I was a professional web developer from 2009 to 2015. As I'm getting ready to get back into it, I thought I'd write about the process of catching up with modern web dev. You don't need to be in the same place as me to benefit from this blog, though. I imagine, the biggest skills that will transfer over for me, will be my core knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. If you're also at the place where you feel confident with your knowledge of these three foundational technologies of the web, and are thinking about what the actual job of doing web development in 2021 looks like, then this article series is for you.
OK, that's a big statement so let me qualify it further by saying that I will focus only on a few parts of this job that I'm most interested in pursuing for myself. I've split up my study plan (and hence the blogs that I will write here) into three parts:
Responsive web design and UI
Also known as the front of the frontend, this is reflected in job titles that include the word UI.Data fetching and state management
This will be react-specific (sorry?). Job titles here include the word engineering.Rendering strategies and deployment
I need this for my own sanity. Now you too can know about the wonders of SSG vs SSR vs ISR!!! And this disconnect between the perfectly set up local environment and where it will all be deployed, is a world away from live editing the files on your bluehost "server", so we'll talk about that as well.
Other than the above limitations, narrowing down both the business and tech sides, you should benefit from reading these three articles no matter which part of frontend development you end up working in. For example, knowing the above will be helpful whether you get to work as a solo freelancer, with an agency, or get a full-time job maintaining a single web product for the long term.
Also, these blog posts will just be scratching the surface of what the corresponding subfields entail. If you plan on getting a job with "engineering" in the title, don't think that you're wasting your time reading the first blog. It will not make you a UI expert by any means. It will just give you a better understanding of the field, which translates, among other things, into being a better teammate.
A last note on the format of these articles. I will be writing them as I'm actually reviewing all these concepts myself. It's me documenting my process of learning, kind of like a livestream. But since an actual livestream of that would be unendurably boring, I'm hoping this written format will be a nice middle ground: informative, (hopefully) not too much rambling, while still staying true to the non-linear process that is learning to become a self-taught web developer.
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