There are two essential parts of web development and each one of them needs various skills and acquaintance of technologies. As far as front end development is concerned, it deals with user interaction and back end development that goes behind the scenes while making it happen. Front-end development is quite technical, and the front end developer skills need to be highly professional when it comes to coding.
What is Front End Development and Why It Matters the Most?
To put it in simple words, all the buttons you could easily click and all the motions in your favored website are basically a part of the front end development. We can also say that all the visible site features are basically built through front end development.
The front-end developer helps you to interact easily with the web, enjoy videos, and perform certain actions such as registration in an online shopping site.
In order to make sure that the website appeals to the users, the highest level of expertise is needed on behalf of the professionals. It depends on the front-end developerโs skills and expertise that a particular website is convenient to navigate and eye-popping for the audience.
6 Front End Developer Skills You Need to Master in 2021
A typical front-end development job needs you to take care of certain important things such as Ruby, Git, design tools, video editing, to name a few. However, it is also true that you need to master certain fundamental skills such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and certain others in order to make a difference in the highly competitive market.
Here are six essential skills that every front end developer needs to master in 2021.
1. HTML
HyperText Markup Language, or HTML, is the major structural constituent of all websites across the Internet. Without HTML, web pages cannot exist. Being a building block, this language is your own way of making notes in a digital document that can be separated from regular text.
2. CSS
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS and HTML go hand in hand as CSS adds style to HTML. In laymanโs terms, HTML is like a face, and CSS serves as the makeup of a page.
While HTML establishes the typical foundation for your page, CSS on the other hand comes along next and is used to create the pageโs layout, color, fonts, and also style.
Both of these two languages are extremely useful for a front end developer and web development seems like a vague concept without these two languages.
3. JavaScript
While you can create a basic website with the help of CSS and HTML, you also need JavaScript in order to make the website interactive. Truth be told, these three languages are extremely essential for a typical front-end developer job.
A nice way to remember what JavaScript does is to ponder over some of the interactive sites that you have visited. It is worth mentioning here that certain things, such as online gaming, quizzes, and animations, require JavaScript to run.
4. Responsive Design
Unlike the old days, a large number of computers, phones, and tablets are being used to look at web pages. The question that pops up in mind is how these pages adjust themselves to the device that users use and without doing anything on their end? A simple answer would be a responsive design that comes to the rescue in this case.
Understanding responsive design principles and their implementation on the coding side is the basic key to front end development. It is also worth mentioning that responsive design is an intrinsic part of CSS frameworks.
5. Browser Developer Tools
Users will eventually be interfacing with the site through a web browser. The method in which your site is rendered by these browsers will depend mostly on whether your work will be successful or not.
Specifics may vary from browser to browser, however browser developer tools mainly consist of an inspector and a JavaScript console. The inspector helps you to see what the runtime HTML on your page will look like.
Besides, it also guides you usefully on how CSS is associated with each and every element on the page while allowing you to successfully edit your HTML and CSS and witness the changes as they happen. The JS console also enables you to view any errors that may occur as the browser opts to execute your JS code.
6. Building and Automation Tools
Web performance depends on the amount of time that your site takes to load. In case you face problems with performance times, there are specific steps that you can easily take to improve them. This includes optimizing images (image scaling and compression for high web performance) and minifying CSS and JavaScript.
Carrying out all the tasks mentioned above will lead to a far better web performance for front end time-sink, but here is where building and automation tools come into play. For better efficiency, it is advised that you master these tools to a more expert level.
Front end Developer Job Description
As far as front-end developers are concerned, they need to collaborate with back-end developers, graphic designers and user experience designers within a team to make sure that all the essential elements of web creation are consistent.
It is worth mentioning here that this job needs excellent communication and interpersonal skills among others. Letโs have a look at some of the essential responsibilities and requirements that are needed on a front-end developerโs behalf and which can truly make a difference while keeping in view the highly competitive market.
Front End Developer Job Responsibilities
- A front-end developer will have to determine the overall structure and design of web pages.
- A front-end developer will also have to make sure that user experience determines design choices.
- In order to make the difference, a front-end developer will have to develop features that can enhance the user experience.
- A seasoned front-end developer will also strike a balance between functional and aesthetic design.
- A front-end developer will also ensure that web design is optimized in the best possible way for smartphones.
- As a pro in the field, a front-end developer needs to build reusable code for future use.
- A typical front-end developer will have to optimize web pages for speed and scalability to a maximum level.
- In order to write web pages, a front-end developer should also be able to utilize a variety of markup languages.
- A front-end developer should also maintain brand consistency throughout the design.
Front End Developer Job Requirements
- While it is not mandatory, a seasoned front-end developer needs to have a computer science degree or any relevant field.
- A front-end developer should also be able to comprehend the fundamental design principles.
- It is also essential that a front-end developer should be highly proficient with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery.
- A typical front-end development job also needs you to understand server-side CSS properly.
- A front-end developer should also have experience with graphic design applications like Adobe Illustrator.
- A front-end developer should also have hands-on experience with responsive as well as adaptive design.
- For a more competitive environment, a front-end developer needs to have a better understanding of SEO principles.
- Apart from technical skills required for a typical front-end development job, it is also essential that a front-end developer should also be an expert when it comes to problem-solving skills and also has excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
Front End Developer Salary
According to Glassdoor, a standard front end developer working in the US market can easily earn an average of $86,178 per year. As per Payscale details, a regular front-end developer can make an average income of $71,350 a year.
As far as a junior front end developer is concerned, he/she can easily earn almost $49,000 on average in a year. It is also worth mentioning that a junior front-end developer needs rather less experience and has comparatively fewer responsibilities.
Bottom Line
If youโre someone who has a strong affinity for tech and wants to learn more new skills to upgrade, a front-end development job should be on the top of your list. With higher pay, creative work, and above all, a flexible schedule, there can be so many reasons that could compel you to go for this job for a better living.
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