What distinguishes front-end development from back-end development?

Front-end development is primarily concerned with the visual aspect of a website or web application. This includes everything that users interact with directly in their web browsers—such as layouts, graphics, buttons, and overall user interface design. Front-end developers utilize technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create a seamless and engaging user experience. They ensure that the site is visually appealing, responsive across different devices, and user-friendly.

In contrast to this, back-end development focuses on the server-side of web applications. This encompasses the database interactions, server logic, and application programming interfaces (APIs) that process requests from the front-end and deliver data back to it. Therefore, the visual components that users see and interact with are a hallmark of front-end development, making option C the distinctive characteristic that correctly identifies the nature of front-end work in comparison to back-end functionality.