Is it "front-end", "frontend", or "front end"?

Question

Which is correct?

front-end engineering
frontend engineering
front end engineering

I looked over http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/hyphens.asp, referenced in this answer, and I'm still not sure which to use.

Rule 1 under Hyphens Between Words says:

To check whether a compound noun is two words, one word, or
  hyphenated, you may need to look it up in the dictionary. If you can't
  find the word in the dictionary, treat the noun as separate words.

"Frontend" is not found at reference.com.  "Front-end" and "front end" are both found, which "front end" as two words representing the software term, so I think this must be right.  However...

Rule 1 under Hyphens With Prefixes says:

The current trend is to do away with unnecessary hyphens. Therefore,
  attach most prefixes and suffixes onto root words without a hyphen.

I think that "frontend" qualifies under this rule.  Compare that with "backend" and it sounds to me that "front" and "back" are prefixes to "end".

Also, the most common usage I've noticed is "frontend" as a single word when talking about software.  Common usage has to count for something, right?

What's considered the final say here?

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer

For the compound noun front + end it is front end:

Noun
front end (plural front ends)

(computing) that part of a hardware or software system that is closest to the user.

frontend and front-end are alternative forms.
The compound noun front + end + engineering may be another matter.

simchona · Answer

Your research under "Hyphens with Prefixes" may not apply to this case. While "front" is being added as a prefix, the rule is referring to prefixes like non-, un- and in-. So while words like nonaggression and unable do not have hyphens, frontend doesn't seem like a valid compound word.

Since "front" isn't a prefix in the same sense as those listed above, I believe you should use the rule of "Hyphens Between Words". Either "front end" or "front-end" would be valid under this rule.

Ascendant · Answer

"Frontend" and "backend" in this situation are technical terms, and as such I don't think they conform strictly to traditional ways of creating new words.

I'd put it in a similar category as putting the letter "e" in front of things: For example, should we call it e-mail and e-commerce or email and ecommerce? Most of us have settled on "email" but we split the difference on "e-commerce," but in any case, traditional language authority didn't move fast enough to lead this debate, but only explained or justified it after the fact.

So it goes with "frontend" and "backend", whichever one wins out may become enshrined by dictionaries (like "googling" yourself) or there may not be a winner in the forseeable future (such as in the "ecommerce" case)

Yury Bayda · Answer

I like the spelling convention set in GCC Coding Convention:

"front end" (noun)
"front-end" (adjective)

Howard · Answer

"Front end" but "front-end engineering." It's really pretty simple: When you're using a compound as an adjective (that is, when it's modifying another noun) you hyphenate it, not because somebody said to, but to avoid confusion. That way you don't have people wondering what "end engineering" is. I think the comment about avoiding unnecessary hyphens is just to keep people from going overboard, like "hot-dog bun."

Answered by Howard on September 1, 2021

Is it "front-end", "frontend", or "front end"?

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