Why you should first learn Front end and not Back end

You want to work as a developer, but should you start with Front end or Back end? I'll explain why I prefer to start from the Front end.

When you decide to study software development, you need to choose where to start and there are many options, like:

• Data science
• Web development
  • Front end
  • Back end
• Mobile development
• Embedded development
• Some other sort of development

If you want to be a Web developer, I suggest Front end development. But, why?

Front end development is more easily than Back end

In the beginning, in Front end, you learn HTML and CSS, two simple languages, the first one is a markup language and the second one is used for styles, like bold, margin, align, and position of the elements. In other words, HTML and CSS use little programming logic, making them easier. In contrast, Back end starts with a programming language, like Python, JavaScript (NodeJS), Ruby, or another language. For example, Python is very simple, but needs a lot of programming logic. As a result, Front end can be easier.

Front end is more visual and motivating

Besides that, HTML and CSS are very visual, and it's possible to see the results instantly in the browser and receive quick feedback. In other words, while you develop the page, you see the generated page with errors, if there are any. All these things make Front-end more motivating. Unfortunately, although Python, a traditional Back-end language, for example, is easy, it isn't visual. All codes run in the terminal or command prompt, the famous little black screen. This can be a little boring for beginners.

Easy to start

To begin learning and coding Front-end, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or another technology, you need just a simple computer and a text editor. It's not necessary to have a high-performance computer or complex settings in your operating system. Moreover, it's possible to code in HTML, CSS, JS, etc. in online services and achieve excellent results.

Bigger community

On the internet, there seems to be many more courses, tutorials, and people talking about Front-end than Back-end. For this reason, it's easier to get support and help.

Creativity

Front-end allows developers to improve and use their creativity when they define design, colors, layouts, and animations. For many people, it's fascinating and very engaging.

It's easy to migrate to Back-end

After you learn JavaScript, including approaches like Object Orientation and Functional Programming, you're able to migrate to any other language, so it's easy to migrate to a back-end technology. It's important to remember that it is possible to use JavaScript on the Back-end, you just need to learn a back-end framework, like Express.
Besides that, as a Front-end engineer, you know about how the internet works, you have contact with APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), contact with similar ideas to database, and, finally, you already work with the logic of business rules in your Front-end app.
In other words, you are completely able to understand how Back-end works and migrate to a back-end language or technology.

Let's go beyond

In the next articles, I'll teach about important concepts of the internet.

Credits

Vector in Top Right of the Cover: by Freepik.