The most important thing about a website is that it's usually the first point of contact between a company or organisation and possible customers. As such, it's the gateway towards making the best first impression possible. This means that on the design end, front-end developers have to be able to produce work that's engaging and will initiate communication.
How does that come about? We will explore all of that in this blog.
Front-End Development: What Is It?
Front-end development involves the coding, styling, and the development of a website's front-end, or the portion of the website you can see and all of the elements within it. If a website is excellent for user experience but not so much for SEO, that's an example of front-end development. A front-end developer must be proficient in HTML and CSS, two of the most popular front-end languages.
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is used to create websites and many types of content on the internet. It is a programming language that tells web browsers how to display a web page, so HTML is often used as a front end language designed to show content on the screen.
On the other hand, there's CSS: Cascading Style Sheets. This used to style webpages using multiple design elements, colours, font sizes and more.
There's also such a thing as back-end developers. They do server-side, unseen work that's more on the programming end. People that can do both front-end and back-end development are called full-stack developers.
What Does A Front-End Developer's Job Entail?
Front-end developers require social skills because a lot of their job involves communication. It's important from the very first meeting with a client, as they need to listen closely and properly decipher the client's needs. Sometimes, that will require having an understanding of things that are more implied than stated outright. Not guesswork per se; more like reading between the lines. Not everyone is a full "techie," after all. This is why knowing what kind of questions to ask is just as crucial of a skill.
For those hired in-house or outsourced for a certain company or organisation, this could mean working with different departments. Enter teamwork, time management and critical thinking; keys to success in any group setting.
Some things are dependent on the website in question:
- Banking, eCommerce and sensitive data industries - This will involve cybersecurity professionals and, likely, entire information technology (IT) departments.
- Existing website - Figuring out how a new design will work with old or pre-set elements that do not need changing.
Other possible needs that may arise which the front-end developer will be expected to fill include graphic design, programming, the most basic of search engine optimisation (SEO) and even setting up website analytics.
Needless to say, it's vital to keep up-skilling and learning over time to improve at front-end development. Software knowledge is a huge plus, especially for employers looking for either regular or contractual assistance from a professional.
Conclusion
Front-end development is a crucial part of any website's very existence. It involves styling and coding, though developers on the front-end usually also need other skills involving graphic design or SEO. Up-skilling and picking up complementary software knowledge will go a long way here.
Trying to find online coding classes in the UK that can help you learn front end development? Check out Code Success! We’ve got a team of professional web developers that can’t wait to aid people looking to work in software/web development.