Front End

Front-end developer and back-end developer

As mentioned, a front-end developer concentrates on building elements that users interact with on websites and applications. Their main goal is to create visually pleasing and functional elements for the front-end layer (client-side).

Web designers are one of the roles that handle front-end development.

In turn, a back-end developer develops elements of a website or application that users can't see (server-side). Their primary goal is to ensure that servers and databases are functioning properly.

Back-end developers use technologies such as Python, Ruby, PHP, JavaScript, Node.js, and C++ to achieve this.

Usually, developers and engineers are responsible for the back-end layer.

Front-end and back-end developers need to work together to create effective and efficient websites and applications.

Together, they can transform a simple website into a dynamic web application that changes according to user input. Thanks to them, elements such as CTA buttons, menus, forms, and purchases work as intended.

Skills of a front-end developer

A front-end developer should have knowledge of the following aspects:

• Computer programming
• Responsive web design
• CSS preprocessors
• Front-end frameworks
• Web performance optimization
• Cross-browser compatibility
• Testing and debugging
• UI/UX design
• Version control

Skills of a back-end developer

A back-end developer should have knowledge of the following aspects:

• Back-end frameworks
• Algorithms
• Data structures
• APIs
• Servers
• Version control systems
• Databases
• Server handling

Naturally, the abovementioned lists are just examples of the competencies front-end and back-end developers should possess. These aren't exhaustive lists.

In a nutshell, a web development team should consist of the following roles:

• UI developers and information architects working on user interactions, UI functionalities, information structure, wireframes, etc.
• Visual desginers who are responsible for colors, spacing, themes, fonts, etc.
• Front-end developers working on client-side.
• Back-end developers developing server-side.

Tools used in front-end development

Developers use various tools and technologies in the process of front-end development. Here, we present some of them.

Hypertext markup language

Hypertext markup language (HTML) is a markup language used to display documents in a web browser. This language allows users to interact with hyperlinks embedded in words on a web page. It helps turn text into images, tables, links, etc. With HTML, developers can plan how a website will look.

Cascading style sheets

Cascading style sheets is a style sheet language used by developers to describe how a web page will look and how HTML elements will be displayed.

CSS allows you to seperate content and presentation layers such as layouts, fonts, and colors, providing you with more control and flexibility. It defines how the content will be presented on devices based on such aspects as resolution or screen size.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a programming, event-based language that transforms static pages into dynamic interfaces. It's characterized by dynamic typing, prototype-based object orientation, and first-class functions.

It offers APIs that enable developers to work with text, dates, regular expressions, standard data structures, and the document object model.

It's also important to note that although Java and JavaScript are similar in name, they aren't synonymous and are two different programming languages.

WebAssembly

WebAssembly is a language in a binary format supported by browsers from Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Mozilla.

WebAssembly allows developers to create high-performance applications (near-native speed). It's designed to work with JavaScript. Additionally, WebAssembly enables you to code in multiple languages. As a result, you don't need to know the ins and outs of WebAssembly to code in it because you can use Rust or C++ to compile to it.

Front-development in The Story

In our technology stack, you will find all the most important, high-performance technologies used to develop the front-end layer of websites, mobile, web, and PWA applications.

In our everyday work, when it comes to the front end, we primarily use the following:

• JavaScript: It's a programming language commonly used in front-end development.
• React.js (JavaScript library): We use it to create complex interfaces based on a system of independent components. It provides consistency of operation and full synchronization of component performance.
• React Native (framework): An extension of the React.js library that allows the creation of dedicated mobile applications using React components. It significantly accelerates the development of mobile applications and enables you to share part of the code with the web application.
• Redux (framework): We use it to create SPA (Single Page Applications) logic or mobile applications based on React Native. It provides a consistent and stable application ecosystem consisting of multiple views and React components.
• AWS Amplify: It's a set of React tools and components from AWS that allows you to build a serverless platform based on microservices by creating only the front end of an application.
• GraphQL and REST: Front-end development lets you communicate with the back end. We develop applications that use both classic REST and modern GraphQL for communication.
• Google AMP (framework): Allows you to create websites and applications using mobile-friendly technology based on ready-made components. The AMP standard makes it possible to increase a website's visibility in search engines and improve overall SEO performance.
• Lottie (JavaScript library): Enables quick implementation of interactive vector animations on a web page. Users don't need to install additional software to play Lottie-based animations in their browsers, and the animation files are light, significantly speeding up the performance of websites.
• HTML5, CSS3: All websites in the layer closest to the user are made using HTML and CSS. We use the latest techniques while ensuring backward compatibility with older browsers.
• Material UI (framework): A library of ready-made UI components for React that is fully compatible with Google's Material.io framework.
• Bulma (framework): A modern, easy, fully responsive HTML/CSS framework that provides a consistent layout and style for the entire application and its components.
• Bootstrap (framework): A fully responsive HTML/CSS/JavaScript framework that provides a consistent layout and style for the entire application and its components.
• Backbone (framework): JavaScript framework that allows you to create dynamic interfaces based on the MVC pattern. It provides routing and a convenient communication model with REST API.
• jQuery (JavaScript library): This library helps create dynamic interfaces based on static HTML and when backward compatibility with older browsers is needed.
• Webpack and other CI/CD tools: We use many tools that allow us to automate front-end distribution and testing and ensure compatibility among the many browsers and devices available on the market.

The solutions created by our front-end developers (as well as by our back-end specialists) are in accordance with the latest standards and adapted to the requirements of various devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) and browsers.

We pay special attention to the following aspects:

• Availability
• Functionality
• Scalability
• Loading speed
• Performance
• Usability

While creating layouts, interfaces, graphic designs, page and subpage templates, and content, we also focus on positive user experience (UX design).