In general, website architecture can be split into two areas: "Back-End" and "Front-End". The "Back-End" applies to what happens on the server when a web browser accesses a page on a website. In the vast majority of cases, we use use MySQL databases to store website data, which is retrieved by code written in PHP5, a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. PHP is used by some of the biggest internet companies to build their websites, including Facebook.

The "Front-End" concerns that which is presented to the website visitor. The web pages delivered to a web browser are coded in the latest version of HyperText Markup Language (HTML5). As is common in modern web design, the HTML5 page is formatted into an attractive design and layout by a Cascading Style-Sheet (CSS). Many additional "Front-End" functions are provided by JavaScript (JS) code.