Changing your career is a huge deal, but it’s common to have different jobs throughout your life. You want your next role to be better than the last. Apart from software engineering, front-end development is also in high demand when you want to work from home.

The news you read, the websites you browse, and the things you buy online are made visually appealing by front-end developers. They are involved in important aspects of web development. If you’re thinking to become one, it’s helpful to know what skills are essential first.

What does a front-end developer do?

There are three main types of developers: front-end, back-end, and full-stack. Front-end developers use their coding knowledge to make user-facing elements, including buttons. They interact with customers to learn their needs then create solutions using their programming and artistic abilities.

Some of their responsibilities are:

• Monitoring the performance of websites
• Fixing issues related to usability
• Making tools for improving the user experience
• Working with the website development team
• Maintaining updated knowledge on industry trends
• Implementing techniques and principles for functionality
• Checking for brand consistency across all web pages
• Optimising websites for search engines like Google
• Developing features to make pages mobile-friendly
• Building reusable code to make the site scalable

How much do front-end developers make?

Being in high demand, it makes sense that this job pays really well. A survey by Talent.com reveals that a front-end developer in the Philippines makes around PHP 480,000 every year or PHP 246 per hour. Entry-level positions start at PHP 390,000 while experienced workers get up to PHP 782,700 annually.

Is front-end development a good long-term career?

On their Occupational Outlook Handbook, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the employment of web designers and developers is expected to grow by 13% by 2030. This projected growth of 17,900 openings per year is faster than average when compared to other occupations.

What skills must a front-end developer have?

Developing a website requires hard skills that you must have advanced working knowledge of. Start by honing the following technical skills:

HTML and CSS

The most basic building blocks of web coding are Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Without either of these, you won’t be able to design a site. You won’t even be able to add images to a page without HTML.

There are plenty of online resources available to further your education about these coding languages. Enrol in courses at Skillcrush or Codecademy, for instance. Getting a solid working knowledge of them is possible within a few weeks but you’ll have to practice a lot.

JavaScript

If you want to add more functionality to your websites, learn how to code with JavaScript (JS). Basically speaking, it is used to make and control things like online games, interactive videos, and real-time maps. Platforms like Pinterest use it to make their user interface easier to navigate.

It’s considered to be the most popular programming language in the world, partly because it lets you add features like forms, slideshows, and polls. It supports dynamic elements, such as video, audio, scrolling, and page animations as well.

Chrome Developer Tool

Many developers used to rely on the View Page Source option to know what’s happening on a particular web page. Things have changed since Google Chrome was introduced to the world, especially with its built-in debugging tool known as the Chrome Developer Tool.

This is accessible by right-clicking on an element and selecting the ‘Inspect’ option. Not only does it allow you to see the raw HTML but also change the CSS classes to modify the look and feel. We recommend that you learn to use it in-depth to maximise its features.

Libraries and frameworks

A library is a collection of extensions and plugins for adding pre-written elements to a site. One example is p5 play for JavaScript which is used to add animations, collisions, and other features for sprites. Another is jQuery for Ajax, CSS animation, and event handling.

On a similar note, frameworks are tools that provide ready-made solutions and components customised for speeding up development. The difference from a library is that a framework is capable of inverting the control of the program. An example is Rails built on top of the Ruby programming language.

Cross-browser and device testing

When developing a website or application, ensure that it caters to the needs of your audiences who access it from different browsers and devices. The appearance of your site may change so you want to use browser tools to address this concern properly.

Responsive design lets you best layout and design your website depending on the size of the tools a person is using. Browser tools, on the other hand, allow you to fine-tune your pages so they become suited to a particular browser.

What are other skills a front-end developer needs?

Outside the skills we have discussed above, it’s a good idea to learn or work on these too:

• Flexbox
• Grid
• React.js
• Node Package Manager (NPM)
• VSCode
• Postman
• GraphQL
• Web performance optimisation (WPO)
• Git and version control
• Search engine optimisation (SEO)
• CSS preprocessors
• APIs
• RESTful Services
• Content management systems
• E-commerce platforms
• Debugging and testing

How to find a front-end development job

As with many other occupations, gaining experience on the job is important when you want to improve your skills as a front-end developer. Start small by building websites using CSS and HTML and eventually progress to JavaScript development and so on.

Not sure where to find jobs to develop and hone your technical skills? We at Remote Workmate will connect you to clients who are looking for developers with different experience and skill levels. Our clients are based across the globe so you’re sure to learn something from them.

Check our job listings for web development roles online.