Backend

Back to our restaurant analogy. If the frontend is the dining room, the backend is the kitchen. It's where the actual work happens — the cooking, the prep, the inventory management. Customers never see it, but without it, there's no food.

In software, the backend is everything that runs on servers that users never see. When you log into a website, the backend checks your password. When you search for something, the backend looks it up in a database. When you buy something, the backend processes the payment. All the logic, all the data handling, all the security — that's backend.

Backend is typically written in languages like Python, JavaScript (Node.js), Go, or Java. It talks to databases, handles API requests, manages user sessions, and generally keeps everything running.

Because when someone tells you they need a "backend" for your app idea, they're saying they need the engine and plumbing — not just the pretty face. If you're vibe coding, you'll need to decide on your backend approach: do you write your own, use a service like Supabase, or skip it entirely with a static site?

Backend development involves server-side logic, database management, authentication, API design, and infrastructure. Common stacks include Node.js/Express, Python/Django or FastAPI, Ruby on Rails, and Go. BaaS (Backend-as-a-Service) platforms like Supabase and Firebase abstract much of this. Deployment typically involves containerization (Docker), cloud platforms (AWS, GCP), and CI/CD pipelines.