Should I learn Front-End Web Development first, or Back-end web development?

The worlds of front-end and back-end development are vastly different. Both demand a diverse set of abilities that go far beyond programming. Full-stack specialists are as rare as unicorns.

Let me explain what it takes to become a master of front-end development.

  • Writing code for various devices that varies in size, performance, capabilities, and human interaction. Each of these devices can run your code and interpret it in various browsers with varying rendering engines. The gadgets you will need to support are constantly evolving.

  • It appears simple at first, but it becomes pretty tricky on a professional level. You will need some knowledge of networking, dev ops, automation, testing, various programming principles, security, SEO, user experience design, software architecture, performance optimization, asset optimization, analytics, and so on to master it.

  • To be an average front-end developer, simply a basic understanding of programming is required. You should have a good sense of aesthetics, be familiar with composition and motion ideas, and have a basic understanding of color theory. A solid understanding of online typography is required.

  • You must be skilled at interacting with others and comprehending their requirements—approximately 20% of the time.

Front-end is, in my opinion, for the more daring and impulsive individuals.
You must welcome change and adapt rapidly while maintaining a strong sense of order and rationality.

I have not encountered many back-end developers with these characteristics. With the front-end and the need to do back-end, it works the other way around.

To succeed, you must have the correct mindset, and these two mindsets are very different. That is why very excellent full stacks are so uncommon. As a result, you should choose one and stick to it. In both realms, it is preferable to be average.