Front-End Development Languages: Which Are the Main Ones?
In the context of digitalization affecting both customers and companies, mobile app and website development is of great importance. When creating both websites and mobile apps, a distinction is made between what is visible and what works behind the scenes, the so-called client-server or Back-End and Front-End development. Today we will focus on Front-End languages.
We will look at the main programming and markup languages for website and app development. However, before we get to them, we will give a brief overview of what Front-End development is and what professional developers do. Let's go!
What is Front-End Development?
When we talk about Front-End development, we mean creating the part of a website or app that is visible to users. Front-End languages play a key role in creating reliable, interactive, and user-friendly websites and apps.
In this context, a Front-End web developer is essentially responsible for creating everything that is visible on the page: images, texts, alignment, navigation, colors, etc. In addition, these professionals work to make the user experience as smooth as possible.
In general, Front-End development covers that part of website development which programs and creates all the elements and characteristics displayed on the page and available for users to interact with. It includes a wide variety of aspects - from programming navigation and interactivity to creating visual style with CSS, which is part of Front-End languages.
This is also relevant for mobile app development, although different tools and languages are used here than in web development. As a rule, there are three Front-End languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. When it comes to mobile apps, Swift and Kotlin are used for iOS and Android respectively.
Which Front-End Languages Are Used in Programming?
The main Front-End languages used in web development, as we already said, are three: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. CSS and HTML are not considered programming languages; they are a stylesheet and a markup language, respectively. JavaScript is indeed a programming language and is fundamental for website development.
On the other hand, when it comes to mobile app development, two programming languages are widely used today: Swift, used for iOS, and Kotlin, used for Android. Let's look at each in more detail. Let's go!
HTML5
The most common among Front-End languages, HTML is a markup language, meaning it is not a programming language but serves to create tags and the structure of a site. Ultimately, a website is a document that runs in a browser. HTML in its 'raw' form, without CSS and JavaScript, can only show us how the page is structured, what parts it consists of, and where each part fits into the overall structure.
It can be said that HTML is a text document without formatting and visual style, which simply represents the structure and is functional, but it lacks the life and dynamism that are achieved through CSS or JavaScript - other Front-End languages for website development.
CSS
CSS is a stylesheet used to define the visual styling of HTML structure. They are independent documents, but they are linked and interact with each other.
CSS is the primary interface of the design language for Front-End development. Using this language, Front-End developers can set the visual style by selecting parts of HTML or HTML as a whole, defining elements such as typography, colors, font sizes, tables, etc.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a client-side programming language, meaning it belongs to Front-End languages. Its task is to improve user interaction with websites, enhancing their browsing experience.
This type of language allows developers to create effects, events related to buttons, forms, animations, etc. Thanks to this level of interactivity, more dynamic websites can be created and made more enjoyable for users.
Swift
Swift is a programming language for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. It is the chosen programming system for developing applications aimed at Apple products and their owners. It is a multi-paradigm system created by Apple and is the preferred option for many developers specializing in applications for Apple devices.
Despite initially being owned by Apple, it is now an open-source programming language, offering many resources for anyone wanting to learn to develop apps with it.
Kotlin
Kotlin is an open-source programming language that supports both functional and object-oriented programming. It is mainly used for Front-End development of Android apps. This programming system shares some common features with Java and has syntax and concepts similar to other programming languages such as C#, Java, and Scala.
Although many APIs used in Android app development use Java, they also sometimes allow the use of Kotlin. That is why it is quickly becoming one of the most preferred Front-End languages for Android developers.