What is Front End Developer? Roles and Skills with Career Growth

And research has shown that 86.7 percent of developers have taught themselves a framework, language, or tool outside of a classroom or course. Historically, though, geography has had a significant impact on the compensation of software developers — and that includes front-end developers. The U.S. leads the world in developer salaries by a wide margin of 23.3 percent.

Responsive design changes a website’s layout depending on the device and screen size, and occasionally requiring changes to the content and functionality based on those factors. Most front end developers use CSS preprocessors to add functionality to CSS coding, making it more scalable and easier to interact with. Prior to publishing the code on your website, CSS preprocessors transition it into well-formatted CSS that works across a variety of browsers, the most in-demand being LESS and SASS. A code editing tool is simply the program a front end developer chooses to use to write the code for their website.

Most Common Skills for Front End Developer

For this portfolio project, you’ll create a virtual keyboard that looks good on any device. Then, create a keyboard on the page that’s fully functional and can be used to edit the content in the textarea. The full compensation package for a front-end developer depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience and geographic location. See below for detailed information on the average front-end developer salary. After starting their career as a front-end developer, professionals may move into a senior front-end developer role or into UI or UX developer roles.

They create components and features that are directly accessed by a user through the front-end of a website. Front end developer responsibilities include everything on a website that users see, touch, click, and use including the UX and UI of the website or web application. From there, they’ll have the opportunity to move into mid- to senior-level roles with hands-on web and software development experience, such as Senior Front-End Developer or Lead Web Developer.

Skills Required for Front End Developer

What remains to be seen is how the rise of remote work will affect developer compensation. Should employers determine compensation based on where the company is located, where the employee is located, or the national average? But compensation also varies within each country, not just internationally. For example, while front-end developers in San Francisco make an average of $143,774 a year, most front-end developers in Seattle earn $104,798. It’s worth noting that the compensation for front-end developers often trends lower than their back-end peers, who command an average base salary in the U.S. between $115,129 and $125,924. In contrast, the average base salary for front-end developers in the U.S. is $100,139.

front end developer roles

Front-end development is the practice of creating the user interface and interactions of web applications, websites, and mobile apps. It involves coding with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and various frameworks and libraries. But what are the possible career paths and roles for front-end developers? In this article, we will explore some of the common and emerging options for front-end developers, and how to identify them based on their responsibilities, requirements, and benefits. A UI/UX developer is someone who combines the skills of a web designer and a front-end engineer, and focuses on the user interface and user experience of web applications and websites. A UI/UX developer works closely with both the design and the development teams to create user-friendly, intuitive, and attractive web pages that meet the user’s needs and expectations.

Build your skills and your portfolio

Finding a top-notch candidate begins with a job description that grabs attention. Be sure to list all of the specific technical requirements for the front-end developer role, so you can attract experienced and qualified candidates. Additionally, give potential candidates a sense of your company culture, the challenges they’ll face in https://deveducation.com/ the role, and any special benefits your company offers — such as flexible hours or remote work. Keep your front-end developer job description straightforward, with no more than six bullets per section. Once you’ve written a draft, proofread it to ensure that it covers all of the skills and qualifications you want a candidate to have.

front end developer roles

The remaining members of the top five highest paying countries are Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The titles front-end developers hold vary drastically, depending on their experience and the company front end developer classes they work at. The title of a graduate from a coding bootcamp might look different than a candidate with a four-year degree. And the role of a developer in a five-person startup will be different than at a 5,000 person company.

front end developer roles

As a rule, front-end means that developers must be familiar with HTML code (probably HTML5), styling with CSS (probably CSS3), and make everything interactive with JavaScript. JS Frameworks like Angular, React, and Backbone are therefore highly in demand. When writing the job description, try to make both the job itself and working for your company sound as attractive and interesting as possible.

  • From here, professionals can progress into management and leadership roles like web development manager or director of web development.
  • They are responsible for ensuring that the website or application is optimized for different devices and screen sizes, and they must be able to troubleshoot any issues that arise during development.
  • Tips from learners who successfully switched careers after learning to code.
  • A front-end manager works closely with the project manager, the client, and other stakeholders to define the scope, budget, timeline, and deliverables of the front-end project.
  • While many sites use a back-end service and a database to store data, this project will use the browser’s local storage to store data in a JSON format.
  • A front-end developer builds the front-end portion of websites and web applications—the part users see and interact with.

“Your website can be an expression of who you are or what you want to do.” As you work on building your website you’ll learn by doing and gain confidence through experience. In-house front-end developers may work in a traditional office environment, alongside other members of the development team, as well as designers, project managers, and other stakeholders. They may also collaborate with members of other teams, such as marketing, sales, and customer support, to ensure that the website or application meets the needs of the business and its customers. Any part of the development is crucial for your product success, so you should carefully consider and validate the software developers you hire. We at YouTeam provide candidate vetting and have a pool of high-quality engineers from top development companies worldwide.