Frontend Developer

Front-end Developer: how to become one and tasks

Behind a website there is a lot of work. In addition to the work of a graphic designer, one of the aspects that the user has the opportunity to feel tangibly, is the usability by visitors.
A front-end developer takes care of this particular factor, a figure who has the task of making the site easy to use and which therefore allows visitor to surf between the pages without too much trouble.
With these premises, in this article we will see together how to become a front-end developer, what are his skills, tasks and average salary.

Who is the Front-end developer?

As already mentioned, the front-end developer takes care of making a website functional and usable for the user. In other words, he completes the work of the back-end developer, who instead builds and manages all that concerns the server aspect of the site. The front-end developer is much more than a web-designer, because he deals with the visual and graphic aspect and also makes it possible for the visitor to surf for the website's business purposes.

Considering the nature of the primary task of the front-end developer, it is clear that he must necessarily have a good knowledge of the fundamentals of UX (User Experience). It should be clarified that, due to the heterogeneity of Internet users, quality such as creativity, versatility and problem solving are absolutely necessary for a skilled front-end developer.

The role of the front-developer figure can be both as a freelance and employee, and we must also bear in mind that it goes nicely with the concept of smart working, because we are talking about a job that does not necessarily require a fixed physical location to be carried out.

Gain experience as a Front-end developer

Firstly, you can decide to become a front-end developer, because it is a job required and necessary for companies. Besides this reason, we have other, apparently secondary, reasons not to be overlooked, including:
Innovation and creativity. The role of the front-end developer conveys a certain visibility, since the finished product usually bears its signature.
Accessibility. The position of the front-end developer is highly qualifying, but as we will see, the degree is not necessarily required, reason why it remains an accessible role even for the graduates.
Continuous training. IT consultancy and development companies tend to reward their employees who learn new languages in the field of programming, keeping them up to date and trained. This particular situation could open up further job opportunities in the future.

Front-end developer: what he does and skills

The fundamental task of the front-end developer is to write codes useful for processing the visible part of a specific app or websites. For this very reason, the figure must have skills that can be considered as interdisciplinary, as well as some attitudes.
This ranges from programming techniques to intuition and creativity. In other words, the front-end developer will always have the right answer, for example where to put the "buy" button on a page, or how the digital path must be structured, tailored for the company and customer. To become a successful front-end developer, you must have 8 basic skills.

• HTML e CSS. The knowledge of HTML and CSS (Cascade Style Sheets), is to be considered as the starting point for those who aspire to become Front-end developer. You must, therefore, have total mastery of these two tools.
• JavaScript. The figure of the front-end developer should definitely know JavaScript. If it is true that using HTML and CSS you can already create quality and functional websites, it is equally true that the Web provides that pages are interactive and have special features that are not implemented with a "simple" mark-up language.
• jQuery. Once the front-developer has learned how to code in JavaScript, he can use the jQuery library, that is a collection of extensions and plug-ins, which in fact allows the insertion of elements in a much faster way than writing a code from scratch.
• Mobile design e Responsive design. Nowadays, the vast majority of internet access is via mobile. With this in mind, it becomes obvious how you have to implement a design that can adapt to the browsing device used. As for desktop connections, for example, browsable Web sites with mouse and keyboard must be created. For mobile connections, priority is given to the most important content, so that the pages are not too "crowded". Obviously in the latter case, navigability will have to be optimized for touch.
  • Cross-browser development. Exactly how a site should be properly displayed by each type of device, the same has to happen with any browser with which the site is visited.
  • CMS and "e-commerce" platforms. Websites are not created by writing the code from scratch. In fact, most of the online pages are developed through CMS (Content Management Systems). To make it clearer, WordPress is one of the best-known CMS. This is certainly not a basic skill, but knowledge of these systems is still useful.
• Debugging. As much as you can strive to write an impeccable and error-free code in the creation of a website, basically it happens very often that some elements do not work as scheduled. Therefore, for the front-end developer the ability to find a mistake is essential, and obviously be able to fix it, so as to make web browsing always pleasant for the user.
• "Version Control Management Systems". The final version of a site is not always the first one made. In fact, variations and changes are very often on the agenda. In some situations, in fact, it may happen that after making changes to the source code, the site goes totally offline. If the origin of the error is unknown, restoring a previous version of the site is certainly a faster operation, rather than looking for a way to get the site back online.

Front-end developer: training course

In order to become a front-end developer, you must follow a specific training path. A degree in computer science or engineering is certainly recommended, but many companies are looking for young graduate figures in any course of mathematics, statistics and physics. The reason is quite simple: these paths provide the right basis for a quick entry into the world of programming.

Front-developer: how much does he earn?

The figure of the front-end developer is an excellent springboard to pursue a good career in the Web sector. A junior front-developer, depending also on the size of the company with whom he interfaces, earns an average of 28,000 euros gross per year. Specifically, the national contract to which we refer is the Tertiary Sector.
Very often a professional after at least 5 years of experience, can earn from 50,000 to 55,000 euros gross per year. However, to get an interview and succeed in it, he must prove what he’s made.