Here’s How I’ve Found FrontEnd VS Backend Development *SO FAR*

Introduction:

Currently I’m working as a Backend Software Engineer and in the past, I was predominantly working as a Frontend Engineer.

I thought since I’ve delved into both on a professional level that I can now start to make comparisons between the 2 different roles, as well as identify any differences.

Let’s see how the 2 compare. I’ll state some differences with each role before highlighting my thoughts at the end.

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Happy Reading!

Front End:

Positives:

Being able to see the changes you’re working on.

Being part of a core product (Some kind of application, probably web/mobile).

Creating visual changes that will be directly seen in production (And even included in things like the company’s marketing campaign).

Challenges:

CSS (Enough said).

Different behaviour in different web browsers.

Backend:

Positives:

Not having to worry about CSS!

Powering other services (Typically frontends/other projects may interact with your API).

I find backend to be a bit more standardised in the sense that all companies will be using things like HTTP Requests, Middleware, Caching …). Frameworks like .NET/.NET Core have been around for a long time and are well established in the industry.

I like how with backend development, there’s a clear structure (Enforcement of design patterns) which definitely helps in making code easier to understand. Sometimes in frontend, the CSS/JavaScript becomes a bit ‘freestyle’ and harder to follow whereas the clear design patterns are definitely beneficial.

Challenges:

The need for various API keys and tokens.

Generic error messages (Internal server error!).

Separating business logic from computational logic.

Conclusion:

So going back to the title of this blog post, I would say that I’ve found both roles interesting, exciting and of course challenging because I’m still in my early career stage.

I used to find CSS a bit painful at times so spending time as a backend developer is interesting because it allows me to focus on other challenges.

Right now since I’m in a backend role, there’s a bias/preference there but I’m definitely interested in it all.

Overall, I’m just getting up to speed as a backend developer, learning something new every single day.

Final Things:

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this article!

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