How To Become A Frontend Developer.
A front-end developer builds the front-end portion of websites and web applications—that is, the part that users see and interact with.
A front-end developer creates websites and applications using web languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that allow users to access and interact with the site or app. When you visit a website, the design elements you see were created by a front-end developer.
Front-End Developer Roles and Responsibilities
If you're wondering what a frontend developer does, he must:
Decide on web page design and structure
Develop features to enhance the users’ experience
Striking a balance between functional and aesthetic design.
Make sure the web design is smartphone-capable
Build reusable code for future use
Make sure web pages are optimized for the best speed and scalability
Employ a diverse selection of markup languages to design web pages
Keep the brand consistent throughout the whole design
Without further ado, before getting started with how to become a front-end developer let us first discuss further what is a front-end developer.
What Is a Front-End Developer?
A front developer, also known as a front-end web developer, is a professional responsible for the design and implementation of the interface. The users require this interface so that they can access the application in question. A web designer is a professional who creates a website’s appearance and design. And the front-end developer makes sure that the design works online by using coding languages such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.
Front-End Developer Roles and Responsibilities
If you're wondering what a front-end developer does, he must:
Decide on web page design and structure
Develop features to enhance the users’ experience
Striking a balance between functional and aesthetic design.
Make sure the web design is smartphone-capable
Build reusable code for future use
Make sure web pages are optimized for the best speed and scalability
Employ a diverse selection of markup languages to design web pages
Keep the brand consist throughout the whole design
Front-End Developer Skills
Since the front-end developer is the rock star of website/app development, they need to have a well-stocked personal toolbox. So front end developer skills include the need to:
Have a degree in Computer Science or a similar field
Be proficient in coding languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery
Understand server-side CSS.
Be experienced with graphic design applications (e.g., Adobe Illustrator)
Understand the principles of SEO
Have excellent skills in problem-solving
Be proficient in communicating with team members, bosses, and clients
Have good interpersonal skills
LIST OF TOOLS NEEDED BY A FRONTEND WEB DEVELOPER.
Essential tools for front-end development to get you started. If you’re interested in finding out about one in particular, simply select it from the list below.
1. Sublime Text
Let’s start with the basics: a first-rate code editor—one that features a well-designed, super-efficient, and ultra-speedy user interface. There are several that do this well, but arguably the best (and most popular) is Sublime Text.
Artfully run by a one-man development team, the secret to Sublime’s success lies in the program’s vast array of keyboard shortcuts—such as the ability to perform simultaneous editing (making the same interactive changes to multiple selected areas) as well as quick navigation to files, symbols, and lines.
2. Chrome Developer Tools
Wouldn’t it be great if you could edit your HTML and CSS in real-time, or debug your JavaScript, all while viewing a thorough performance analysis of your website?
Google’s built-in Chrome Developer Tools let you do just that. Bundled and available in both Chrome and Safari, they allow developers access to the internals of their web applications. On top of this, a palette of network tools can help optimize your loading flows, while a timeline gives you a deeper understanding of what the browser is doing at any given moment.
Google releases an update every six weeks–so check out their website
3. jQuery
JavaScript has long been considered an essential frontend language by developers, although it’s not without its problems: riddled with browser inconsistencies, its somewhat complicated and unapproachable syntax meant that functionality often suffered.
That was until 2006, when jQuery—a fast, small, cross-platform JavaScript library aimed at simplifying the frontend process—appeared on the scene. By abstracting a lot of the functionality usually left for developers to solve on their own, jQuery allowed greater scope for creating animations, adding plug-ins, or even just navigating documents.
And it’s clearly successful—jQuery was by far the most popular JavaScript library in existence in 2015, with installation on 65% of the top 10 million highest-traffic sites on the web at the time. If this sounds like something you’d like to look into some more, we have a full guide to jQuery vs JavaScript.
4. GitHub
It’s every developer’s worst nightmare—you’re working on a new project feature and you screw up. Enter version control systems (VCS)–and more specifically, GitHub.
By rolling out your project with the service, you can view any changes you’ve made or even go back to your previous state (making pesky mistakes a thing of the past). There are so many reasons why GitHub is vital to developers. The repository hosting service also boasts a rich open-source development community (making collaboration between teams as easy as pie), as well as providing several other components such as bug tracking, feature requests, task management, and wikis for every project.
5. CodePen
Despite being around since 2012, the ever-increasing of people learning to program means that 2023 is going to be another bumper year for this tool beloved by the frontend community. There is almost no better way of showcasing your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript snippets, and as a result, their embeds are an increasingly common sight across coding resources online.
6. Angular
HTML is usually the cornerstone of any frontend developer’s toolbox, but it has what many perceive to be a serious flaw: it wasn’t designed to manage dynamic views.
This is where AngularJS, an open-source web framework, came in. Developed by Google, AngularJS lets you extend your application’s HTML syntax, resulting in a more expressive, readable, and quick-to-develop environment that could otherwise not have been built with HTML alone.
7. Sass
Web dev tools that save time are your best friend, and one of the first things you’ll learn about code is that it needs to be DRY (“Don’t Repeat Yourself”). The second thing you’ll probably learn is that CSS is usually not very DRY.
Enter the world of the CSS preprocessor, a tool that will help you write maintainable, future-proof code, all while reducing the amount of CSS you have to write (keeping it DRY).
FRONTEND DEVELOPER COURSE
frontend courses can be accessed including classes and certifications from Udemy, Coursera, Pluralsight etc.
uka promise