BFF

ELI5 — The Vibe Check

BFF is the abbreviation for Backend for Frontend. Not your best friend — your backend's best friend for a specific client. Each frontend type (mobile, web) gets its very own backend service, tailored to serve exactly what it needs and nothing else.

Real Talk

Backend for Frontend — see Backend for Frontend entry. The BFF pattern was popularized by Sam Newman. Each BFF is owned by the frontend team that uses it, allowing faster iteration and preventing shared API bloat.

When You'll Hear This

"We have a BFF for mobile and a separate BFF for web." / "The BFF pattern solved our over-fetching problem."