Re: Front-end developer

From: S Moonesamy <sm+mu_at_elandsys.com>
Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2016 01:18:54 -0800

Hi Nirvan,
At 00:16 04-03-2016, Tejas (Nirvan) Pagooah wrote:
>Actually, front-end developers or even full-stack developers are an
>endangered species around the world and even in Mauritius. Why?
>Because we can assess the number of websites which have a good User
>Experience and User Interface design. We can compare "govmu.org" and
>"lexpress.mu" to understand this.

I agree with you that the developers are an endangered species. I
asked a few persons whether they could name a good web site in
Mauritius. I didn't get an answer (I excluded the above web
sites). The island is still following nostalgic web design. :-) I
don't know whether anyone is actually doing User Experience or User
Interface design.

>I would rather re-phase the question - What are the 'skills' a
>front-end developer should have in particular for a front-end job? -
>Because in the end, he/she would need those skills to fulfill his
>responsibilities at work.

Yes.

>Before we go any forward, we have to understand something, we have
>different level of developers like junior, middle and senior. The
>skills of the developer vary as they escalate levels.
>
>I won't comment for each developer levels but rather in general.
>
>What I qualify as -
>
>Basic skills a FE[1] developer should have:
>
> - Have a good understanding and background on HTML(5), CSS(3)
> - JavaScript and jQuery and other JS frameworks
> - Should have a good understand of colors, palettes and color
> combinations
> - A background on how to properly use typography and web fonts
> - A bit of creativity to fuel your tasks
> - Sketching and drafting
> - Designer software skills including Gimp, Adobe Photoshop,
> Illustrator and Fireworks for interface mockup and slicing
>
>Intermediate skills a FE developer should have:
>
> - Wireframing & prototyping
> - Understand and use CSS preprocessors like SCSS, SASS, LESS
> including Mixins
> - Responsive design
> - Understand and use various JavaScript frameworks which can be
> AngularJS, ReactJS and other JS libraries to facilitate work

Some job listings had React instead of jQuery.

> - User Experience Design
> - User Interface Design for interfaces (This is a sub skill of
> web development - A website may have a lot of interfaces)
> - Git and Subversion for workflow
>
>Expert skills a FE developer should have:
>
> - SVG / SVG animation
> - Adobe Creative Suite
> - Interaction design
> - Performance and optimization
> - Branding
>
>This is what I think are the skills that a FE developer should have
>to fulfill his/her responsibilities.

I would list a person with less than three years of experience as
junior level. The other levels depend on skills and experience
instead of years of experience. I would add experience in working on
a consumer-oriented web site.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy
Received on Fri Mar 04 2016 - 09:19:25 PST