Esmatullah Wardak

Technology Development How become front-end web developer Front-end web developer roadmap languages to become front-end web developer

Front-End Development Roadmap For 2022

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Front-End Development Roadmap For 2022

Introduction

Front-end development involves using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build a client-side application. The client-side of an online application is the visual part of a web application and also what a user interacts with when an application is opened: colours, fonts, buttons, navigations, animations, etc.

Front-end development includes the user interface of an application. Everything a user interacts with when a user visits a website such as a login or sign-up page, homepage, contact page falls under the front-end development term.

A front-end developer is responsible for building and implementing the interface of a website or web application. They build client-side applications using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

In 2022 however, front-end development has gone beyond HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There are a lot of web technologies you need to learn to be able to excel as a front-end developer this year.

This article will cover all you need to get started with front-end development in 2022.

Web Fundamentals

It is important to understand how the web works before you start learning any technologies. You should learn about things like:

· What is the internet and how it works

· HTTP / HTTPS

· Browsers and how they work

Learn HTML

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is the markup language for building web pages, it is also the building block of the web. HTML is easy to learn and comprehend. With just HTML, you can build a basic website.

You need to learn the basics of HTML, such as:

· HTML Headings- these are what you use to display titles or subtitles on your web pages. It consists of <h1> which is the most important heading and which is the least important.

· HTML Forms - HTML forms are used to collect data inputs such as username, email, contact details.

· HTML Elements - HTML elements define how web browsers will format and display content. Content in the <i> tag will be displayed as italics, content in the <strong> tag will be displayed as bold.

· HTML Attributes - HTML attributes provide additional information about the HTML elements. For example, the tag is used to embed an image in a web page, the src attribute will be used to define the path where the image is located.

· HTML layout - HTML layout defines the different ways a website displays content. It is advisable to use semantic HTML elements such as <header><nav><section><article><footer>, because it clearly describes the element to the browser and developer.

Here are some resources to learn HTML:

· HTML tutorial - w3schools

· HTML tutorial - javaTpoint

· HTML Full Course - Freecodecamp

· HTML Crash Course For Absolute Beginners - Traversy Media

Learn CSS

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It is the technology to learn after HTML. It is used for styling our HTML. For example, we can use CSS to space our content, colours, fonts, etc.

The basics of CSS you need to learn are:

· CSS box model - The CSS box model consists of the margin, border, padding, and content. The image below shows us the CSS box model.

· CSS positioning - CSS positioning helps you manipulate an element to different locations such as fixed, relative, absolute, static, sticky, etc. The image below shows us CSS positions.

· CSS grid- CSS grid is a two-dimensional system with rows and columns. CSS grid makes it easier to structure a web page without having to use floats.

· CSS Flexbox - Flexbox is a one-dimensional system that allows us to choose between a row or a column as the main layout or structure of a web page. CSS flexbox also makes it more flexible to structure a web page without having to use floats.

· Responsive design and media queries - Responsive design is the approach that an application should be built or designed with the user in mind irrespective of their environment such as screen size/devices. Responsive design is very important and should be in the mind of every developer when building a web application. Media queries are useful when you want to modify your application to fit a device such as Desktops, tablets, and phones.

CSS Preprocessor

· Sass - Sass stands for Syntactically Awesome Stylesheet. According to the documentation, Sass is a stylesheet language that’s compiled to CSS. It allows you to use variables, nested rules, mixins, functions, and more, all with a fully CSS-compatible syntax. Sass helps keep large stylesheets well-organized and makes it easy to share design within and across projects.

· Less - Less stands for Leaner Style Sheets is a backwards-compatible language extension for CSS.

CSS Frameworks

· Bootstrap - Bootstrap helps us build fast and responsive websites.

· Foundation - Foundation is a responsive front-end framework that makes it easier to design responsive websites, apps on any device.

· Bulma - Bulma is a CSS framework based on flexbox layout.

Here are some resources to learn CSS:

· CSS tutorials - w3schools

· CSS Crash Course For Absolute Beginners - Traversy Media

· HTML5 & CSS Development - Udemy

· CSS Tutorial - Zero to Hero - Freecodecamp

· SASS Tutorial - w3schools

· Flexbox CSS in 20 minutes - Traversy media

· CSS Grid Layout Crash Course - Traversy media

· Less CSS PreProcessor Tutorial

· Tailwind CSS crash course - Traversy media

· Bootstrap 4 - w3school

· Foundation Framework Crash Course - Traversy media

· Bulma CSS Framework Crash Course- Traversy media

Learn JavaScript

JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world. It is the language of the web. As a front-end developer, it is required you learn JavaScript. JavaScript enables us to create dynamic content. When you create your HTML structure and your style with your CSS, JavaScript makes the website dynamic and alive.

Some of the basics of JavaScript you need to learn are:

· JavaScript Syntax - Every programming language has its own rules on how a program is written. The syntax of JavaScript is the set of rules that determine how a program is written by a programmer and interpreted by a browser.

· DOM Manipulation - DOM stands for document objects model. According to W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standard, the DOM is a platform and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of a document. The DOM is a representation of how the content of a web page is structured. JavaScript manipulates the DOM by updating the content, the style, removing elements, adding new elements.

· Learn Fetch API - API stands for Application Programming Interface. An API is an intermediary that allows two applications to communicate with each other. As a front-end developer, when building a web application, chances are that you will have to work with external data such as Third-party APIs, fetch API allows browsers to make HTTP requests to a web server.

JavaScript Frameworks/Libraries

After learning the basics of JavaScript, you can pick any JavaScript framework of your choice. But I highly recommend you pick Vuejs as it is more beginner-friendly.

· React - According to the documentation, a JavaScript library for building user interfaces React lets you create reusable components.

· Vue - Vuejs is an approachable, versatile, performant javascript framework that helps you create a maintainable and testable codebase. Vuejs is also beginner-friendly.

· Angular - According to the documentation, Angular is an application design framework and development platform for creating efficient and sophisticated single-page apps.

· Svelte - Svelte provides a different method for building web applications. It helps developers build fast web pages and a great user interface.

· Ember - Ember allows developers to create a scalable single page application. It includes everything you need to build a rich user interface that works on any device.

· PREACT - PREACT is an alternative to React but came with a Fast 3kB and the same modern API.