What does a frontend web developer do?

Junior software engineer

At Groove, I am the one who dives into the code of a website. I do this in the 'frontend' of the site. This is the part of the website that the browser uses to make a beautiful front end of a website and the functionalities that directly accompany it. The most important languages in this area are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for most websites. These languages are known to almost every programmer.

What is HTML?

HTML is basically the layout of the site. This determines where things will be placed and what will be in them. Therefore, HTML is actually not called a programming language because it doesn't really 'do' anything. HTML is in my opinion the easiest to learn, but a website that consists only of HTML is no longer feasible. Then the website would look more or less like a shopping list where everything is listed but no one is going to buy. To make everything look nice, we use CSS.

What is CSS?

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It specifies how each element in the HTML of a website should look. Many people underestimate the amount of time spent in making a website look good. It also determines how a website looks on different device sizes. If the HTML and CSS are all neat, a website can in principle be used, but it is not very interactive yet, that's where JavaScript comes in.

What is JavaScript?

Many people think that Java and JavaScript are the same; this is nothing less than incorrect. In programming, every character can make the difference between a blank page and a beautiful website. JavaScript and Java are completely different languages, every letter is important. Beer without an L is also not very tasty. In JavaScript, all the functionalities of a website are controlled. You can make it as wild as you want, as long as your computer can handle it. This is also a pitfall of many websites today. Nowadays, there are so many websites, from large to small companies or even individuals. Many of these small-scale websites are made by them with certain services through which they can create a website and make it look better with certain plug-ins. Plug-ins are extensions for certain programs. If someone wants a certain plug-in functionality on their website, they can add it. It's great that a part of that plug-in is being used and it all looks nice, but the pitfall lies in the part that isn't being used. These often large pieces of code are generally loaded when someone goes to the website. This is a real shame. A website can become very slow because of the things that aren't even being used.

That is exactly the nice thing about me being in the code myself. I just make the things I want in my projects myself. This way, everything works exactly as I want, your computer doesn't have to work so hard, and you don't have to wait so long.

Resources

You can learn to become a modern frontend developer using this roadmap.

Keep an eye on this page for more opportunities to learn important web development skills.

More from Tico

Curious about what he thinks a software engineer is? And what's the difference with a software developer?

If you have questions or comments, send me an email hello@groove-digital.nl.

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