Front end and back end: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:04, 1 September 2022

Revision as of 02:06, 1 September 2022

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== Software definitions ==

{{prose|section|date=September 2020}}

In [[content management system]]s, the terms ''frontend'' and ''backend'' may refer to the end-user facing views of the CMS and the administrative views, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://letsgodojo.com/front-end-vs-back-end/|title=Front End vs Back End of Your Website: Everything You Need to Know|website=DOJO Creative|date=7 February 2020|access-date=2022-08-31 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://joomlatuts.net/joomla-2-5/87-how-backend-model-view-controller-mvc-works-in-joomla/98-difference-between-frontend-and-backend-mvc|title=Difference Between Frontend and Backend MVC – Joomlatuts|last=Thapliyal|first=Vimal|website=joomlatuts.net|access-date=2016-12-30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230230237/http://joomlatuts.net/joomla-2-5/87-how-backend-model-view-controller-mvc-works-in-joomla/98-difference-between-frontend-and-backend-mvc|archive-date=2016-12-30 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In [[speech synthesis]], the frontend refers to the part of the synthesis system that converts the input text into a [[symbol]]ic [[phonetics|phonetic]] representation, and the backend converts the symbolic phonetic representation into actual sounds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://research.cs.tamu.edu/prism/lectures/sp/l18.pdf|title=L18: Speech synthesis (backend)|last=Gutierrez--Osuna|first=Ricardo|website=tamu.edu|publisher=Texas A&M University|access-date=2016-12-29 December 2016}}</ref>

For major computer subsystems, a graphical [[file manager]] is a frontend to the computer's [[file system]], and a [[Shell (computing)|shell]] interfaces with the [[operating system]]. The frontend faces the user, and the backend launches the programs of the operating system in response. {{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}

In [[compilers]], the [[Compilers#Frontend|frontend]] [[Translator (computing)|translates]] a computer programming [[source code]] into an [[intermediate representation]], and the backend works with the intermediate representation to produce code in a computer output language. The backend usually [[Program optimization|optimizes]] to produce code that runs faster. The front-end/back-end distinction can separate the [[Parsing|parser]] section that deals with source code and the backend that [[Code generation (compiler)|generates code and optimizes]]. Some designs, such as [[GNU Compiler Collection|GCC]], offer choices between multiple frontends (parsing different source [[Programming language|languages]]) or backends (generating code for different target [[Central processing unit|processors]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.personal.kent.edu/~rmuhamma/Compilers/MyCompiler/phase.htm|title=Operating Systems Notes|last=Bin Muhammad|first=Rashid|website=www.personal.kent.edu|publisher=Kent State University|access-date=2016-12-30 December 2016}}</ref>

Using the [[command-line interface]] (CLI) requires the acquisition of special terminology and memorization of [[Command (computing)|commands]], so a [[graphical user interface]] (GUI) acts as a frontend [[desktop environment]] instead.