Front-end developer 102: Languages and Decisions of Front-end Developer
Tags: Decision, Front-end Developer, Languages
Posted By: Avadhi K
Hello again!! We are back with our Front-end Developer series blog with extended information. We have discussed about skills and features of a Front-end Developer and now we’ll discuss the languages a Front-end Developer should know and how to make decisions as a Front-end Developer.
What languages should a Frontend Developer Know?
Along with skills the main thing required to be a frontend developer is the knowledge of computer languages like HTML, JavaScript, CSS, etc.…
1. HTML:
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. HTML is a standard language used in Web Development. HTML was introduced by Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, and others starting in 1989. The latest version now available is HTML5. HTML language works upon 2 things: tags and attributes. These tags and attributes instruct browser how to display the content of website. Tags in HTML are for the marking of the start on a HTML element. In order to function tags has to be opened
and closed in such way. Some of the HTML tags are , , , , etc.… Attributes are for adding further additional information such as image, border, color, etc.…
2. JavaScript:
JavaScript is used to make a web page alive. JavaScript adds effect, calculate, manipulate and validate data in a web page. The programmers in JavaScript are called Script. It is fully integrated with HTML and CSS. Simple things can be done simply using JavaScript and the best thing is that JavaScript is supported by all browsers and is enabled by default. It is used to carry out logical operations. There are certain features of JavaScript which differentiates it from others namely, Imperative and Structured, weakly typed, dynamic, object-oriented, functional, delegative.
3. CSS:
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. It was developed by W3C on 17 December 1996. CSS is used to style a HTML web page like font, color, background style, attributes alignment, etc.… The best part is that CSS can be linked to multiple pages which will allow a developer to change the page appearance of all the pages at the same time.
4. jQuery:
Now, to study jQuery you should have the basic knowledge of HTML, JavaScript and CSS. The purpose of jQuery is to simplify the use of JavaScript on website. Some of the core features supported by jQuery are DOM manipulation, AJAX support, event handling, animation, cross browser support, etc.…. jQuery can be used for finding an element in the document with a certain property (e.g. all elements with an h1 tag), changing one or more of its attributes (e.g. color, visibility), or making it respond to an event (e.g. a mouse click).
Decision making as a Frontend Developer
Every task in your day-to-day life requires decision making from what to wear to what to eat to where to go. A fun fact says that a human being in average makes 35000 decisions per day. That’s hell lot of it! Here all these decisions must be easy to make but making decisions as a frontend developer is tricky. The decision may vary like which design or color will be appropriate? What is the user base? Will it meet client’s budget? Therefore, as a frontend developer you will have to think which is the easiest and cost-effective way of dealing with an issue. Some of the decisions you may need to make or some points you may keep in mind while making decision are:
1. Navigation must be straight forward:
As a frontend developer you have little flexibility when it comes to design. Your clients may come to you with particular set of requirements laid off which you are bound to do. The website you are making may be used to serve banks, shopping, financing, hospitals, etc.… Depending on the end user you have to decide where will they expect headline, search bar, logo. You do have a little flexibility based on your knowledge but don’t try to change the whole layout of the design given by client until you are completely confident about your design. Navigation must be straight forward. That means you are not supposed to make a very serious website for Art or Theme park business people and not an artsy website for business corporations. It’s your responsibility to think of end user and design appropriately.
2. You cannot be master of everything:
Suppose that you have a client who wants to start a website for his/her hospital which features blogs of all the different facilities they provide. Now, they haven’t provided you any image, content or list. You are supposed to collect it on your own. What a nightmare it would be! But its simple!! Here, you will have to work in team with other people. You may have to hire a photographer for images, a content writer for blog, a person from hospital who can provide you proper information. Here, you are supposed to decide whom you will need and whom to team up with.
3. Make it fit to Budget:
You can charge from your client in 2 ways – fixed rate based on requirement or charging time based (decide hourly rates). While charging from client based on time it won’t create much issue but when you are charging a fixed rate you have to make sure it fits to your budget. Never give an exact cost to your client. Instead, give a cost in range. For example, if the job is costing you RS. 5000, say the cost may range from RS. 5000 to RS. 6000. By doing this you can avoid future arguments or bargain.
4. Small issues while developing website:
You don’t have to always contact your client for minor issues or changes. He may get irritated by you. You have to take such decisions on your own. Just make sure the decisions are suitable to the end user of website. Some examples of such issues where you will need to take decisions are –
• Designs for mobile and other devices if design is not provided by client at all
• The hover effect for button if not mentioned in design
• Common pages in case it’s the website for client like privacy policy, terms and condition page, etc.…
• Security features like form validations and broken links
5. Use justifiable tools and techniques:
While developing a website use tools which are necessary and justifiable. OK! I get that trying something new and adventurous is AMAZING. Come on, even I am a Sagittarius – totally adventurous person but when working for client’s project it is crucial. Use certain tool or techniques only when you are 100% sure about it because you surely would not want to waste your time by keeping site revising and revising that too without getting paid for it. While making such decisions, you have to think about certain things like – will it be suitable for content? Should you use existing technique or try a new one? Will it be appropriate to the client?
After reading this you may be thinking I do wish to become a frontend developer, but how? We have a solution. Visit our next blog to know how to become a frontend developer phase by phase. Hope you enjoyed reading it!