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Nazakat Hussain
1,269 PointsWhich skills do I specifically need to possess in order to become a front-end developer?
Hi, I started learning via TreeHouse almost a week ago.
I am Nazakat Hussain, live in the Netherlands, 22 years old.
My motivation to learn programming/coding/developing is the high earning this field offers.
I am trying to be a front end developer in about 6 months. I learn about 5-6 hours a day. At the moment I am trying to learn as much as possible about the basics, HTML, CSS and JavaScript. I am trying to learn this asap and find a job asap to have enough experience to become a freelancer.
Could someone tell which specific skills I need to have in order to get a job asap as front-end developer?
Kind regards,
Nazakat Hussain
2 Answers
Steven Parker
231,269 PointsYou've got the right idea, those are the 3 essential skills. The Tracks are designed with job-readiness in mind, so if you're not already doing it, you might want to use the Front End Web Development track.
As a freelancer, you're less likely to be required to use a specific technology to implement something; but a familiarity with popular frameworks like Bootstrap (intro included in the track) and React (not in track, but several courses available) could be useful.
Bella Bradbury
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 32,790 PointsNazakat,
I would sat that learning the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are a great place to start! I would recommend going to the library page and utilizing Treehouse's vast selection of learning materials. The TechDegree programs here are really helpful when it comes to building a portfolio and having a more streamlined education path.
Other things to keep in mind are making sure to ask for help when you need it and also check and see if you can solve any of the other community questions! I personally have found one of the most valuable skills to be reading and debugging code that is not your own. It's helped me to contextualize concepts and learn much faster. As part of the TechDegree program I also frequently do Peer Reviews on projects.
It's hard to say what exactly you'll need to know because that varies from job to job. I would definitely make yourself familiar with forms, those usually pop up on a website somewhere and it can take some practice to feel comfortable with them! The best advice I could give is figure out what kind of sites you want to work on. From there you can look at other sites in that niche and focus on the elements you see that are reoccurring throughout them. Figure out what you specifically like about different online spaces because there's a good chance someone else really likes it and would want to implement something similar. If you already know how to make a good slideshow because you've noticed it's frequently used on sites and have practiced, that's one more feature you can confidently offer!
If you're looking to do specifically Front-End Programming as a freelancer, I would also recommend getting familiar with design! Knowing your way around design software will help a lot should you ever need it.
Hope this helps!