Front-End Lead | Helping front-end engineers level up their skills and land jobs | JavaScript, React, Vue, TailwindCSS
"Two front-end developers are sitting at a bar. They have nothing to talk about." I first heard this quote from Chris Coyier in 2019, but it feels even more relevant today. It's the idea that front-end has grown to cover so many different areas that it's *really hard* to be an expert at all of it. Some might be great at HTML/CSS and working closely with designers to implement slick designs and interactions. Others might be entirely focused on mastering a modern JS framework + metaframework to handle data fetching and building an architecturally sound front-end application. These are important skills, but mastering all of them is simply too much to ask of most front-end developers (especially juniors). That's why I think it's important to realize what you most enjoy working with, and then doubling down on that part. It's great to have an understanding of both "ends" of the front-end, but to really be great you probably have to narrow your focus. I'll also be diving into this a lot more in my upcoming course, so stay tuned for that 👀
Stefano G.
2mo
I think the complexity of frontend apps and the frontend ecosystem has caused this divergens. Devs seem to care less about semantic HTML/CSS with the wide range of CSS systems or design systems, Junior devs are often forced into a JavaScript library/framework like react or vue, and skip “the other half of frontend”. I’m thankfull that I’ve started doing frontend when NodeJS and NPM was fairly new and was mainly used to do simple build steps. Eventhough I work with all modern tools and also see that the focus is shifting towards JS, I still have a deep understanding of both HTML/CSS and JS/TS because of my background.
Jonathan Atia
2mo
I feel like what you are describing is frontend development hitting puberty, jokes aside - it's growing. In my opinion I always split front end development into different areas of expertise: 1. DX - bundlers, transpilers, plugins, configurations 2. Uxui - html, css, and css alternative out there 3. Coding paradigms - spa, mpa, ssr, meta frameworks, state management in all it's glory and decay, data fetching, and such. 4. Back of the frontend - bff, databases, cicd, docker, some backend API development (the more the better), logging and such. I may have split it all wrong, but I hope I covered most of the ground
John Gallagher
2mo
Yup - front end has diverged way more than the back end ever has. I'd argue that the most compelling technologies are ones that allow me to work with the front end in an "It all just works" way - such as Elm. It's a shame it never took off in the way I wanted and it seems to be dead now, but it was an exceptionally promising language that showed how delightful building the front end could be.
Lucky Jain
3mo
Two Frontend developers went to a cafe. They couldn't join tables
Eric Stevens
2mo
Yes, I have often felt the same way as I was completing a full-stack bootcamp. I often wondered which "end" did I enjoy working with more. I would say that I have a better appreciation for front-end development because it is the part that takes human-interaction and makes the connection to the back-end logic. The logic is a necessary and also quite interesting part of development but personally, I enjoy perfecting the look, feel and performance of the user interface. I agree that it's important to be aware of the characteristics of both front and back. It's also important to understand how they connect to each other. But yes, there is SO MUCH to learn that it seems like focusing or specialization within one domain over the other would be beneficial.
Claudio Godoy
2mo
Do that, and you'll be unemployed or underpaid forever, lol. I wonder what you think now that front-end developers, who specialize in front-end work, may become obsolete with the rise of server-side components. The future is fullstack, the frontend dev who is not running to catch up, will be the web designers from today.
InternPulse
3mo
This is such a relatable insight! 😂 The front-end world has definitely expanded, and it’s totally okay not to master every single aspect. Finding what you love and focusing on that is key to growth and satisfaction.
I completely agree with you. For a long time, I’ve focused on implementing pixel-perfect designs and creating sleek, polished interfaces. However, it seems that the industry often overlooks the importance of these finer details. Now, I find myself needing to shift my focus toward JS frameworks to better manage data and meet the evolving demands of modern development. Do you think there is hope to change this situation?
Nacer MEDIOUNI
2mo
I feel this on a deep, front-end soul level! Front-end has evolved so much, it's like choosing your own adventure. One day you're wrestling with CSS grid like it's a wild animal, and the next you're lost in the forest of state management and APIs. 😅 But seriously, Front-end has become such a wild jungle! either you're obsessed with pixel-perfect layouts or you’re deep in the React/Vue/Angular rabbit hole, forgetting what HTML tags even look like. I’ve accepted I can’t be a wizard at everything, but I’m pretty solid at bridging the gap between design and code.
Senior Grug @AWS | 🗣 web systems & career advice
2moCouldn’t disagree more. In my opinion, the people who think this way forgot what the point of engineering is. The point of engineering is to build valuable solutions for end users. End users don’t care one iota if your stupid app uses nextjs or whatever tool it uses. They just care that it works well. If you know html, css, JavaScript, and can work your way around a backend, you have all the technical skills you need to be great. And by “know css” I don’t mean you need to be able to create elements that are best done with svg’s in raw css. You just need to know how to position stuff with flexbox and grid. Mostly everything else is unimportant noise; self inflicted inadequacy by developers too young to notice they’re falling for influencer marketing ruses.