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). 6 ]: ]; G+ d; i: E7 x, f+ w6 q) x- {: u, v- S2 Z
Data from wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front-end