As a frontend developer, you may be asking, where do I start from? What do I need to know? How do I implement the knowledge I’ve acquired?

It’s okay, we all feel that way at certain stages of life. Getting the right information, resources and networks can turn things around.

In today’s post we will look at; What is frontend development and 8 tips to help you improve your frontend developing skills 

What is Frontend Development?

The last time you visited a website, did you take note of the organisation of things on the site? From the button you click on to the images you see are all part of frontend development.

A frontend developer is a person that implements web designs by using codes or programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

8 Tips to help You Improve Your Frontend Development Skill

Here are my top 8 tips that will help you become an excellent frontend developer

1. Know Your Tools

The first step to becoming a better frontend developer is to know your tools. Take your time to learn the types of tools and their uses. 

Learn the major key shortcuts, it would help you work faster. Search the internet for different applications that can help you with the job and choose the best. 

Knowledge of the software you will use to work will help improve your speed.

2. Plan Your Projects

To become a successful frontend developer, you need to learn to plan. Lack of planning can make your work disorganise. 

Without proper planning, you’d waste so much on a small task moving back and fro. Proper planning helps you save time and saves you from stress. You get to finish your work on a timely basis, it keeps you focused on the task at hand and it helps you discover setbacks early.

There are several tools that can help you plan. Examples of these tools are; Writemaps, which helps create a website and Trello which create a project board and cards for each of your templates and elements

3. Stay Up-To-Date

As technology evolves every day, so does frontend designs. To remain relevant as a frontend developer you have to invest in knowledge. 

Make it a habit to read at least one article every day on frontend designs and make sure to practise whatever you learn. It might mean trying new strategies, changing tools etc.

You can stay up-to-date by using the following site:

4. Practice Coding

As a frontend developer, the more time you give to practise the better you become. Coding helps build logical thinking skills, it helps developers work effectively. Try not to work yourself out with coding, one hour every day would work the magic.

Here are some examples of sites you can learn to code from;

5. Invest in Your Skill

As a frontend developer, You will need to invest in yourself in order to grow. It does not necessarily mean money-wise, you can as well invest in yourself by committing your time to learn. 

Researches show that it takes around 10000 hours to master a skill.  It might cost you your sleep when trying to explore and experiment in order to become a master in frontend development but it’s going to be worth it.

6. Solve Problems

Solving problems helps you put your knowledge into practice. Think of a personal problem that you can solve with technology and start from there. 

In case you don’t have a problem to solve look for other people’s problems and help them solve them.

7. Find a mentor

As a frontend developer, have you at some point feel like you don’t know where to start from, you do not know the next step to take in your career or you don’t know how to implement all you’ve learnt, then you need a mentor. 

Find someone with more knowledge and experience in frontend development who is willing to help you grow. 

Your mentor should be someone you respect and aspire to be like. This could be your boss, colleague or someone from an online mentorship platform. As a tip, when you get Mentortribes mentorship, it helps save you the time you would have wasted on trials and error.

8. Stay Healthy

Have you heard of the saying “health is wealth”? If you are not healthy you wouldn’t have the strength of becoming a frontend developer. 

Being a frontend developer will mean sitting down in a spot for hours trying to get things done. This is the more reason why you need to take care of your body. 

When planning your weekly activity calendar, try including non-programming activities such as walking, running, rest, gym and so on.

This will help you stay healthy. 

Conclusion

Becoming an excellent frontend developer takes time, patience and constant practice. Getting the right resources and the right network would set you up for greatness.