Front End, Back End or Fullstack Developers – How Can Kids Decide?

Many kids these days aspire to be a part of the IT industry in the future. They dream of becoming developers, coders or programmers, to create the technological advancements of tomorrow.

As the world progresses, so does the demand for new innovations in technology. Thus this career choice is one that is filled with incredible opportunities in the future. Encouraging your kids to pursue this passion at an early age would mean that they will have a leg up upon entering the workforce as programmers are valued based on their individual skills.

However, there is a lot of depth to what it means to be a programmer, developer, or coder. There are app developers, system programmers, analytical coders, website developers, ethical hackers, programmatic experts, and thousands of different variations. With the growing demand, it will be unsurprising that there will be more jobs that are created in the future that do not exist today yet.

Nurturing your kid’s passion will be one of the best gifts you can give them as a parent. However, with all this information about the huge diversity in the IT industry, it might be a lot to take in. So let’s take a step back and simplify the process from the beginning.

Amongst all the tens and hundreds of thousands of different types of careers in the IT industry, programmers are usually split into 3 categories. Front-end developers, back-end developers, and full stack developers.

The best way to help your kids start their journey is to identify what kind of developer they want to be.

Related: 4 Signs Your Child Might Excel in a Career in STEM

Front end

Front-end developers are the people who make the front page beautiful and user-friendly. They are the more artistic and visual of the programmers as their job requires a sense of design. If you look at a website or an app that has a very eye-catching interface and easy accessibility to every other page, you can thank the front-end developer for that.

In essence, front-end developers build with the user in mind. They focus on the coding and creation of a website or an app that will be seen by the user, meaning visuals and functionality are both equally important to them.

Without a front-end developer, a website or an app might have the perfect functionality, but it will look like a blank white template or a shady website that nobody would want to interact with.

Front end developers build things such as:

• Navigation and layout of the website
• Buttons and links
• Graphics
• Animations
• Content organization
• Interactive illustrations
• Images and clips

Back end

Back-end developers are on the other side of the coin in comparison to front-end developers. Instead of building functionality based on user experience, the main task for back-end developers is to ensure that the system operation runs smoothly.

Without a back-end developer, a website or an app might look incredible, but it will fail to function as intended, with bugs and crashes everywhere. You could say that back-end developers work to build the brains and functionality of the operation, as opposed to front-end developers who build the face of the website.

In essence, back-end developers focus on the side of the website that users cannot see. They are the people who make a site interactive and engaging, and more importantly, run smoothly. To give an example, let’s say you have your very own e-commerce website. You will need a safe and accessible place to store all your customers’ information. The storage place would usually be a database that is run from a remote server. A back-end developer will help you create this database and manage everything that goes on inside of it.

While your backend developer keeps the servers running smoothly, the front-end developer ensures that your website looks immaculate.

Back end developers usually work on tasks such as:

• Writing and scripting codes
• Managing databases
• Framework utilization

Fullstack

Full stacks are the powerhouses of the IT industry. They are developers who are able to work as both front end and back end simultaneously. Full-stack developers are usually incredibly in demand with a highly lucrative income offer that comes with it.

This demand is due to the fact that programming and developing is not easy, and most programmers will dedicate their lives to perfecting their own niche, whether it is front-end or back-end development. Full stacks go the distance and study two completely different niches that are required to work together to truly innovate new technologies.

Front end, back end, or full-stack?

Ultimately, it is up to your kids to make the decision. If they are more creative individuals, they might enjoy becoming front-end developers more in the long run. If they are the type that likes to logically solve problems with equations and theory, back-end development is definitely the right choice for them. Regardless of which one they choose, it’ll also be great for them to dabble in both to get a feel for each, and maybe branch into a full stack developer later in their lives. Engineering For Kids provides students with opportunities to explore the world of coding and programming at an early age. Find your closest location to learn more about openings in your community!