Or, Just Give Me The Good Stuff
Principals
There are several basic concepts and principles that are important for any front-end developer to understand. These include:
HTML/CSS
HTML and CSS are the foundation of front-end development, and it’s important to have a strong understanding of these languages. This includes understanding how to structure and style webpages, as well as how to use tags and selectors.
<
p>HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is a standardized language used to structure and organize content on the web. It allows developers to create webpages and add text, images, and other types of media to them. HTML uses tags, which are special keywords surrounded by angle brackets, to define different types of content and elements on a webpage. For example, the
tag is used to define a paragraph, while the tag is used to add an image.
HTML is the foundation of the web, and it is used in conjunction with other technologies, such as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript, to create dynamic and interactive webpages. It is a crucial skill for any front-end developer to learn and master.
Web layout and design principles
In order to create visually appealing and user-friendly websites and applications, it’s important to understand basic design principles such as typography, color theory, and layout.
Color Theory | Typography | Web Layout
Responsive design
With the proliferation of devices with different screen sizes and resolutions, it’s important for websites and applications to be responsive and adapt to different screen sizes. This includes understanding how to use media queries and design layouts that adjust to fit different screens.
By understanding these basic concepts and principles, you can build a strong foundation for your front-end development skills and create effective and engaging websites and applications.
Once you have a strong foundation in HTML, CSS, and basic design principles, you may want to focus on learning intermediate front-end development skills. Some skills that are important for intermediate front-end developers to learn include:
Intermediate Skills
JavaScript Programming
JavaScript is a fundamental programming language used in front-end development, and it allows developers to add interactivity and dynamic functionality to websites and applications. Learning JavaScript will allow you to create more advanced and interactive web experiences.
Working with APIs
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules and protocols that allow different software systems to communicate with each other. As a front-end developer, you may need to work with APIs to access data or functionality from other systems.
Debugging Techniques
As you work on more complex projects, it’s inevitable that you will encounter bugs or errors. Learning debugging techniques, such as using the console or using a debugger, will help you identify and fix problems in your code.
By learning these intermediate skills, you can take your front-end development skills to the next level and build more advanced and sophisticated web experiences.
Debugging in Chrome | Inspecting Elements | Debugging Javascript
Code Creation
You will need a coding IDE like VS Code and to familiarize yourself with GIT.
VS Code is a tool for creating code, it incorporates a text editor, a computer terminal, and extensions for code completion and IntelliSense. This is a complete environment for writing websites and applications.
Git is a version control system for tracking changes in computer files and coordinating work on those files among multiple people. It is primarily used for source code management in software development, but it can be used to keep track of changes in any set of files.
With Git, users can track changes made to files, revert to previous versions, and collaborate with other people on projects. Git stores this information in a data structure called a repository, which contains the complete history of all changes made to the tracked files.
Simply said, if you don’t want to lose the work you did, or if you work with teams of people and don’t want to have your hard work overridden, you use GIT
Advanced Skills
Once you have mastered the basics and intermediate skills of front-end development, you may want to focus on learning advanced skills to further enhance your capabilities. Some skills that are important for advanced front-end developers to learn include:
Modern Front-end Frameworks
There are many modern front-end frameworks available, such as React, Angular, and Vue which provide a set of tools and libraries for building scalable and maintainable web applications. Learning a modern front-end framework can greatly improve your development productivity and efficiency.
These modern frameworks also include scaffolding tools. A scaffold is like a template. In the simplest sense, you can say “Start Project” and all of the core files and folders you need for a working project get created.
Server-side Rendering
Server-side rendering refers to the process of rendering a web application on the server rather than the client (i.e. the user’s web browser). This can improve the performance and SEO of a web application, and is a useful skill to have as a front-end developer.
Server Side Rendering Vs Client Side | Beginners Guide
Performance Optimization Techniques
As a front-end developer, it’s important to understand how to optimize the performance of a web application. This includes techniques such as minimizing the number of requests made to the server, minimizing the size of assets, and using caching strategies.
By learning these advanced skills, you can become a highly proficient front-end developer and create high-quality, scalable, and performant web applications.
Coming Soon (Part 3) — Practice and Staying up to Date
How To: Teach Yourself Font End Development (Part 2) was originally published in A Technologists POV on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
