What is Frontend Development? Who is a Frontend Developer?

What is Frontend Development? Who is a Frontend Developer?

Front-end web development and is also known as client-side application development is the practice of utilizing the mark-up of HTML/HTML5, stylesheet rules using CSS/CSS3, and the power of JavaScript for a website or Web Application so that a user can see and interact with the end result by interacting it for the specific purpose. The primary challenge while working with the front-end development is that the tools, techniques, frameworks used to create the front end of a website evolve constantly and so the developer needs to constantly be aware of how the field is evolving and keep themselves ready for the upcoming challenge.

The primary objective of designing or creating a website is to ensure that when the end-users open up the web page, they see the information in a format that is easy to read and relevant, and visually appealing. And it is completely depends on a large variety of devices with varying different screen sizes and resolutions thus forcing the designer to take into consideration all these crucial aspects when designing the site. Need to be sure that their sites are rendered correctly in the different browsers, different operating systems such as Windows, Mac, and different devices such as mobile, desktop, and tablets.

What Is a Front End Developer?

A front end developer, can also know as a front end web-developer, is a professional engineer having responsibility for the end to end design and implementation of the interface layer for the application.

The end user or the visitor of the application requires an interface so that they can access or interact with the application eventually. But the web designer is a professional engineer who creates a website’s look and feels such as the actual interface with the web elements. And the front-end developers make sure that the required front end designs work into the platform such as the browser by using the mark-up, stylesheet, and scripting languages such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.

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Frontend Developer Skills

Being a front end developer, it comes with much responsibility towards the application layout that works across the devices, resolutions, and other certain important web aspects, but the knowledge of basic to advanced HTML/HTML5, CSS/CSS3, DOM manipulations, JavaScript, HTTP/HTTPS/URL/Location, and other browser skills are assumed for any type of the front-end developer.

Beyond the knowledge of above mentioned technical stack, one should have a knowledge of browser development artifacts and it all tweaks, a front-end developer could be a skilled engineer in one or more of the below mentioned skills.

• Have to have any degree in computer science, information technology, or other related fields

• Having a core coding languages knowledge in HTML/HTML5, CSS/CSS3, JavaScript, Typescript, JSON, XML and jQuery

• Understand server-side CSS or any other CSS pre-processor such as LESS, SCSS, etc

• Have a knowledge of mock-up tools such as Adobe XD, Figma, etc

• Cross-browser and platform testing

• CSS wireframing, GRID/Flex layouts

• Web font, vector graphics, image optimizations, and responsive web designs

• Must have a knowledge of any front end frameworks or libraries such as React, Angular & Vuejs

• Server-side rendering frameworks such as Nextjs

• Need to have a experience in writing effective test cases

• Should be aware of the code versioning tools such as Git, Gitlab, Github, AWS Code-commit, and so on

Above are the few of the skills that are good to have but some of the other skills such as a hand on interpersonal skills, effective communication with the clients, team members, having a knowledge of task management tools such as Jira & Trello which makes the role front end developer way beyond the expectations.

Frontend Developer Salary

As the demand for front end developers tends to be increased, the front end developers are being hired by the small and enterprise companies for their companies to create their upcoming apps with the use of the latest tools and technologies of the front-end.

According to the survey, the avg salary of the front end developer or the front end engineer salary in India is INR 6.95 LPA having experience of 3-5 years and if someone has the expertise of JavaScript then they may get around INR 5.25 LPA according to the report of Payscale - Frontend developer/engineer salary.

Below is a simple breakdown of the salary of a front end developer in India.

(Source: Payscale: Frontend developer salary in India)

Apart from the front-end role, the set of skills plays an important role, and some of the skills are being accepted by the enterprise giants, and those skills are given below.

(Source: Payscale: Front end development hot job skills)

The front end developers salary is not a fixed one to be precise, it affects multiple aspects such as location, market demand across the world, type of projects, required set of primary and secondary skills, years of experience, and expertise so the job should be depended by the company to company basis.

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Frontend Developer Jobs

The rate of employment of the front end web developers is projected to grow 25 percent over the upcoming ten years, and much faster than the average for all other occupations. The employment of front-end developers is projected to grow 30 percent depending on the various skillset of developer-centric skills such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Front-end developers will have an immense opportunity for their career growth as well. And as we know the progress of the demand and the evolving world of the web platform, you will have all the ability to learn different programming languages and frameworks as skills in order to transition into a role as front end developer, react/angular/Vue developer, the product developer and many other such roles. Another great option is to gain some skills in the field of graphic design or UI/UX design because employers seek such web developers with a blend of technical and design abilities combined.

Based on the current time, there are lots of companies hiring front end developers through the different sourcing platforms as given below with the active front end developer jobs.

• Indeed having 14K+ job openings across PAN India

• LinkedIn does have 20K+ job openings including remote opportunities

And many other big giants have a huge number of jobs posted periodically related to the front end developers across the India and around the world, and we can say that heavy opportunities are waiting at the doors for the enthusiast front end engineers and developers.

Frontend Developer Job Titles

The front end developer is represented as an engineer who crafts the pixel-perfect layouts alongside the business logic of the interactive pages, thus there are lots of developer job are booming into the market using the different terms which primarily includes technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Below are some job titles which may vary from company to company and the number of years as an experience.

• Front end developer

• Front end web developer

• Front end engineer

• Web developer

• User interface developer/designer/engineer

• Angular developer

• React developer

• Vue developer

• HTML developer

• JavaScript developer

And many more job titles can be there depending upon the requirement of the organization and the suitable role for the specific project, thus the front end developer knows for doing primary coding in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Any front end frameworks such as Angular, React, or view, and if someone has these skill then definitely they can be a front end enthusiast.

Frontend Developer Roles and Responsibilities

Working as a front end developer may have a set of day-to-day job activities for doing certain tasks/projects, hence it comes with some roles and responsibilities which are given below.

• Requirement gathering, web designs/layouts, develop the application, test it and deploy into the server

• Integration of the front end applications and software systems with backend services created by back-end developers/teams

• Develop robust code structures and app architect to solve the purpose of achieving higher app standards

• Develop the front ends using AJAX calls, cascading style sheets (CSS), and other curated tools

• Periodic code reviews for getting better code standards as per project/client requirement

• End to end writing crisp program/scripts, test and debug all web components and application

• Use application servers such as AWS, IIS to deploy your apps

• Initiate the periodic testing and implement the alternative plans in case of systems gets distorted

• Getting client feedback and working on the revised task items

• Should be available for assisting and support the customer issues and maintenance of application

• Prepare documents/dictionary for programmed code and maintain it for future use to ensure the appropriate implementation of programs for other peer developers

• Stick to the deadline and plan for the sprint planning as decided to achieve the desired goals

• Develop the flow and ensure the achievements of all business objectives within the certain deadlines

• Work closely with the stack holders and account manager to sync up the goals

The roles and responsibilities may vary according to the business requirement and the given requirement by the team of clients, thus above responsibilities cover major points for the front end developers to be followed.

How to get started with the front end development

Many companies and institutions provide the certification course for becoming a front end developer and after taking the online courses, it will help you to move ahead with your career path, below are some of the known services providers who teach front end development best learnings.

• DotNetTricks

• Udemy

• UpGrad

• Coursera

• Edx

• LinkedIn

• Udacity

And many more online and offline institutes provide the best learning and certification opportunity that adds an extra value to an individual developer.

Summary

The path and the efforts being taken for becoming a front-end developer will definitely take some time based on the circumstances. Becoming a front-end developer, it is not only about learning various front end technologies and frameworks & programming languages. But it’s all about the job roles, level of compensation, interaction, job roles responsibilities as a front-end developer.

Because the world of the web is a rapidly evolving the world by its impact on businesses thus, the great front end developers should be ready to have a sort of skills and mindset to be a great player in the market. Even using online resources and content such as from DotNetTricks may help you get started with front end development way beyond the expectation and will add an impact on your career.