Frederick Jace
In this article, we are going to walk you through the front-end development services. To understand this issue in more detail, you first need to familiarize yourself with the responsibilities of front-end programmers. You will also learn about the latest trends in this direction.
A bit of theory
Frontend developers are programmers who are responsible for creating the front side of a website in terms of user interface development. They monitor the correct operation and reflection of web resources in existing browsers and various electronic gadgets. Thanks to the work of front-end developers, web pages seem to come to life, receiving beautiful interactive effects: smooth transitions, pop-up menus, pop-up windows, animation elements, etc.
What is the difference between front-end and web-developers and layout designers?
When describing the professional responsibilities of a Frontend developer, confusion often arises, which is largely due to the policy of the employers themselves, who want to get everything at once, and even as cheaply as possible. A curious situation has developed with job titles. The fact is that the front-end and react-, javascript- and angular-, as well as web-developers are all connected in one way or another with the front-end.
Sometimes a web developer has to solve problems related to front-end development, and the front-end, among other things, has to do layout tasks, but the scope of his work as a whole is much more extensive when compared to a simple layout designer. In good web studios like Fireart, you will find a clear distribution of roles. But all team members constantly interact with each other.
Front-end and web designer: what are the differences and similarities?
On the Internet, I often find information: frontend developers are busy making web applications and websites user-friendly. Such a definition is fundamentally wrong, since web designers are responsible for the comfort of using a web resource, and most often even individual specialists in the face of UI designers + UX designers. The tasks of web designers include the creation of convenient website layouts (placement of elements, selection of fonts, colors, animation creation). Front-end developers have to translate all this into program code and make it work correctly.
Yes, the transformation of web designers is underway. They gradually master the skills of layout. But I believe that this is only permissible for freelancers or employees of small web studios. Design is not just about moving buttons to make it look beautiful. This is a lot of analytical work that results in conversions and sales. And layout is far from a simple tool, as many people mistakenly think. These are hundreds of different frameworks and libraries with their own rules and a special ecosystem.
Front-end developers have to understand the basic principles of web design, just as designers have to master the basics of layout. But it is impossible to give the entire layout to the designers, and put the front-ends in charge of the web design. It is because of such a mess that most of the sites are fairly average: either the UX / UI is poorly thought out, or something works crookedly.
Few trends in recent years
2018 was a significant year for the profession. It was in this year that frameworks for frontend development began to gain popularity. The trend has gone to web applications and the formation of pages directly in the browser, and not on the server (client rendering).
It is strange that in 2019 the share of frontend-developer dropped to 32.8%. But the main tool, the JavaScript programming language, has been occupying a leading position for 7 years. But, perhaps, it is at the top due to the fact that it began to be used in server development. In 2021, the downward trend has slowed down. Perhaps the second half of the year will bring interesting news.
