Top 10 Skills You Require to Become a Front End Developer in 2024

We’ve all come across the saying “Never judge a book by its cover.” However, in the world we live in today, websites have become a crucial part. And the saying doesn’t stand true. Just imagine you opened a website of a top brand and its look isn’t that appealing. It would be hard for you to explore it further right?

Hence, organizations understand the importance of a good website as it is its gateway to attracting people. With great user experience and performance, the design and layout of the website should also be exceptional. That’s where the Front End Developer skills come in.

If you’re one of those people who’ve been overwhelmed by the fear that this career path would be a tough journey, it’s time for you to let go of the fear and get started with your dream. Let’s first discuss the ins and outs of Front End Development and further move on to the skills you need to become one.

Let’s begin with why Front End Development

Front End Developer, also known as Front End Web Developer, is a person in charge of the design and execution of the interface. Due to the web-driven world, the demand for skilled Front End Developers is on the rise. It also provides a vast pool of opportunities to grow and help to build a multifaceted portfolio. If you ever face an issue at any point, you can always reach out to the huge community of developers on sites like Front-End Developers this field has nurtured over the years.

So, what does a Front End Developer do exactly?

We’ve seen the gist of who is a Front End Developer above. Now, let’s go deeper into the roles and responsibilities.

  • Decide on the design and structure of the website.
  • Develop features that enhance the experience of the user
  • Strike a balance between both functional and aesthetic designs
  • Handle responsiveness of the website across various platforms, devices, and resolutions.
  • Optimize the components of the website and its performance.
  • Build reusable code for the future
  • And last but not the least, keep the design of the brand consistent throughout.

Apart from the above, Front End Developers also play a major role in understanding the intricacies of each and every requirement. They test, maintain, and regularly review the code adapting the feedback given to them from across various groups to improve the performance and provide the best to their users.

Since the role of a Front End Developer holds such importance, they’re basically the rockstars of whatever they build. To become an exceptional developer, one has to have a well-stocked toolbox to climb up the ladder. Here are some essential skills you’ll need to begin a high-flying career in this field and transform any static, boring website into the one users would love.

Skills you need to become a Front End Developer

Here we are, the main idea behind this blog, a question that’s lingering in your mind- what does it take to become a Front End Developer. Listed below are the top skills expected from any Front End Developer.

1. HTML and CSS:

HTML and CSS are the foundational skills required for most roles in the tech industry. They’re the ABCs of Front End Development, mandatory to learn for website development.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is a standard markup language that is used to build web pages. Whereas, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a language responsible for making a digital language come alive with elements like format, layout, color, etc.

These two skills are a must for any Front End Developer. If you’re looking to take up this career path, gain hands-on knowledge by building HTML projects from the very beginning.

2. JavaScript:

While HTML is a markup language and CSS enhances the web page, JavaScript is what makes it functional. Each language works hand-in-hand when it comes to developing websites. Without JavaScript, there would be “no” to a lot of things we’re today accustomed to while browsing websites.

The interactive elements like videos, animations, etc wouldn’t be possible without it. Build real-world projects using JavaScript and create unique and visually appealing interactive elements.

3. ES6:

ES6 implies the 6th version of the ECMA Script programming language. ECMA is the standardization of JavaScript and comes with a lot more features with the aim to make enterprise-scale development effortless. It has a cleaner and friendlier syntax known as the sugar syntax.

4. Version Control System:

Version control is the action of tracking and managing changes made to the source code of an application. It enhances the speed of the project and reduces the possibility of errors and conflicts to help recover the code in case of an unexpected situation.

One of the best version control systems out there is Git. It is an important part of daily programming for developers. Learn all about what Git is and the various commands used to perform operations.

Some other top-rated version control systems are:

    • AWS CodeCommit
    • Beanstalk
    • Apache Subversion

5. DOM Knowledge / Virtual DOM:

Every time a page is built, a Document Object Model is generated which is the tree structure of components that are used in the browser. DOM is the programming API for Documents.

Knowledge of  DOM enables the developer to understand the nitty-gritty aspects of how the browser treats the components and elements and how it renders with the page. A developer with thorough knowledge of DOM is capable of avoiding performance issues.

6. Testing and Code Analysing Tools:

Testing the functionality, usability, and Graphic User Interface (GUI) of a web page, application, or software is crucial. The fundamental aim of front-end testing is to study the all in all operations and functions to guarantee the UI of an application is working properly.

7. Responsive Web Design:

One of the key skills a Front End Developer needs is that of making a website responsive across all platforms and devices. Since, the screen size, orientation, and environment vary from user to user, it is important to maintain consistency.

A responsive web page, in turn, leads to user-friendliness and improves the search engine simultaneously.

8. Frameworks and Libraries:

Frameworks provide a way to ease the development process, and almost every company uses a set of frameworks and libraries to power their systems to maximum potential. It eases the process of development.

Some CSS frameworks include Bootstrap, Semantic UI, Tailwind CSS, etc and some popular JavaScript frameworks include Angular, React, Vue, and Ember.

9. SEO:

While Front End Developers do not write the content of the website, they should be familiar with search engine optimization (SEO). It helps refine the search ranking of a website and consequently expands its visibility for suitable searches. Knowing the best practices of SEO will help build an SEO-friendly design for a website.

10. RESTful Services and APIs:

Representational State Transfer (REST) is an architecture that helps streamline network communications on the web. APIs and RESTful services are web services that follow the REST architecture. Having a profound knowledge of the above two will help you extend your front end framework as per the requirements of the project.

Also Read: How is IoT Changing the Face of the Automotive Industry?

Non-technical skills

Undeniably, technical skills are extremely significant to kick-start your career as a Front End Developer. However, it takes a certain set of soft skills to climb up the success ladder. In order to really stand out as a Front End Developer, there are several soft skills one must master. These include teamwork, communication skills, creativity, and presentation skills. These skills may look easy, yet, they’re perhaps the hardest ones to ace.

Final thoughts

It’s nearly impossible to visualize today’s world without the web, which shows just how essential Front End Developers are to organizations and the social worlds we connect with every day. Front End Development is one of the most gratifying, in-demand professions at the moment. With consistent effort, anyone from any background can become an eminent web developer.

Just master the skills necessitated to design and build applications from scratch and start your journey down one of the most rewarding and swiftly evolving web development career paths.

Author Bio:

Amani is a Content Writer at Crio Blog – an author by day and reader by night. Her desire for writing began with the art of story-telling in books and movies like veer-zaara full movie download pagalworld. Learning new stuff and coffee is what she loves!