Is it… Front-end or Front end or Frontend?
“Front-end” — a compound adjective
- Compound adjectives are used when you are modifying another noun or better put, when you are describing a noun.
- When you’re using a compound as an adjective, you hyphenate it.
example
- I’m a front-end developer.
- He’s a back-end developer.
- I’m a part-time worker.
Let’s break it down
I’m a front-end developer.
I’m — subject pronoun
front-end —compound adjective, it’s modifying another noun
developer — noun
Wrapping it up
You use “front-end” when you want to describe a noun.
“Front end” — a compound noun
- Noun is a word that is used to identify any of a class of things.
- Simply put, a noun is a word that refers to a particular thing. ex: book || cat || car
- Compound noun is a noun formed from two or more words.
The funny thing about compound nouns is that they can be a little confusing because they can be written in three different ways:
as one word — boyfriend
as two words — boy friend
with a hyphen — boy-friend
However, those three have totally different meanings, and the correct way to write it depends on the meaning. In the case of someone who is romantically involved with a person, it’s boyfriend.
Just like “front end” which is the correct way to be used when you’re using it as a compound noun.
example
- He’s working on the front end.
- I’m fixing a rendering issue on the front end.
- There is an issue on the front end.
Let’s break it down
He’s working on the front end.
working — noun
front — adjective
end — noun
Confusion clear-up
Now you might be asking yourself.. okay so if a compound noun can be written in those three ways, frontend must be correct. Well, it’s as correct as boy-friend. It’s not.
The Cambridge dictionary states the following:
“front end” — the parts of a computer, piece of software, or website that are seen and directly used by the user
“front-end” — used as a compound adjective to describe another noun.
Therefore, based on the Cambridge dictionary, you should use “Front end” (as a compound noun) and “Front-end” (as a compound adjective).
Compound noun ex: There are some issues on the front end.
Compound adjective ex: I am a front-end developer.
Hope this article helps clear the confusion we’ve had! ✨🚀