Looking for the right web developer you need might be tricky if you are not familiar with the web dev vocabulary. However, for the CTOs that are assembling a team of different-skilled web developers, it should be pretty easy to differentiate between the types of web developers. Regardless, the niches are narrowing down from day to day, and hence, there might be misconceptions about the duties and skills of each web developer type. For that reason, what follows is a clear explanation of the concepts in order to help you in your developer pursuit.
Type 1: The Front-End Developer (aka Front-End Engineer/ Web Developer)
The highlights of the front-end developer’s work are the look, feel, and all the interactive segments of the website or web application you experience visually. Put in simpler terms, what the website/app user sees (all the images, colors, animations, sections, etc.) is what actually the front-end developer builds..
Additionally, front-end developers create the pop-ups that appear with a simple click on the page or on a button. They create an organized, aesthetic and functional page or app, and their role matters a lot. In order to achieve all the above-mentioned results, most front-end developers write code in the following programming languages (but are not limited to):
Type 2: The Back-End Developer (Aka The Person People Rarely Know About, But Makes Everything Work)
This type of developer has the most important, and we can safely say, crucial role in web development. If you are a web site or app owner, these guys will help you keep the site or app running smoothly and functioning properly without any fuss. They make sure that data flows uninterruptedly back and forth from the front-end of the web site or app (the user’s point of view and her/his interactions) to the back-end of the site or app (the database, the server, etc.).
Let’s say you own an online store, for instance. All product images and price lists are kept on a database that is hosted on a type of server. Once the time comes to update the pricelist or have a sale of some sort, all the product information is updated on the database and is then displayed on the front-end (the webpage or app). Even when the user processes a transaction, it is possible all thanks to the work of back-end developers and the programming languages they use. Laravel developers use the PHP language, for example, and they are one of the top notch types of back-end developers who use Laravel as a framework to build the functionality of the site. Besides these, back-end developers also use:
- Java
- Ruby and Ruby On Rails
- MySQL
- MongoDB
Type 3: The Full-Stack Developer (Aka The One with All the Superpowers)
This is a special type of web developers – they own a skillset that makes them capable of creating and writing code for both front and back-end components of a web site or web application. If they have enough time, resources, and energy they can create a fully functional and dynamic web site or web app all by themselves. They completely understand both sides of the system, and their knowledge and experience makes them fluent in almost all programming languages. Regardless if they are used for front-end or back-end development. They can play both parts successfully and complete the entire development process alone.
However, since the field of web development is dynamic, growing, and constantly evolving – the full-stack developers are not masters of both types of code writing. Some of them still manage to do the one better than the other. Sure, there are exceptions and people who can do both perfectly, but it is still recommended that you hire two different people who are experts in their field of knowledge and studies.
Let’s Wrap It Up
Regardless of the reasons why you want to know more about web development, these are the three main types of web developers that are currently running the industry. If you are in search to hire one, first make sure that you know the type of developer you really need. If you have just started your web site or web application, you probably need both. Be that as it may, do your research, find the exact skill set you need in a web developer and turn to platforms for hiring developers to do your hiring.
