What is the front end?

The part of a website that a user gets to see is called the frontend. Alternatively, it is also called the Graphic User Interface (GUI) or the user interface. This is where the presentation of content to visitors takes place, and the frontend (front end) also receives the input of the users.

Features and goals of the frontend

Almost every software nowadays has a frontend, because user interfaces have become a standard feature in order to allow a reasonable and pleasant operation. In online shops, for example, the complete purchase procedure is carried out, starting with the product search (with filters if necessary) up to the payment at the checkout. Frontend developers are responsible for providing these user interfaces, they design and construct the user experience elements on the website or app, including buttons, menus, pages, links, graphics and much more. It is, so to speak, the showcase for a website, and it accepts all kinds of input from users. Of course, the aim is also to make it as user-friendly as possible for visitors. The terms front-end and its counterpart back-end are very important for web development, because both have to communicate and work effectively with each other as one unit to ensure the functionality of a website. The part of the website with which the user interacts directly is therefore always referred to as the frontend. It is sometimes also called the “client side” of the application. The frontend contains everything that the user experiences directly: Text, including colors and styles, images, graphics and tables, buttons, colors, transitions, dropdowns, and other navigation menus HTML, CSS and Javascript are the languages used for frontend development. The structure, design, behavior, and content of everything that appears on the browser screen when you open a Web site, Web application, or mobile app is implemented by front-end developers. High responsiveness and performance are two main goals of the frontend. The developer must also ensure that the website is responsive, that is, that it is displayed correctly on devices of all sizes.

The meaning of the frontend

The frontend also influences the conversion rate to a large extent. This depends to a large extent on the design and navigation of the page or the web shop. The call-to-action elements are also of particular importance here, as is the correct placement of seals of approval to build user confidence. Frontend developers take care of how a page looks and works. Backend developers, on the other hand, are responsible for how a page works. You can also use a more general term: When we talk about the front-end of the entire web, we are talking about the part of the web that you can see and interact with. The frontend usually consists of two parts: the web design and the frontend web development. Frontend development is a term that covers the creation of Web pages and user interfaces for Web applications. It is about implementing the structure, as well as the design, behavior and animation of everything you see on the screen when you open websites, web applications or mobile apps. The three core technologies that all modern frontend web developers master are HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. A frontend developer can be described as a creative person who creates user interfaces. This includes connecting the user interface to some APIs and transforming the designs (mixture of creative and technical skills) into something the computer can understand. In this way, frontend is the one that users (with data) can interact with. The developer naturally wants to create a frontend application with the best possible performance. In doing so, he has to think about all the variables that can be improved to achieve this. Aspects like image size, improved times for backend responses, timing of animations, delayed loading etc. are some of the first things to consider. The frontend has an influence on the qualitative ratings of pages by search engines that should not be underestimated. Numerous ready-made templates already provide the best conditions for an SEO-friendly frontend. This starts with clean HTML code and ends with the avoidance of Flash. Breadcrumb navigation helps users to find their way around the website even better. Finally, usability is an important ranking factor.