Comment by zmz88
4 days ago
I've been curious why frontend tools/projects are so often monetized and commercial but backend tools rarely are. Why is that? Since frontend is more art than science?
4 days ago
I've been curious why frontend tools/projects are so often monetized and commercial but backend tools rarely are. Why is that? Since frontend is more art than science?
Possible factors:
* Composes better than backend does. Frontend software mostly has to "look" right. It can be dropped in. Going the extra mile to integrate is not always necessary (e.g. keyboard navigation, screen reader support, all the stuff that is "easy" to forget).
* Easier to sell in this niche. The overlap between design/creative and software. Designers already have tons of libraries like this. E.g., FontAwesome, Noun Project, font libraries, stock images. They're already looking for new libraries of resources.
* There's also a common language all frontend software has to be written in, and there's a lot of tools for interop if need be. The market is just larger.
Backend software just doesn't compose as well. People expect when they pay for something for it to fit X use case or they leave. Backend has so many more use cases/entry points to get to MVP. It usually works or it doesn't. Perhaps why of the things monetized in the backend (databases, proprietary web servers), most are big monoliths and exist at well-defined software boundaries where things must be serialized to the "wire" to communicate.
Asking this to gauge sentiment or become better informed, not because I believe it outright...
Could it be that people with more backend-oriented skills are better compensated, or have better market-job-security, than those with frontend-oriented skills on average with respect to regular employment or contracts? If it were so then the usefulness and/or marketability of a project might matter less to respective creators in how to offer their work to the public.
Jankily expressed as backend can afford to produce more for fun and/or street cred, frontend wants both but feels pressure to demonstrate value on top.
> but backend tools rarely are
Backend tools are backed by enterprises more than frontend tools. Frontend more often than not these enterprises build their own to some extent.
Backend integrates with the company; frontend integrates with the customer, with some glue in-between.
You have complete control over the backend, whereas the frontend needs to work with software you have no control over (browser and related extensions, and whatever custom settings the user has applied)
For most companies, the development ROI on the backend is higher, and it's easier to just buy as much of the frontend as possible.