How to be a great Front-End {insert buzzword}?
With innovation at the forefront, how does one become “great” and become louder than the background noise?
Working in the web industry is tough. It’s ever-changing and fast-moving. Not to mention, it’s easy to fall into a case of imposter syndrome. It’s hard to simultaneously straddle confidence, challenge yourself and be humble — especially in a world so full of innovation.
How can you stand out as a great front-end developer, when you feel like you’re drowning in a sea of white noise? It’s not as hard as you think.
Here are seven ways I’ve found to be proactive and shine in an industry where nothing is set in stone:
1. Know the basics
Take the front-end of a website, for example. It’s important for you to understand the basics of JS, CSS and HTML before you jump right into using React, Sass and Handlebars. You need to master using a hammer before you can move on to a nail gun, right?
Nowadays we use so many different computer languages and tools to accomplish the same things. The overlap can make things complicated so it’s important to know the basics. Once you’ve accomplished that, you can build your toolkit in a way that makes sense. Your job is to combine the design, content and back-end into something that is presentable to users but in order to do it in the most intelligent way possible, you must first conquer the basics.
“…your code quality will never be better than your understanding of the language…” — Getify
2. Strive to learn
Being a great front-end isn’t quantifiable by how much you know, it’s by how fast you can learn something new and apply it.
The industry changes fast. Look at how we did the web 10 years ago versus how it is today. CSS was released about 19 years ago. It is now a different, more intricate beast.
I’m not saying you need to go out and learn every new library, framework or language that is released. However, you need to realize that to be successful in this field, you must always be learning. Make your mind like clay and never assume anything will stay the same. Because if the history of web has taught us anything, it’s that the industry will continuously evolve.
3. Don’t just fix — understand
Your problem solving ability should be out of this world. You need to have the ability to actually debug a problem and find out exactly why it exists — don’t just add CSS declarations or move variables around until something magically works.
Investigating why issues exist instead of using “hacks” will take more time upfront. However, when you take the time to understand these issues, you’ll know how to solve them in the future. It’ll save time in the long run, and give you the ability to lend your knowledge to others who are encountering similar issues.
4. Be efficient
Being as efficient as possible is incredibly important. It means you are using your time to make more meaningful work.
Being efficient means using the right tools for the job and knowing how to maximize them to their fullest potential. Not every project is the same and some might call for a different set of tools.
Something that I have found to be useful is to sit behind a coworker and see what kind of workflow they use to accomplish tasks. I once saw a colleague grab the hex code of something in an app on their computer by pressing a single shortcut key with Sip. I was amazed.
It was such a simple process and I would’ve never known about it if I hadn’t been paying attention. Up until then, I’d been taking a screenshot with the Mac shortcut, opening Photoshop, pasting my image, using the eyedropper tool and then clicking on the little square so I can copy the hex code — the opposite of efficiency.
5. Learn from other people’s code
I know a lot of developers’ worst nightmare is having to take over an old codebase that you had no involvement in. It sucks, yeah. Get over that feeling and start checking out other people’s code. It’s good for the soul.
There are only two possible scenarios when doing this
- You reinforce the fact that you know what you are doing and/or
- You get a new perspective on how others approach the same issues we all run into.
I ran into an issue with fixed elements on iOS recently. I took a peek at someone else’s code and realized that I could’ve tackled the issue another way. The solution was so easy and right in front of me the whole time. The problem? I was going down a rabbit hole with tunnel vision, seeing my own code and thinking it was the only way. Sometimes it’s easy to put your head down and get lost in your work without looking to others for inspiration.
6. Collaborate
First and foremost, put your ego in check. You are working in an industry that touches many different roles — from engineer, to designer, to copywriter. It’s impossible to know everything, nor should you expect yourself to. The only way you will truly flourish is if you accept the fact that you are probably not the smartest person in the room — and accept that to be a good thing.
Be humble and learn from everyone — your leaders, your juniors and colleagues with other areas of expertise. Respect is key to healthy and productive collaboration and in order to do that, you must be open to trusting your fellow collaborators for feedback and to hold down their part of the strategy. Otherwise, it can easily become an unnecessary competition that’ll teach you all nothing.
7. Don’t burn out
I have struggled with this my entire career. I don’t have a perfect solution for you. What I can say is that you have to do your best to have a true work/life balance. When that’s attainable, you will see that it’s easier to focus on becoming both a better person and a better developer.
“I’m always asked, ‘Whats the secret to success?’ But there are no secrets. Be humble. Be hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room.” — Dwayne Johnson
I am hiring a Senior Front-End Developer for my team here at Red Ventures. Connect with me if you are interested in joining our team. We also have many other job openings so even if you’re not a front-end developer, we could have a job with your name on it.
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