Front-end development has improved a lot in the last 5 years. A lot of things have changed, we have new frameworks, tools, and libraries that we need to learn. Knowing only HTML, CSS, and jQuery is not enough anymore.
Front-end development is not only about creating interactive static websites. Nowadays, there are a lot of things front-end developers need to focus on. With the rise of new technologies and frameworks like React and Vue, we can create awesome web apps using the power of JavaScript.
In this article, we will talk about the useful skills that you need to have as a frontend developer in 2021. So let’s get right into it.
1. Frontend Frameworks
Nowadays, all frontend developers should at least know one framework. As I said, only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are not enough because we want to create web applications not just static websites. Frameworks are a good choice if you want to easily develop web applications.
In 2021, React and Vue are the most popular frontend frameworks. They are both amazing and easy to learn. In addition to that, they offer a lot of useful functionalities to make the development process much easier for developers.
Angular is still good for large enterprise projects. But in 2021, I would recommend only focusing on React and Vue simply because they are easy to learn and they have a great community(Sorry Angular developers).
2. Testing
Testing is an important part of any front-end application these days. You might avoid testing when working on your personal projects, but when it comes to working with large companies and enterprises it’s always mandatory to test your code.
There are different types of tests you need to know such as unit tests, integration tests, and functional testing. You can use different tools for that such as Jest, Cypress, or React-testing-library if you’re using React, for example.
You can also sometimes choose between manual tests and automated tests if you want to speed up the testing process. So no matter what type of developer you’re, testing is very useful, especially if you’re looking for a position in large companies that always test their code.
3. Static Site Generators
A static site generator is a tool that takes templates, components, data, and it generates static HTML pages at build time before even deploying the application. After the initial request, the site behaves, like a single-page application, no extra requests for other pages are sent to the server.
So static site generators(SSG) are a good way to combine the power of server-side rendering and single-page applications. As a result, we get good SEO, good performance, and the site becomes easy to update. This is a good skill to have for all frontend developers in 2021.
There are a lot of SSG tools that you can learn depending on what framework you’re using. Here are some of the most popular ones in 2021:
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NextJS(for React developers)
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Gatsby(for React developers)
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NuxtJs(for Vue developers)
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Gridsome(for Vue developers)
4. JAMstack
JAMstack stands for JavaScript(the client-side: React, Vue, etc), APIs(Getting backend functionality from APIs), and Markup(prebuilt markup at build time). It’s a new good way to build websites using established technologies for better performance and speed, higher security, scalability, and development experience.
JAMstack sites don’t depend on a server. Now hosters such as Netlify and Vercel are supporting JAMstack applications. A lot of large companies choose JAMstack to deliver a great experience and performance for their users. So this is definitely a good skill to have in 2021 as a frontend developer.
You can check out this article on FreeCodeCamp to learn more about JAMstack.
5. Progressive Web Apps
Progressive web apps(PWA) are definitely a thing in 2021. A lot of companies prefer PWA to deliver a great experience for their users.
Progressive web apps are very useful, they can work even without the internet(offline), they can be installed on the home screen, and allow to get push notifications, and etc.
These types of apps are fast, reliable, and engaging. So they are a great skill to learn for all developers. You can check out the resources below if you’re interested.
Conclusion
As you can see, these are the important things that a modern frontend developer should know in 2021. These skills or tools are very useful to have and they offer a great experience for developers and users.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you found it useful.
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