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What it means to be a front-end developer in 2020 (and beyond)
29.12.2019
I wrote a piece for Layout, the blog of my hosting sponsor Flywheel.
Stick around in this field for a while, and you'll see these libraries, languages, build processes, and heck, even entire philosophies on how best to build websites come and go like a slow tide.
You might witness some...
Having a Little Fun With Custom Focus Styles
2.12.2019
Every front-end developer has dealt or will deal with this scenario: your boss, client or designer thinks the outline applied by browsers on focused elements does not match the UI, and asks you to remove it. Or you might even be looking to remove it yourself.
So you do a little research and find...
No, Absolutely Not
19.11.2019
I think the difference between a junior and senior front-end developer isn't in their understanding or familiarity with a particular tech stack, toolchain, or whether they can write flawless code. Instead, it all comes down to this: how they push back against bad ideas.
What I've learned this year...
Become a Front-End Master in 2020 With These 10 Project Ideas
1.11.2019
This is a little updated cross-post from a quickie article I wrote on DEV. I'm publishing here 'cuz I'm all IndieWeb like that.
I love this post by Simon Holdorf. He's got some ideas for how to level up your skills as a front-end developer next year. Here they are:
Build a movie search app using...
The Best (GraphQL) API is One You Write
30.8.2019
Listen, I am no GraphQL expert but I do enjoy working with it. The way it exposes data to me as a front-end developer is pretty cool. It's like a menu of available data and I can ask for whatever I want. That's a massive improvement over REST and highly empowering for me as a front-end developer...
Branching Out from the Great Divide
2.8.2019
I like the term Front-End Developer. It's encapsulates the nature of your job if your concerns are:
Building UIs for web browsers
The spectrum of devices and platforms those web browsers run on
The people who use those web browsers and related assistive technology
The breadth of knowledge...
CSS-Tricks Chronicle XXXV
10.5.2019
I like to do these little roundups of things going on with myself, this site, and the other sites that are part of the CSS-Tricks family.
I spoke at Smashing Conf San Francisco.
There's a video! I can't embed it here because of privacy settings or something, so here's a link to the Vimeo.
It's...
Tabs: It’s Complicated™
19.4.2019
I've said before one quick and powerful thing you can learn as a front-end developer just getting starting with JavaScript is changing classes.
const button = document.querySelector(".my-button");
const element = document.querySelector(".content");
button.addEventListener("click", function()...
Using <details> for Menus and Dialogs is an Interesting Idea
21.3.2019
One of the most empowering things you can learn as a new front-end developer who is starting to learn JavaScript is to change classes. If you can change classes, you can use your CSS skills to control a lot on a page. Toggle a class to one thing, style it this way, toggle to another class...
Getting into GraphQL with AWS AppSync
12.3.2019
GraphQL is becoming increasingly popular. The problem is that if you are a front-end developer, you are only half of the way there. GraphQL is not just a client technology. The server also has to be implemented according to the specification. This means that in order to implement GraphQL into your...
Come to An Event Apart in 2019
7.2.2019
The 2019 season for An Event Apart (the premiere web and interaction design conference) is about to kick off!
Seattle - March 4–6, 2019
Boston - May 6–8, 2019
Washington DC - July 29–31, 2019
Chicago - August 26–28, 2019
Denver - October 28–30, 2019
San Francisco - December 9–11...
Forms that Move With You with Wufoo
31.1.2019
I've been into the idea of JAMstack lately. In fact, it was at the inaugural JAMstack_conf that I gave a talked called The All-Powerful Font-End Developer. My overall point there was that there are all these services that we can leverage as front-end developers to build complete websites without...
The Great Divide
21.1.2019
Let’s say there is a divide happening in front-end development. I feel it, but it's not just in my bones. Based on an awful lot of written developer sentiment, interviews Dave Rupert and I have done on ShopTalk, and in-person discussion, it’s, as they say... a thing.
The divide is between people...
What makes someone a good front-end developer?
11.12.2018
We recently covered this exact same thing, but from the perspective of a bunch of developers.
Chris Ferdinandi weighs in:
The least important skills for a front-end developer to have are technical ones.
The nuances of JavaScript. How to use a particular library, framework, or build tool. How...
The All Powerful Front-End Developer
5.12.2018
I posted a video of this talk some months back, but it was nearly an hour and a half long. Here's an updated version that I gave at JAMstack_conf that's only 30 minutes:
The gist is that the front-end stack is wildly powerful these days. Our front-end skillset can be expanded to give us power...
Developer Roadmaps
23.7.2018
The path to becoming a front-end developer, as looked back upon by anyone who self-identifies that way, is likely a very windy one full of thorn bushes and band websites. Still, documenting a path, even if it's straighter and far cleaner than reality, is an interesting exercise and might just...
Your Brain on Front-End Development
13.6.2018
Part of the job of being a front-end developer is applying different techniques and technologies to pull of the desired UI and UX. Perhaps you work with a design team and implement their designs. I know when I look at a design (heck, even if I know I'm not going to be building it), my front-end...
Collective #407
16.4.2018
Scroll to the future * Front-End Developer Handbook 2018 * Mustard UI * VuePress * Remote Browser * Length.js * Dot Tentacles
Collective #407 was written by Pedro Botelho and published on Codrops
Incapsula Web Application Firewall (Sponsored)
29.3.2018
When I speak with people who have interviewed for front-end jobs at cryptocurrency exchanges, they always tell me how surprised they are that a majority of the interview questions are security-centric. Basic front-end security practices are fair game for all front-end developer interviews...