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Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

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Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#101

Post by valenterry »

Jensson wrote: post #83
ricardobeat wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Data / API / DB design will take 10%-20% of your time at most (unless you’re a DBA), maybe as low as 1% on a large company where almost everything you touch was made by someone else. In my experience (10+ years) backend is almost always faster when it comes to building apps. Not running your code on 300 different devices and OSs, or having to deal with 20 years of backwards compatibility is a big advantage. Plus the…

Building an MVP backend is a lot easier, but there is no limit to how much work you can put into a backend to a typical app. Frontend is a pretty much solved problem, getting to that state takes longer than the backend MVP but after that there isn't that much more to do. Or do you think that reddit, twitter, facebook or google put more work into their frontends than everything that goes on in their backends? Recreati…

> Frontend is a pretty much solved problem

I don't think so. Just see the progress of frameworks like react/angular etc. over the recent years. We also see concurrency being embraced more. There is still a lot of things to be improved in frontend, I wouldn't call that a solved problem, even though the problem space is narrower than backend/infra.

Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#102

Post by nnoitra »

woutr_be wrote: post #48
htatche wrote: post #23

I'd say the opposite because of responsibility. A bug in the BE can cost a lot of money and time to your business, not so much (usually) in the FE.

Wouldn't that mean that both have the exact same responsibility? A bug in the FE, would essentially render the BE unusable, and therefore would cost a lot of money and time as well. For example; if Amazon's checkout button somehow broke, and prevent users from checking out, it would also cost a lot of money. EDIT: to give a more visual example, if Amazon changed their checkout button to a different color and style. I…

Much easier to fix a button then dive deep into why your algorithms which should work, don't work.

Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#104

Post by nnoitra »

codingclaws wrote: post #26

If you remove all unnecessary complication, then front-end is probably easier in general. But, front-end is usually rife with complication.

I simply don't understand why there are 500 tools for everything and why FE jobs want you to know their specific stack as if it's impossible to get up to speed with if you already know JS.

Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#105

Post by Jensson »

valenterry wrote: post #101
Jensson wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Building an MVP backend is a lot easier, but there is no limit to how much work you can put into a backend to a typical app. Frontend is a pretty much solved problem, getting to that state takes longer than the backend MVP but after that there isn't that much more to do. Or do you think that reddit, twitter, facebook or google put more work into their frontends than everything that goes on in their backends? Recreati…

> Frontend is a pretty much solved problem I don't think so. Just see the progress of frameworks like react/angular etc. over the recent years. We also see concurrency being embraced more. There is still a lot of things to be improved in frontend, I wouldn't call that a solved problem, even though the problem space is narrower than backend/infra.

Those are changes in libraries, not changes in capabilities or what it means for a frontend to be good. How to make a good frontend framework isn't a solved problem, no, but how to make a good frontend is a solved problem. The exception is UX design, but frontend developers typically aren't UX experts, that isn't on their plate.

Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#106

Post by valenterry »

Nextgrid wrote: post #88
valenterry wrote: post #32

No, Backend is not easier than Frontend. Both are equally hard, since you will always be pushed to get the most out of what is currently available in terms of technology & tooling, no matter of your niche. If not, your job will become worth less since you are going to be automated away at some point. A fallacy that I found many frontend-developers have is that they believe Backend is the same as Frontend, just that y…

> you will always be pushed to get the most out of what is currently available in terms of technology & tooling, no matter of your niche Disagreed. Maybe in large companies that work at huge scales, but below that there's plenty of business value that can be delivered with what is essentially CRUD and there's still money to be made. I'd say that if anything, the $$$ per unit of effort is much higher working for small…

> Disagreed. Maybe in large companies that work at huge scales, but below that there's plenty of business value that can be delivered with what is essentially CRUD and there's still money to be made.

But that's exactly what I'm saying!

Just continue the thought: if CRUD is so easy, but money can be made then it will be automated away by frameworks or even commercial products. So less people will be needed and hence people will lose their jobs.

Of course, the demand also increases, but still, think about it: 25 years ago, you could earn a lot of money by simply creating basic websites for people. This has become much easier/faster to do now, but making a lot of money with it has gotten much harder as well.

Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#107

Post by goto11 »

Perhaps you should focus on what you would enjoy being challenged by, rather than what is easiest. The easy stuff get automated or abstracted away, so software development will always be challenging and require learning new things.

I changed from frontend to backend since I did not enjoy browser bugs and fighting to get a page to look the same in different browsers. Backend had different challenges (like integrating with legacy systems), but challenges I enjoyed more.

> I'm not good at animations, responsive layouts, pixel perfection, es6

If you are not good at something, then you have to study and practice to get good. This will be the same with backend. All these things are learnable. You have to enjoy learning to be developer.

Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#108

Post by shahbaby »

milkers wrote: post #63
smitty1e wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back End owns more of the infrastructure, including the admin, pipeline, and networking chores. But the UX seems the 20% of the system eating 80% of the time, yes.

That is the ratio thank you! From the 5+ years experience I have, BE tasks always consume less time than FE tasks. One of the reasons for it is that, BE works get commented by technical people and technical people easy to get along well and understand each other and the decisions. However FE works get commented by a larger audience either technical or non-technical. Each comment delays the acceptance of the work done…

Totally agree.

This has also been my experience having recently transitioned from FE to BE.

Even if FE is easier to demo, there's less appreciation for the underlying complexity.

Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#109

Post by goodpoint »

Doing any backend or other real development work at a good level requires deep understanding of the problems you are trying to solve. It's a completely different depth.

Also, your solution can impact the whole organization and your work carries responsibilities.

Re: Ask HN: Is back end dev generally easier than front end?

#110

Post by sirwitti »

In my experience one of the big differences between backend and frontend (and even app development) is that frontend development has an incredibly fast rate of change.

What are best practices now might be considered code smell in 3 months. The tempo, in which the technologies are being swapped out and the number different general directions (react vs vue vs angular vs traditional server side rendered,...) make frontend hard in the sense that keeping up with the fast pace of changes takes up quite some time and energy.

I think that the pace of change in the underlying technologies is a lot slower on the backend and that you can even get away with being an expert for "legacy" technology for quite a while.

Another huge difference is your impact on the UI/UX. Working on frontend always means that the developer has direct impact - and responsibility - about many details of the final product that noone else might have thought about.

If you're into this type of work perfect, but if this stresses you out frontend might not be the right fit for you.

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