11 Key Front End Developer Skills You Need to Know [2023]
Want to become a front end developer? These are the top 11 skills you need to know, according to the experts!
Are you ready to start your career in front end web development?
Stay tuned because we’re going to tell you absolutely everything you need to know to confidently become a front end developer in 2023, from basic front end developer definitions to front end developer skills.
Table of Contents
- Front End Developer: Definition, Job Description, Salary, and Job Demand
- How To Become A Front End Developer in 2023
- 11 Skills You Need To Become a Front End Developer
- Start Your Front End Developer Career With Skillcrush
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You Will Learn: If a career in front end development is right for you What to know about making a career change into tech What skills you need to learn to become a developer
Front End Developer: Definition, Job Description, Salary, and Job Demand and Outlook
What is front end development? Is front end development a good career? How do I become a front end developer? You have questions, we have answers.
What Is Front End Development?
Have you ever looked at your favorite website and wondered why it looked like that or how the buttons worked?
The short answer is front end development. The long answer is much more nuanced.
While web design determines the way a website looks, front end development is how that design gets implemented on the web.
Front end development is “the practice of producing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for a website or Web Application so that a user can see and interact with them directly,” according to Frontend Masters.
Everything you see on a website is built with front end development (sometimes also called front end web development) — and the people behind it have a name: front end developers.
What Do Front End Developers Do?
A front end web developer is a software engineer who implements web designs through coding languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. If you head to any site, you can see the work of a front end developer in the navigation, layouts, and way that a site responds to screen size (thanks to mobile-first or responsive design).
The code front end developers write runs inside the user’s web browser (known as client-side, as opposed to a back end developer, whose code runs server-side using open source runtime environments like Node.js or with programming languages like Python).
A front end web developer is also in charge of making sure that there are no errors or bugs on the front end, as well as making sure that the design appears as it’s supposed to across various platforms and browsers. All of these tasks are important for a good user experience.
In addition to implementing web designs, front end developers perform the following job responsibilities, according to Glassdoor:
- Work closely with the product, design and engineering teams.
- Research new technologies and propose solutions to user needs.
- Identify UI problems and bugs and devise elegant solutions.
- Participate in code reviews and ship code on a daily basis.
- Develop fully functional web applications that align with business objectives.
- Mentor and onboard junior members of the team.
Front end development can be an exciting and fulfilling career choice for problem solvers given the job responsibilities. But is there a future in front end development? Is there a demand from front end developers? Keep reading.
Are Front End Developers In Demand?
Front end developer jobs (also sometimes called front end engineer jobs) are some of the most in-demand roles, and for good reason — we wouldn’t get to enjoy Internet black holes without them!
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the employment of web developers in the US will grow 23% from 2021 to 2031, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. Put another way, about 45,400 web developer jobs are expected to be added to the job market between 2021 and 2031.
And it’s not just the tech industry that requires developers. The finance and insurance, manufacturing, and public administration industries are among the top industries posting tech jobs. So as the demand for developers increases and decreases among industries, there will always be a demand for developers.
Front end development jobs are aplenty for years to come — great! Job security set aside, how do you know you’ll enjoy being a front end developer? Next, we’ll set the stage for what you can expect as a front end developer.
Is A Front End Developer Role A Good Career Choice?
Becoming a front end developer is a good long-term career change. The career offers great job security, job mobility, and as you’ll see next, high-paying opportunities and flexibility.
According to Glassdoor, the base salary for front end developers in the United States is $84,196 as of February 2023. And during the same time period, there were over 10,000 open front end developer jobs across the United States on Glassdoor.
In addition to high-paying front end developer positions, these tech jobs offer a wealth of flexibility. Remote work is increasingly available among tech positions, as you primarily need an internet connection and computer to perform job responsibilities.
And the best part? You don’t need a computer science degree to land a job in tech. A four-year degree is a momentous achievement, but if university isn’t in the cards for you (because of finances, location, or scheduling), you can become a front end developer through a coding bootcamp.
If this is sounding more and more like your dream job, we’ll break down all of the skills front end developers use and need so that you’ll know everything you need to know to become a front end web developer.
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You Will Learn: If a career in front end development is right for you What to know about making a career change into tech What skills you need to learn to become a developer
EVERYTHING You Need To Know To Become A Front End Developer
So far we’ve learned the front end development definition, front end developer job responsibilities, and job outlook… but I think we may have left out one thing. 🤔 Oh, how to become a front end developer!
So, how do you become a front end developer? The first step is to start learning some of the development fundamental skills that front end devs use on a day-to-day basis.
Let’s take a look at what you need to learn.
Must-Have Front End Developers Skills
Front end web developer skills are crucial! But if you want to be as successful as the best web developers in the business, you need to think like a front end web developer. Skillcrush Founder and CEO Ada Birnir explains the web developer mindset by exploring the six front end developer mindset must-haves.
11 Skills You Need To Become a Front End Developer
- Coding Skills
- JavaScript Frameworks
- Front End Frameworks
- CSS Preprocessors
- RESTful Services/APIs
- Responsive/Mobile Design
- Cross-Browser Development
- Content Management Systems
- Testing/Debugging
- Git/Version Control
- Problem-Solving
1. Front End Developer Coding Skills
Front end web developers use three primary coding languages to code the website and web app designs created by web designers:
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
Let’s take a look at the skills you need to become a front end developer.
HTML & CSS
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are the most basic building blocks of web coding. Without these two front end developer skills, you can’t create a website design — all you’d have is unformatted plain text on the screen. In fact, you can’t even add images to a page without HTML!
Before you get started your front end web developer career path, you’ll have to master coding with HTML and CSS. The good news is that getting a solid working knowledge of either of these can be done in just a few weeks.
The best part: HTML and CSS knowledge alone will let you build basic websites.
JavaScript
JavaScript lets you add a ton more functionality to your websites, and you can create a lot of basic web applications using nothing more than HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (JS for short).
At the most basic level, JS is used to create and control things like maps that update in real time, interactive films, and online games. Sites like Pinterest use a lot of JavaScript to make their user interface easy to use (the fact that the page doesn’t reload whenever you pin something is thanks to JavaScript!).
It’s also the most popular programming language in the world, so regardless of your developer career plans, it’s a super valuable thing to learn.
jQuery
jQuery is a JavaScript library: a collection of plugins and extensions that makes developing with JavaScript faster and easier. Rather than having to code everything from scratch, jQuery lets a front end web developer add ready-made elements to projects, then customize as necessary (one reason why knowing JavaScript is so important). You can use jQuery for things like countdown timers, search form autocomplete, and even automatically-rearranging and resizing grid layouts.
2. JavaScript Frameworks
JavaScript frameworks give a ready-made structure to your JavaScript code. There are different types of JavaScript frameworks for different needs, though Angular, Backbone, Ember, Vue.js, and React are the most popular in actual job listings
In fact, knowing React can net you up to $8,000 more in terms of average front end developer salary. While learning JavaScript frameworks does take time, the frameworks speed up development by jumpstarting JS code and can be used with libraries like jQuery to minimize how much from-scratch coding you have to do
3. Front End Frameworks
CSS and front end frameworks do for CSS what JS Frameworks do for JavaScript: they give you a jumping-off point for faster coding.
Since so much CSS starts with exactly the same elements from project to project, a framework that defines all of these for you upfront is super valuable. Most front end developer job listings expect you to be familiar with how these frameworks work and how to use them, so you should definitely get a head start if you want to be a front end programmer or just to further hone your front end development skills.
4. CSS Preprocessors
Preprocessors are another element that a front end developer can use to speed up CSS coding. A CSS preprocessor adds extra functionality to CSS to keep our CSS scalable and easier to work with. It processes your code before you publish it to your website, and turns it into well-formatted and cross-browser friendly CSS. Sass and LESS are the two most in-demand preprocessors.
5. RESTful Services and APIs
Without getting too technical on this one, REST stands for Representational State Transfer. In basic terms, it’s a lightweight architecture that simplifies network communication on the web, and RESTful services and APIs are web services that adhere to REST architecture.
Let’s say you wanted to write an app that shows you all of your social media friends in the order in which you became friends. You could make calls to Facebook’s RESTful API to read your friends list and return that data. As a front end web developer, you could call Twitter’s API as well (Twitter also uses RESTful APIs). The general process is the same for any service that uses RESTful APIs, only the data returned will be different.
While it all sounds really complicated and technical, it’s a simple set of guidelines and practices that sets expectations so you know how to communicate with a web service. It also makes a web service perform better, scale better, work more reliably, and be easier to modify or move.
Read more about REST and RESTful services.
Is Front End Development Right for You? Take Our 3-Minute Quiz!
You Will Learn: If a career in front end development is right for you What to know about making a career change into tech What skills you need to learn to become a developer
6. Responsive and Mobile Design
In the US alone, more people access the internet from their mobile device than from a desktop computer, so it’s no wonder that responsive and mobile design skills are super important to employers. Responsive design means that the site’s layout (and sometimes functionality and content) change based on the screen size and device someone is using.
For example, when you visit a website from a desktop computer with a big monitor, you’ll see multiple columns, big graphics, and interaction created specifically for mouse and keyboard users. On a mobile device, the same website would appear as a single column optimized for touch interaction, but using the same base files.
Mobile design can include responsive design, but can also mean creating separate mobile-specific designs. Sometimes the experience you want a user to have when visiting your site on a desktop computer is entirely different from what you want them to see when visiting from their smartphone.
In those cases, it makes sense for the mobile site to be completely different. A bank website with online banking would benefit from a separate mobile site that lets users view things like the closest bank location and a simplified account view (since mobile screens are smaller).
7. Cross-Browser Development
Modern browsers are getting pretty good at displaying websites consistently, but there are still differences in how they interpret code behind the scenes. Until all modern browsers work perfectly with web standards, knowing how to make each of them work the way you want them to is an important skill. That’s what cross-browser development is all about.
Read more about cross-browser compatibility or check out Daniel Herken’s Cross Browser Handbook for a deeper dive.
8. Content Management Systems and E-Commerce Platforms
Almost every website out there is built on a content management system (CMS).
The most popular CMS worldwide is WordPress, which is behind-the-scenes of millions of websites (including Skillcrush!). In fact, almost 60% of websites that use a CMS use WordPress.
Other popular CMSs include Joomla, Drupal, and Magento. While lesser-used CMS knowledge isn’t as in-demand WordPress expertise, it can give you a niche desirable among companies who use different systems.
As an aspiring front end developer, CMS skills could potentially give you an edge when it comes to landing a job.
9. Testing and Debugging
It’s a fact of life for a front end web developer: bugs happen. Being familiar with testing and debugging processes is vital.
Unit testing is the process of testing individual blocks of source code (the instructions that tell a website how it should work), and unit testing frameworks provide a specific method and structure for doing so (there are different ones for each programming language).
Another common type of testing is UI testing (also called acceptance testing, browser testing, or functional testing), where you check to make sure that the website behaves as intended.
You can write tests that will look for things like particular HTML on a page after an action is taken — like making sure that if a user forgets to fill out a required form field, your form error box pops up.
Debugging is simply taking all of the “bugs” (errors) those tests uncover (or your users uncover once your site is launched), putting on your detective hat to figure out why and how they’re happening, and fixing the problem. Different companies use slightly different processes for this, but if you’ve used one, you can adapt to others pretty easily.
Because testing and bugging contribute in large part to a positive user experience, they’re valuable skills for a front end developer to know.
10. Git and Version Control Systems
Version control systems let you keep track of changes that have been made to code. They also make it easy to revert to an earlier version if you screw something up.
Let’s say you add a customized jQuery plugin and suddenly half of your other code breaks. Rather than having to scramble to manually undo it and fix all of the errors, you can roll back to a previous version and then try it again with a different solution — like hitting a reset button.
Git, not to be confused with Github, is the most widely used of these version control management systems and can be installed using the command line. Knowing how to use Git is going to be a requirement for virtually any development job, be it front end development, back end development, or full stack development. This is one of those vital job skills that developers need to have but few actually talk about.
11. Problem Solving Skills
If there’s one thing that all front end developers have to have, regardless of the job description or official title, it’s excellent problem solving skills. From determining how to best implement a design, to fixing bugs that crop up, to figuring how to make your front end code work with back end code, development is all about creative problem solving.
For example: you’ve created a perfectly-functioning website front end and you hand it over to the back end developers for them to integrate it with the content management system (CMS). All of a sudden, half your awesome features stop working.
A good front end developer will view this as a puzzle to be solved rather than an absolute disaster. Of course, an excellent, senior-level front end developer will anticipate these problems and try to prevent them in the first place!
Start Your Front End Developer Career With Skillcrush
If you’re pumped about working as a front end developer but not sure where to get the skills, you’re in the right place. Skillcrush’s Break Into Tech program includes access to our Front End Developer Track, a program designed to give you all the skills you need to start working as a front end developer — you’ll get a solid foundation en route to landing the front end developer job you’re after with skills like HTML and CSS, responsive web development, Git, and JavaScript — everything we talked about here, conveniently, as online courses!
PUBLISHED: May 6, 2022
UPDATED: February 16, 2023
Is Front End Development Right for You? Take Our 3-Minute Quiz!
You Will Learn: If a career in front end development is right for you What to know about making a career change into tech What skills you need to learn to become a developer
Scott Morris
Category: Blog, Front End Developer, Learn to Code, Tech Careers, Work in Tech
