Types of Web Developers

ByWalter Wimberly

When people talk about web development roles, you often here about three types of web developers, Front End, Back End, and Full Stack. Let’s look at what each of these means.

Front End

A Front End developer is one which works with the part of the web application which is visible to the end-user. They may have additional training in developing the user experience (UX) as well as the user interface (UI), but not necessarily.

A Front End developer typically works with CSS and JavaScript, often using one of the JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, Angular, or React.

They will know and possibly use HTML, or a scripting language which can generate HTML code, such as PHP or C# .Net, but the coding will be relatively simple and for the purpose of displaying the website to the end-user.

Back End

A Back End developer will focus their attention on the application logic, which is not directly seen by the end-user. They will focus on database work as well as a server language such as PHP or ASP .Net, but instead of generating HTML for the end-user, they will work on getting facts to database, and making sure the data is correct.

They will focus on the business rules to ensure the application runs as expected. For example, a discount that could only be applied to first time buyers who spend $50, means that the back-end developer has to verify several facts to ensure that someone doesn’t get a discount that they don’t qualify for.

They may also have specialize in working with security for computer and web applications to ensure that they are not hacked.

Full Stack

A Full Stack developer is a person who codes both for the end-user, but also for the back-end application logic. They may do more work on the either the front of back-end, but they will work on both sides. It is not uncommon for them to work more on one side of the application during one phase, almost completely ignoring the other half, only to find themselves reversed and focusing on the other side of the application the next week or month, depending upon the needs and the stage of development.

Sometimes they are considered more of a generalist, and may not know all the specifics and nuances of working on just the front or back-end.

Types of Web Developers was originally found on Access 2 Learn

Assistant Professor

Walter Wimberly is an Assistant Professor at a regional college in Tennessee, teaching Computer Science in the Software Engineering track. He works as a student advisor, oversees curriculum changes, develops new courses, and manages the advisory panel.
Walter taught full time for about 7 years, before going back into “industry” as a full stack Software Developer for a dozen years. There he focused on web based projects coding in JavaScript/jQuery and utilizing the Bootstrap CSS Framework on the front-end, and coding in PHP, ASP/ASP.Net, SQL on the back-end.

Since he loves teaching, he taught as an adjunct web and digital media classes for eight (8) years, while working in industry, and has since returned to teaching full time.

He has been married for over 25 years, and is father to several special needs boys. As such, he is working on some projects to help others who have special needs to be self-sufficient, and support the care givers of those with special needs. Check out his Autism blog for more info.

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