What Should Be The order Of Learning Web Development : Front-end or Back-end ?
To Learn Front-end or Back-end First
Overview:
Code newbies are always faced with the confusing thought of learning which language to learn first, if it should be a frontend or a backend coding language and I help you to solve this query here!
Introduction
To learn frontend or backend is a major question in the minds of code newbies and here, I try to answer this question in a way beginners can understand .
Many code newbies are confused when it comes to learn web development, if they should front-end or back-end development, so, this post would help to clarify this doubt clearly.
This doubt and confusion about preferential learning order of front-end or back-end means that you don’t wish to learn both or you want to learn one of them first followed by the other.
Neither front-end nor back-end is easy to learn for code newbies! Also, I would never suggest you to learn only front end or backend because in this competitive job market, it’s always a wiser decision to learn both front-end and back-end web development, that’s referred to as Full-stack development.
Front-end web development
The front-end web development deals with learning front-end languages such as JavaScript alongwith HTML (structure of the website) and CSS(styling for the website).
Back-end web development
Back-end languages could be either Python ir Java, Nodejs or PHP. The backend development deals with the server side of the website, and it is mainly to do with creating APIs, storage of database, dealing with application architecture etc.
Order of Learning with reasons
Instead of the general norm of learning HTML and CSS first followed by JavaScript and then the back-end development languages, I would suggest learning the back-end language first.
I personally prefer Python as its very English friendly and while learning Python, you don’t just learn it as a means to do web development . You must learn python as a programming language.
Once you start learning Python, it’s like learning computer science! Python will open up the door to learning your coding algorithms and all the programming concepts that once grasped could be applied to any other programming language. For example, variables, conditional loops, functions, object oriented programming etc etc.
Once you learn python, learning JavaScript is too simple 👌! It’s advisable to learn html and css simultaneously while learning JavaScript, otherwise, you will spend too much time learning front-end part of the web.
However if you like the design part of the website development, you could start first with JavaScript, HTML and CSS follllowed by the backend languages such as Python, PHP,Java, Nodejs etc.
Morever, the most important thing to remember is that all the programming languages have the same concepts and fundamentals, that is, conditional loops, functions, arrays, lists, object oriented programming, etc but the only difference between them is that different coding languages have different syntaxes but the overall concepts method of solving algorithms and data structures are still the same. Hence, try to get a full grasp on any of the programming languages first, be it front-end language like JavaScript or a back-end language such as Python, Nodejs, Java or PHP, after which you can go ahead with the next language and apply the concepts that you learnt in your first language to the subsequent languages that you learn later on.
Conclusion
Learning just frontend or just backend development is no more in trend or even if it was the norm years ago. I would not suggest going either for one of them only as there is heated competition in the industry and it pays well to be knowing both the front end and the back end as well as you would only get to know the full architecture of the system once you learn the front end as well as the back end of the app or website.
You can not just leave learning the aesthetic part of the web or app and ignore the backend structure and vice-versa.
Also, whether to learn the front-end or the back-end is another tricky question to consider where most of the times, the gurus will advise you to learn the front-end first followed by the back-end, but, the worst part of the front-end development, is, you end up spending too much extra time and resources on learning the front-end part of the development, since, the most important language of the front-end, that is, JavaScript, is for every evolving every second month and keeps you spinning and focused on learning and getting updated on it’s regular updates and other new tools, frameworks, etc.
Once you consume so much of your energy on the front-end, you are exhausted to go ahead or even explore the back-end part of the app or website. Whereas, if you learn and grasp the backend first, especially a language like Python or PHP first, it will be easier for you to learn JavaScript. However, if you are going down the path of using JavaScript for both front-end as well as back-end development, that is use javascript for the front end and Nodejs for the back end, then, it would be advisable to learn the front end first and then proceed with the back-end , as Nodejs for back-end , is easier to grasp after learning JavaScript for the front-end.
Last, but not least important, please remember this valuable tip, while learning web development, learn from the perspective of a Programmer and not merely a web developer. As a programmer, you focus on problem-solving and not syntax formation. If you master programming, doing web development is just a breeze!
Hence, to conclude, learning the back-end language first such as Python or PHP could be a better idea,get a good grasp over all the concepts of variables,loops,object oriented programming etc., then, start learning your front-end language like JavaScript for instance and if you feel that you can master only the front-end or the back-end , even then, knowing Full-stack development doesn't hurt, because in Full-stack , you could madter either front-end or back-end, yet, know the basics of the other end. For example, as a dress designer, you need to know the basics of both sewing and drawing, not just one of them, but, you may be expert at either sewing and patterns or drawing/illustrations , but,knowing the basics of both, makes you a complete designer. Web Development is also something like the above example where knowing the basics of front-end and back-end of the web is essential, but, you could continue to be expert in one of them, be it front-end or back-end.
Read more posts to motivate you in your coding journey :
