Front-end web development is an exciting and growing career choice among young professionals and since this technological field is constantly evolving, there are always new opportunities on the horizon. While keeping engaged in the community is increasingly important, another decisive element to bring about success is the hands-on development of tools and skills that are needed to perform all the tricks of the trade. Nevertheless, here are some must-haves that should be added to your dynamic career checklist.
Knowledge of programming languages
An essential skill that all front-end developers seeking jobs will need is an extensive understanding of computer programming languages. For example, HTML is the language that communicates with the browser about the structure of the e-commerce site, whereas CSS is responsible for the styling of the pages, which greatly improves the user experience. Another important component of the webpage is made functional with the help of JavaScript, which one of the elements that coordinate the features and define website functions. Together these three programming languages have become an integral part of front-end web development.
Knowledge of Version Control Software
Considered to be the most popular software used by large-scale teams of developers, Version Control Software (also known as Git or GitHub) tracks the changes of each coder and creates a branch that either signifies that they made changes, deleted changes or committed the changes. This allows the developers to continually collaborate and better the development process.
Expertise in testing and debugging
All sizes and various types of web development projects will require some form of testing and debugging because it’s an integral part of the development process. Every front-end developer job will require each individual to fix bugs and errors within their created code to ensure their long-term compatibility with the company and to maintain a certain degree of competence and experience.
An insight into automation tools
The pillars of front-end web development — HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — collectively make a functional user interface and although performance is best measured based on loading time, there’s automated building software that makes their job easier.
If a page takes too long to load, despite amazing functionality, shoppers may exit and take their business to a competitor’s page. However, since image optimization and other page components that may affect the speed will take time to work on, the knowledge of automation is a required skill to speed up the pace of any front-end development project.
Proficiency in problem-solving
Like most things in life, if you want to find yourself with a front-end developer job you will need to know how to quickly and efficiently solve programmer-related problems. When you’re part of a large-scale project, the entire team will likely tackle any issues head-on, however, for small-scale assignments where you’re the only developer, you will need to think of different methods and ideas to figure out the issue at hand. After all, the more knowledge and skill you can bring to your job, the better.
How long did it take you to find a job as a front-end developer? Drop a comment below to start a conversation.