logical to start your development career with these tasks. At the same time, you should learn Python with SQL in order to gradually understand the program's internal functions. As a result, after a few years of study and with some project experience, you can become a fulstack developer. As you might have guessed, he combines frontend and backend competencies, which allows such a specialist to perform a variety of functions in a project team. This, of course, has an impact on both the salary level and the range of career opportunities.
Tips for parents
What should a parent who wants to help their child learn programming and development?
We recommend that primary school children (8 years and older) learn programming in the Scratch visual environment. It's perfect for learning basic concepts of IT development, which are used in all languages without exception. Including the JavaScript and Python mentioned above.
If you have an older child (10-12 years old), you can learn more difficult concepts. With zero experience, this could be Snap! — the heir to Scratch, which implemented some more sophisticated featuresthat are not in the first language.
If you have already started teaching your child programming, you can start getting acquainted with Python. Our teachers use these courses Minecraft game, where, in an entertaining format, young developers learn how to create complex algorithms and achieve their goals with programming tools.
Thus, our students gradually immerse themselves in the world of programming, moving from fun games to more serious projects.
