Front-end and back-end terminology

Question

While designing a Web Application in ASP.Net, I usually split the project in 2 parts, the back-end (the admin part) and the front-end (the visitors/SEO part). Let's say that my visitors can login on the website and will do a lot of tasks, like fill profile, send messages, etc.

That part (authenticated user) looks for me a differente "layer" between Front-end and Back-end, and is somewhat hard define if is front-end (why visitors/users will handle it, but no admins) or if it is back-end (why the user will proactively make changes in database, like admins, but with less rights).

There is a term to define that "layer", like "mid-end" or I'm floating my mind to wrong places here and there is a clear definition to this (unknown to me)?

Answer 1

Front-end vs. Back-end seem very subjective, in that they depend on the context, circumstance, and sometimes on individual interpretations. I think Wikipedia does a good job defining it, but there' still not always a clear distinction.

For that middle layer, I prefer the term "Mediator".

Answer 2

I would call these:

• public area
• user area
• admin area

Collectively, I'd identify these as either 'areas' or 'zones'. To me, 'back-end' means code running on a server, and 'front-end' means the output from that code. I'd avoid using that terminology.

This is a very subjective answer, but that seems to be the nature of your question.

Funny how sometimes the biggest obstacle in development is: "what should I call it?!"