Code Types
An overview of front-end and back-end types of code, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP
Last updated on July 18th, 2022
Websites are built using a combination of different types of code; from the very basic to the very complex. Different types of code are required to achieve specific functionality. Sometimes the same functionality can be achieved by using different coding approaches.
Some types of code are front-end languages and some are back-end (and increasingly some are both). This guide is a brief overview of the different types of web coding languages in use today.
HTML
HTML is the building block of all websites and is used to layout the semantic structure of a website. With HTML you can define headings, lists and paragraphs as well as bigger structural blocks like headers and footers. HTML is the building blocks of all websites. The latest version is HTML 5.
CSS
CSS is used to change background colours, fonts faces and sizes as well as position elements on webpages using float, flexbox or grid. The latest version is CSS 3.
There are various CSS Frameworks available to use such Tailwind CSS.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a language that makes webpages interactive. JavaScript is used in all sorts of animations that you will typically see on a website, for example, tabs, accordions and carousel sliders. The latest version is ES6.
React
React (also known as ReactJS) is a JavaScript Library created by Facebook. HTML can be created using JavaScript in React.
There are also specific frameworks available for React such as Next.js
Angular
Angular is a JavaScript Framework. The latest version is Angular 6.
PHP
PHP is a server-side language used when developing websites. Server-side languages are known as back-end web languages because the data is interpreted on the server and not in the browser as front-end languages are.
C#
C# is a back-end programming language for web development in an ASP.NET environment.