Take the tour ×  Where does the term "front-end" come from? Is
there a particular presentation/talk/job-posting which is
regarded as the first use of the term? Is someone credited with
coining the term?  The Merriam-Webster entry for "front-end"
claims the first known use of the term was 1973 but it doesn't
seem to provide details about that first known use.  Likewise,
the Wikipedia page about front and back ends is fairly low
quality, and cites very few sources.  share|improve this
question "Front end" has been used in electronics for a long
time (e.g. RF receiver front ends) - this almost certainly
predates its use in e.g. compiler terminology. –  Paul R Nov 25
'12 at 21:50 Well the word "mouse" was around before computers
but we can still credit Bill English with using it in the
context of computers. I'm hoping we can find the same
information for "front end". –  Richard JP Le Guen Nov 25 '12 at
21:59 That's rather a silly comparison - "front end" as used in
computing and electronics (and other engineering