Frontend‌ ‌Development:‌ ‌A‌ ‌beginner’s‌ ‌Guide‌ ‌

So, you finally decided to get into the world of programming and you narrowed down to frontend development amongst the seemingly endless options. Make no mistake, frontend development is also a huge field on its own. Besides the basics (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript), there are countless CSS and JavaScript frameworks/libraries to get familiar with before you can be called a frontend developer in 2020. As a beginner, the sheer amount of frontend technologies to learn can seem like a herculean task and downright intimidating for even the most determined souls out there.
Fortunately, with the right mindset, frontend development is still a relatively easy field to get started with however challenging it may seem and the main purpose of this article is to outline some important guidelines for those looking to explore a career in frontend development and some even apply to the program generally.
 
DECISION
Being decisive is a very important life skill that will aid you to accomplish a lot and it is no different in the world of programming. Deciding to be a frontend developer amongst the myriad of options is one of the numerous choices you are going to have to make throughout your career. Although, one of the most important choices you will make as a beginner is choosing one out of the most popular frameworks/ libraries (Angular, React, Vuejs) to get started with. This decision is so important that it will most likely shape the kind of career you will have as a lot of companies have specific preferences.
Making a decision and sticking to it was particularly challenging to me as a beginner because there were and still are numerous technologies to learn which could lead a very passionate beginner to get trapped in a rabbit hole by trying to learn too much within a short time.
 
LEARN THE TERMINOLOGIES
Every field has its own associated terminologies and the programming world is no exception. As a new developer, hearing these terms thrown around by more experienced developers can make you feel lost but fret not as some of the most important ones you should know are not complicated. Below are some examples and brief explanations:
HTML: HTML stands for Hyper Text Mark-up Language which is used to define the structure of web pages by the use of HTML elements. The latest version is HTML5.
CSS: This stands for cascading style sheets and it is used to customize the appearance of HTML pages by defining styles for HTML elements word cascading describes the fact that the language is read from top to bottom.
JavaScript: This is a scripting language that is used to add interactivity to web pages. It is defined by the ECMA standard and it is also known as ECMA script.
IDE: IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment and it is a text editor with advanced programming language features and support, like code linting, code suggestions, formatting highlighting, etc. These features make programming much easier.
CLI:  The command-line interface or the terminal is a text-based user interface mainly used to execute commands on your computer and a lot of technologies you will use as a developer like a node package manager or npm, Version Control, etc use the CLI.
VERSION CONTROL: Code versioning or version control systems like git help store versions of your files or code remotely to enable easy code sharing, collaboration, and also to revert back to an older version of the file or code. Note that online platforms like GitHub and Gitlab use git as the underlining version control system.
UI/UX: User interface and User experience are both used interchangeably but they are quite different. The user interface is the part of the software that the user interacts with like the icons, text, navigation systems, etc. The User experience describes the overall flow of the user interface and how intuitive it is to use. It also makes the connection between the user and the software product.
Libraries and Frameworks: A library is a collection of custom functions and methods that helps you to achieve tasks easier and faster. It also allows you to write shorter code. A framework, on the other hand, is basically a collection of libraries, see it as a skeleton that your project is built on.
 
STAY FOCUSED
By now you are very well aware of the multitude of technologies related to frontend development and this can both be a joy and a pain especially to beginners as it makes it hard to stay focused while learning something new and exciting. So, the basic rule is to learn what you need for a given project keeping it at the back of your mind that any problem you are facing has a solution out there. As a developer, your ability to learn new technologies on the job is your most important skill.
PRACTICE
“Practice makes perfect” is a phrase everybody is very familiar with these days. Constant practice is a fundamental habit every programmer should master as it is the only way to ensure you are learning and growing as a software developer. I have heard lots of beginners complain about how they don’t know how to put what they have to practice on real projects or how they don’t know what project to work on. This happens when you go on a learning spree for a long time without actually writing code. As a beginner, you probably won’t have many commercial projects to work on so learn to create and complete personal (pet) projects and also to contribute to open source projects will go a long way in helping you build your portfolio and landing your first job as a developer.
 
Becoming a frontend developer is not the most difficult thing in the world to accomplish but it is not the easiest thing either and with these guidelines, you should be able to weather the storm quite favorably.