[fsckboy]

backend does not imply server to me, it implies software that does the calculating engine work and does not concern itself with display refresh.

[bonoboTP]

Backend is a general word, not limited to client-server or the web. You can have a rendering backend with various configurable choices, like in Matplotlib (https://matplotlib.org/stable/users/explain/figure/backends....), or the deep learning library Keras has a choice between PyTorch, JAX and TensorFlow backends.

[fsckboy]

we're talking about a spreadsheet engine, the backend is not going to be the Xserver displaying it

[readthenotes1]

In code that typically runs in on e process, that's a plausible interpretation.

However, the browser, sorry, the Internet browser, is typically a distributed system and a more plausible interpretation of backend is server-side.

IMNSHO.

[ninalanyon]

Surely that's background not backend.

[8n4vidtmkvmk]

I wouldn't call it background unless maybe it's async or continues to process stuff while you're doing other things.

[fsckboy]

what's the backend of a spreadsheet engine going to be doing? updating the datastructures of the spreadsheet.

is it going to be local or remote? that's not part of the question.

is it foreground or background? that's an implementation choice. apple II, yeah, everything freezes while it recalcs. windows? recalcs when it can, don't let the mouse freeze.