In electronic design automation, front-end stages of the design cycle are logical and electrical design (e.g., schematic capture, logic synthesis). Sometimes floorplanning is also considered front-end. back-end are place and route, custom layout design and physical verification (design rule checking, layout versus schematic, parasitics extraction). ; G1 n9 J" w' `8 _" N+ g& w& N1 x4 ]# n6 \' n+ O4 A1 q
Data from wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front-end