What is Front-End Development? How do I get started?
Tags: webdev, beginners, codenewbie, frontend
Published: 2023-08-05 16:14:12

If you are new to tech, you might have heard of frontend development. But what is it all about?

In this post I'm going to explain what front-end development is and give you a few tips about how to start a career in front-end development. Let's dive in.

#### A little bit of history.
One would say that front-end development started in the 1990s when the World Wide Web came into existence.
#### But what is it exactly?
* Front-end development is the practice of designing and creating all that you see when you visit a website or any other software application.

* This involves the *visual* and *interactive* aspects of the web pages or applications.

## Tools used

Front-end development involves the use of different languages like [HTML(HyperText Markup Language)](#html), [CSS(Cascading Style Sheet)](#css) and [Javascript](#javascript)

### <sub>Html</sub>
[A markup language published in 1990](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML) which is used to develop the structure of web pages like headings, paragraphs and more.

### <sub>Css</sub>
CSS deals with the style of the HTML including color, font, formatting,...

### <sub>Javascript</sub>
Javascript is a programming language that deals with the interactivity of the page.

### <sub>Frameworks</sub>
There are a number of frameworks which are a collection of pre-built and tested programs that help you develop User Interfaces easily.

The most popular ones are [Reactjs](https://react.dev/), [Vuejs](https://vuejs.org/) and [Angular](https://angular.io/).

## The Profession
In front-end development there are many [job titles](https://frontendmasters.com/guides/front-end-handbook/2018/practice/types-of-front-end-dev.html) here are a few:

### <sub>Front-End Developer/Engineer</sub>
A developer who is skilled to some extent in HTML,CSS, DOM(Document Object Model) and Javascript and who can implement them on the web.

### <sub>Application/Javascript Developer/Engineer</sub>
A person with computer science/engineering background using those skills in front-end technologies.

### <sub>UI(User Interface) Developer/Engineer</sub>
Developer with interaction design skills on top of front-end developer or front-end engineering skills.

## How to get in.
Anybody can get into front-end dev but it is not an easy journey. But I promise it's rewarding...

### <sub>Salaries</sub>
Infact as of August 2023, the average salary for a front-end developer is $110,895 per year according to [indeed.com](https://www.indeed.com/career/front-end-developer/salaries).

⚠ However, salary-ranges vary based on your location.

## Roadmap
You can find a comprehensive roadmap at [roadmap.sh/frontend](https://roadmap.sh/frontend)

## Resources
There are many resources if you want to start out as a front-end developer.
I recommend [Traversy Media](https://www.youtube.com/c/TraversyMedia/videos) on youtube.
* [Html crash course](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB1O30fR-EE)
* [Css crash course](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfoY53QXEnI)
* [Js(Javascript) crash course](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdI2bqOjy3c)

## Conclusion
So, if you want to start your career as a front-end developer, what's stopping you? Go ahead and start. It won't be easy, but trust me; it will be worth the effort.