To get started building apps in Web3, we need some background knowledge of Web2. There are a lot of topics that are certainly covered within web2 that are highly useful in Web3.
For example, if you make a smart contract, you still need to provide your users a way to interact with that smart contract. You can do this by building a website or application that allows the user to interface with the smart contract in an easy manner.
Additionally, you may also want to store some user data or other data outside the smart contract. These concepts are the exact same as Web2, the only thing that changes is that we will be using and interfacing with a smart contract in the background.
Frontend is the interface with which an user interacts. On the web, the frontend refers to a website you can browse around. Mobile apps, and desktop apps, are also examples of valid frontend interfaces. For the purposes of this course, we will focus on the web, and develop frontend interfaces using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
The backend refers to that part of a software that allows it to operate and cannot be (necessarily) accessed by the user directly. Most private data, user data, business logic, data processing, etc happens on the backend, whereas the frontend is just used to offer a visual representation of that data and allow the user to perform certain tasks with it. The backend receives requests from the clients, and contains the logic to send the appropriate data back to the client. Backend services can be written in a variety of programming languages - Python, Java, Javascript, Go, Rust, etc.
On the web, frontend websites typically send requests over the internet through HTTP to a backend server, asking for certain data or asking it to perform a certain task, and the backend registers the request and sends a response back. For the purposes of this course, we will be developing our backends in Javascript as well, to be able to reuse code and share knowledge between the frontend and backend.
Required Readings:
- What is a backend?
- Building an API with Node.js and Express
- Building an API connected to a database in Node.js
Before you move on to the actual web3 specific content, please ensure you have some familiarity with the following:
- HTML
- CSS
- Javascript
- Node.js
- React
You can learn them in parallel if you want to, but having background knowledge will definitely help! Especially as you continue on tracks beyond Freshman.