backend vs frontend¶
Web server :
operated by the application provider (i.e. in the cloud, i.e. a datacenter)
runs backend code
Web browser :
runs on your laptop
runs frontend code (even though that code is fetched at the backend)
evolution speed¶
all this started in a very awkward way
early versions were always quick and dirty
for example, the first JavaScript version was written in 10 days
evolving very quickly, especially
in the tooling for integrating the pieces together
(e.g. JS loaders and transpilers and bundlers…)
many many over-layers that improve / mitigate some flaws
focus on HTML - CSS - JavaScript¶
again, we will only focus on grassroots level
that will likely remain valid for a while - even if they do evolve too
versions for our focus
HTML-5, CSS-3, ECMAScript-6
you may have heard of¶
typical backend technologies
PHP, django or flask (Python), Ruby/on rails, SQL databases
apache, nginx, load balancing
typical frontend technologies
HTML, CSS, JavaScript
react, angular, vue, ...
in between
TCP/IP : low-level communication protocol of the Internet
HTTP : HyperText Transfer Protocol
WebSocket : full-duplex communication channel
over a single TCP connection
you can see our focus is a small fraction of the whole spectrum