Frontend
What users see and click
TL;DR
The part of an app you can see — buttons, text, images, colors. If you can click it or look at it, it's frontend.
The Plain English Version
Think of a restaurant again. The frontend is the dining room — the tables, the menu, the lighting, the way the waiter greets you. It's everything the customer sees and interacts with. The kitchen? That's the backend (we'll get there).
In web development, the frontend is everything that shows up in your browser. The buttons you click, the text you read, the images you scroll past, the form you fill out — all frontend. It's built with languages like HTML (structure), CSS (styling), and JavaScript (interactivity).
When someone says "I'm a frontend developer," they're saying they build the parts of websites and apps that humans actually see and touch. It's part art, part engineering — making things look good AND work properly across different screen sizes, browsers, and devices.
Why Should You Care?
Because the frontend is what makes or breaks a first impression. Users don't care how fancy your backend is — if the app looks ugly or confusing, they're leaving. If you're building anything with AI tools, understanding that "frontend" means "the visual stuff" helps you communicate what you want.
The Nerd Version (if you dare)
Frontend development uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, typically through frameworks like React, Vue, or Svelte. Modern frontend architectures include SPAs (Single Page Applications), SSR (Server-Side Rendering), and static site generation. Build tools like Webpack, Vite, and Turbopack handle bundling. CSS frameworks like Tailwind provide utility-first styling.
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