As a frontend developer, I’ve worked closely with backend developers and project managers. Together, we create user interfaces, discuss designs, and tackle interactions. But I’ve noticed an unfair bias even among junior frontend developers, who often view frontend work as a simpler form of engineering.
There’s a misconception that frontend is just about making things look nice, while the real engineering challenges happen elsewhere.
Why Does This Bias Exist?
While backend and infrastructure engineers deal with databases and distributed systems, it’s worth noting that frontend started simpler—with static UIs that becamde today’s highly interactive web apps, SPAs, PWAs, and desktop apps. Yet, the bias persists for several reasons:
- Entry-level Simplicity: Beginners often dive into frontend because it provides immediate visual results—something more engaging than writing backend code that runs silently in a terminal or a Postman collection.
- It’s Visual: People see shiny buttons and cool animations but don’t realize the gears turning underneath. Just because you don’t see the work doesn’t mean it’s not there.
- Perception from Non-Technical Roles: Product managers and non-technical stakeholders often think frontend developers merely “connect inputs to the backend,”
Is Frontend Just UI Work?
Junior engineers or those who’ve only worked on basic websites might agree. However , If you’re still picturing frontend as just a “pretty face” for your app, think again. Building complex frontend systems involves solving real engineering challenges. Let’s dive into some of the technical work we do:
Handling Complex Dataflows
Modern frontend systems handle data synchronization, state management, and interactions.
For example,Frameworks like Redux, Flux, or architectural patterns like MVVM help manage predictable, maintainable state updates.
DOM
While frameworks like React or Angular abstract much of the heavy lifting, understanding the raw DOM remains crucial. For example:
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Handling dynamic updates without triggering reflows that degrade performance.
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Managing event delegation efficiently for components with thousands of child nodes. The DOM can be a performance bottleneck
Each browser interprets the DOM slightly differently, and handling inconsistencies—such as event propagation or default behaviors—requires deep knowledge of browser internals.
Interactive Diagrams & Visualizations
Creating interactive features isn’t just about pretty visuals:
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Drag-and-drop interfaces or real-time collaborative diagrams require applying spatial data structures like quadtrees for efficient object tracking.
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Rendering dependencies or relationships often involves graph theory algorithms to dynamically calculate paths and ensure updates propagate correctly.
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Data visualizations in dashboards? That’s working with libraries like D3.js, managing performance for large datasets, and implementing reactivity for user interactions.
Performance, Performance, AND PERFORMANCE!
Don’t even get me started about frontend perfomance Whether it’s implementing lazy loading, code splitting, or using GPU acceleration for smooth animations, optimizing performance is an ongoing (FOREVER), technical challenge that directly impacts users.
Large frontends
Building large-scale frontend systems requires solid architecture:
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Microfrontends: For teams working on diverse codebases, microfrontends allow modular development, reducing interdependencies while enabling different frameworks to coexist. (Javascript & Typescript in same projects)
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Design Systems : Maintaining a consistent UI across teams requires creating reusable components with enforced guidelines (and styles) baked in.
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State Management at Scale : With tools like Redux or Zustand, engineers manage vast application states, ensuring reliability while handling asynchronous operations and concurrency.
The Real Work of Frontend Engineers
Frontend engineering isn’t just about “making things look pretty”—it’s about solving engineering problems that impact users directly.
So next time you click a button that works perfectly, remember: some frontend engineer spent hours debugging CSS z-index issues (and some !important styles) for that! And no, we don’t just “add color to things”—we make the internet functional.