Software Engineer vs Web Developer The Ultimate 2023 Guide

Back-end developers are the ones actually executing the features of the back-end, so they will need to be highly knowledgeable of technical concepts and their execution. Now, like HTML, CSS has come a long way since it was first invented in 1996, and nowadays you’ll be writing CSS3. In addition to all the colors and beautiful fonts and animations you’ve come to know and love, CSS3 makes building responsive layouts easier than ever.

Back-end developers are responsible for the behind-the-scenes work that it takes to build the structure and logic of a website. They create the invisible “brain” of websites run beneath the user-facing side. Becoming a full-stack developer takes longer and requires mastery of two types of skills. Pursuing full-stack development can open the door to more opportunities and help you stand out from the competition.

How do I become a back-end developer?

As such, their main tools are code editors and a stack of browsers to run tests on. Front-end engineers can work in various industries — any industry that uses software in their daily work. For example, they can work in the travel industry to create software that helps people find and book flights. They could also work in the finance industry, working on applications for people to manage and keep their finances safe. They may have a job in health care developing software that makes it easier for patients to access their medical records. The BLS indicated that the median annual salary for all web developers was $69,430 as of May 2018.

• You’re reading this article on a webpage that was designed to host images, video, and text.
• Front-end devs use front-end programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• With over 15 years of experience in the industry, Bala has held key roles as CTO/Co-Founder at O2Labs and Head of Business (Web Technologies) at Zeolearn LLC.
• A full stack developer is someone who works with both the front end and back end of a web application.
• Industry associations, as well as businesses that sell proprietary software, offer professional certification opportunities to front-end engineers.

They are used by Front-End Developers when programming in a language other than JavaScript. In addition to having a good understanding of fundamental coding principles, front-end developers need to be familiar with frameworks such as Foundation Backbone, Bootstrap, AngularJS, and EmberJS. A person working in front-end development can also be called a client-side developer, front-end coder, or UI developer. As you can see, a front-end engineer is a good starting point for your career in tech and provides a wide range of opportunities. Once you have a few years of experience you can move to a senior front-end engineer role where you will be overseeing junior engineers as well as working more closely with back-end engineers.

Should I Pursue Full Stack Development?

They are full-stack developers who have project management experience, adept at disciplines in the configuring, managing, and maintaining computer networks and systems. Every single online application has that part with which users interact. When you log onto a website, you are greeted by the welcome page, the menu, site map, and other items that facilitate navigation and utility.

A CSS preprocessor is a program or a tool that lets you generate CSS code from newer and better languages. This is necessary to make sure the browser can properly read the style sheets. These are all fairly similar, so if you understand the purpose of a CSS preprocessor and know how to use it you can use them all. Tracking changes to the code is another crucial task because sometimes you or someone else from your team has to revert to an older version of the code. It allows you to collaborate with your team and compare changes over time, reset to a previous version if you make a mistake and generally track all changes to your files. If you want to move away from hand-on coding you can also move into a product manager role or if you prefer working on design you can move towards a UI/UX designer role.

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This requires the development of websites that are responsive to the type of device and operating system being used to access the site. As a result, there is an increased need for front-end engineers who can create websites that both look good and function well when accessed https://wizardsdev.com/en/vacancy/back-end-engineer-java-kotlin/ by mobile phones, tablets as well as laptop and desktop computers. Typical software engineering languages could include C++, Java, and Python. Again, many of these are going to be popular with web developers as well, due to their broad functionality and applicability.

FreeCodeCamp’s Responsive Web Design Course will teach you the basics of CSS, responsive design, and accessibility. Responsive design is essential in creating websites that look good on all devices. Let’s take a look at the technologies and tools you will need to learn to become a full stack developer. Front-end work can improve not only mobile and desktop sites but video social media tools as well. Front-end developers can help the browser edit and compress videos and render better visual displays.

Cross-Browser Development

The most popular CMS worldwide is WordPress, which is behind the scenes of millions of websites (including this here Skillcrush blog!). In fact, one might argue that Internet Explorer, and its infamous wonkiness, was the main reason why developers the world over have spent so many years worrying about cross-browser development. Without getting too in the weeds on this one, REST stands for Representational State Transfer. In basic terms, it’s a simple and standardized way—called “architecture”—for data to be shared between sources on the web. RESTful services and APIs are web services that adhere to REST architecture, they’re often shortened to just REST API. JavaScript frameworks are a big topic, and the advent of the JavaScript framework age post 2010 has profoundly shaped the development of the entire front end developer profession, and the web at large.

Web designers who are building an entire website often keep the user experience in mind, but their primary goal is to create a functional website that performs the way the development team intended. They need to focus on making sure the website works and fulfills its function efficiently without any errors or bugs in the code. Front-end developers are web developers who focus their efforts on the outward-facing parts of a product. Instead, these tech gurus focus on making the product aesthetically pleasing and ensuring it functions well for its users. Their work might involve creating interactive tools or other widgets that make the website or application more user-friendly or enjoyable to use.

A good software engineer needs to have strong analytical skills and knowledge in visualizing processes and outcomes using various data visualization tools and process maps. The knowledge of other frameworks, like React, Bootstrap, Angular, Ember, Backbone, and Vue.js, will also come in handy for front-end developers. Each one has a specific purpose – React, for example, helps build interactive user interfaces. And lastly, software engineers also take part in and ultimately oversee the development of software’s technical specifications and documentation.

Students can learn or brush up on specific computer programming languages by completing bootcamps. Front-end development focuses on the user-facing side of a website. Front-end developers ensure that visitors can easily interact with and navigate sites by using programming languages, design skills, and other tools. They produce the drop-down menus, layouts, and designs for websites. Essentially, the biggest difference between software engineers and web developers isn’t their training, or the programming languages they know, but the work they carry out.