Becoming a Frontend + Web3 Developer
Published: 2023-09-13 18:39:56

Web3 has been buzzing around for a while now and different things have been said about this new web both its advantages and downsides.

Web3 is a decentralized web where users are not held down by governance. It is an interesting one but currently at its early stage and different problems are rising up and down.

Developers help in shaping and building a better web, so in web3 we have categories of developers that build decentralized products on the blockchain and also build the core blockchain.

In this article I will be focusing on the Web3 Frontend, I will share an article that talks about all categories of developers in web3 later.

**What is Web 3?**
Web 2.0, known as the ‘wisdom web’ is where we are predominantly at. There, information could be passed along by both providers and viewers; people could participate, engage and communicate.

The biggest gift of Web 2.0 to mankind is social media platforms i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Gmail+ etc.

Web 3 is a decentralized version of Web 2.0. Although there are a few other differences, decentralization is a core.

Decentralization means no governing authority or a single person looking after the framework, rather a group of separate nodes(computers) maintains the network making it decentralized.

**Web 3 Frontend Development**
In one of my articles on “Getting started in Web Development”, I wrote about what frontend is and the skills needed to be a frontend developer.

Frontend Development is the client-side development of our website/app which users see and interact with. So we web3 frontend developers build web(D)Apps(Decentralized Apps).

What makes the websites and web apps we build decentralized? It is because as a web3 frontend developer, you don’t consume APIs, you interact with Smart Contracts.

We can see web3 as a house, web3 Js libraries as the cement and blocks used in building the house, smart contracts as the pillar of the house and wallets as the key to enter the house.

Now let’s take this one after the other

**Web3 Js Libraries**
As front-end developers, we are familiar with the javascript libraries we use to build web applications like React, Vue, and Angular.

The knowledge of these libraries is still very well needed because they stand as a foundation which you are building, but just like we consume APIs, we need web3 libraries to be able to interact with smart contracts.

These libraries make it easy to interact with the blockchain, and smart contracts and also conduct transactions. They also help easily build decentralized apps on the blockchain.

These libraries are web3.js, ethers.js, and web3.py. Currently, the most popular javascript library used with these web3 libraries is React.

You can check platforms like Udemy, and Coursera to get training on how to use these libraries.

**Smart Contracts**
In the current web development, we have frontend and backend, the backend meaning the server-side and making our web apps dynamic. In web3, the smart contract is more like the backend in web2. That was why I mentioned earlier, that web3 frontend developers interact with smart contracts to make our DApp work dynamically in a web3 way😁.

As a frontend developer, we need to understand how smart contract works just like we understand how APIs work in web2.

You can go further in learning how to write smart contracts to stand out and be a full stack web3 developer here. You can also learn how to write smart contracts and be a full stack web3 developer through Patrick Collin’s infamous 30+ hour YT course and Alchemy University. These free courses teach you everything you need to know about web3 dapp development.

**Wallets**
Blockchain wallet addresses can serve as identities and also a place to store your cryptocurrencies. They are also used for transactions. Whenever an operation has to be done on the blockchain, the transaction is first verified and the fee is being made to the network.

There are lots of wallets, the most popular are Metamask, Coinbase, TrustWallet etc

**Where to get Web3 Frontend Jobs**
Recently on websites where jobs are being posted, companies are now looking for web3 frontend developers or frontend developers that know web3.

This is to tell you that web3 frontend developer is in demand, the same way web2 frontend is in demand, but you will be sure that moving forward, companies want web3 frontend developers than frontend developers with zero web3 knowledge.

You can get web3 frontend jobs on sites like web3Career and Alchemy’s Pallet Job Board.

To also learn how to strategically position yourself to earn in the web3 space as a web 3 developer or full-stack developer, you can get my book.

**Finale**
In a nutshell, to be a web3 frontend developer, you need to have your web2 frontend skills, most commonly used is react.js, then learn either web3.js or ethers.js to be able to interact with smart contracts, also understand wallet system. Then you are a web3 Frontend Developer.

These are the major things you need to know to get started, as you move forward in learning, you tend to learn new stuff along the way that helps you become better in it.