As you can see, online businesses are becoming more and more concerned about the UI of their respective websites to provide a better user experience and generate better ROI – the demand for Front-End Developers has also increased significantly in recent years.
Reports say that an enriching, creative and optimized UI can increase the conversion rate of the website by around 200% – Isn’t it something interesting…??
However, at the same time, what we can’t ignore is that the work of Front-End Developers has also somehow got increased compared to that of 10-12 years ago. They are required to work upon numerous aspects such as responsive design, improved SEO, ease of use, etc. along with staying updated with the latest web design trends.
Contentedly, there are various Front-End Web Development tools available to make your job easier. And here in this article, we’ll get to know about various such tools in detail.
But before moving further, let’s get to know…
What are These Front-End Web Development Tools?
A Front-End Web Development Tool is actually the software that allows the front-end developers to build the website layout and UI more efficiently and without any hassle. With the help of such tools – the work of front-end web developers, especially the repetitive or monotonous tasks, gets reduced that subsequently fastens the web development process.
There are numerous front-end web development tools out there for various specific requirements such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript tools, Code-Editing tools, Deployment Tools, Prototyping & Wireframing tools, Security tools, and many more. Though you’re required to consider various factors before opting out for a particular tool such as your requirements (quite obvious it is!!), offered functionalities, ease of use, platform compatibility, prices, etc.
Now, let’s get started with several best tools for Frontend Web Development:
1. Chrome DevTools
Chrome DevTools is a widely used web development tool that allows you to edit web pages directly from the Google Chrome browser and diagnose problems rapidly to build better websites. With the help of Chrome DevTools, you can easily edit your HTML & CSS code or debug JavaScript code in a real-time environment. It offers you numerous additional prominent advantages such as using ‘Timeline’ you can conveniently recognize run-time performance problems, the ‘Device Mode’ can help you test the responsiveness of the website, ‘Sources Panel’ can be used to debug the JavaScript using breakpoints, the ‘Network Panel allows you to view and debug network activity, and many more.
2. HTML5 Boilerplate
HTML5 Boilerplate is one of the simple yet very helpful front-end web development tools out there. It allows you to create fast, robust, and adaptable websites or applications. One of the best things about HTML5 Boilerplate is that it can be integrated with any of the front-end frameworks, content management systems, etc. that you are using. Other than that, it includes Normalize.css for CSS normalization and documents that consist of various additional tips and tricks. Also, the Apache Server Configs helps you to improve website performance and security. You need to know that Microsoft, NASA, Nike, etc. are some of those renowned names who are using HTML5 Boilerplate for their respective platforms.
3. Sass
Sass is one of the most widely used CSS extension languages across the world. What Sass does- it helps to extend the functionality of CSS such as variables creation, inline imports, inheritance, easier nesting, etc. You need to know that it is entirely compatible with all the CSS versions that make it convenient for the developers to use any available CSS library. Meanwhile, you’re required to install and set up Sass on your project before using it. Once it will be installed – you can conveniently compile your Sass to CSS using the sass command. Sass is being supported by numerous renowned tech companies & developers and Bourbon, Compass, Susy, etc. are some of the popular frameworks that are built with Sass.
4. AngularJS
Chances are more that you must have at least heard the name of AngularJS if you’re having even a little exposure to Front-End development. Let us tell you it is an open-source front-end web framework. It helps you to extend the static HTML to dynamic HTML that subsequently makes it more convenient for you to build dynamic and rich websites. It allows you to create client-side applications using JavaScript using MVC (Model-View-Controller). AngularJS comes up with numerous enriching features such as Data Binding, Controller, Directives, Reusable Components, and many others. In addition, in terms of community support – AngularJS will surely impress you as it is used by a huge number of developers across the world!
5. jQuery
jQuery is quite a popular name in the web development world. It is a cross-platform JavaScript library that helps you with various functionalities such as DOM manipulation, Event Handling, CSS manipulation, Animation, Ajax/JSON support, and much more. Moreover, it can be used with other libraries as well and provides you with various plugins also to incorporate additional features. Other than that, it has a huge development community, better documentation, powerful chaining capabilities, and various other advantages. As per the reports, it is the most widely used JavaScript library – and as a front-end developer, you should definitely explore it for your next project.
6. Visual Studio Code
A better code editor is a fundamental requirement of front-end developers – and with a similar concern, here we’re mentioning one of the most recommended code editors for you i.e., Visual Studio Code. This open-source code editor by Microsoft leverages you with numerous remarkable features such as syntax highlighting, smart code completion, built-in debugger, built-in Git commands, easier deployment capabilities, and many others. In addition, it is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux as well – also, Visual Code Studio provides you with built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript & Node.js and other languages such as C++, Java, Python, PHP, etc. can also be supported using extensions. You’re strongly recommended to give it a try to Visual Studio Code, especially if you’re a beginner front-end developer.
7. Git
Another tool that comes in this list is a popular version control system – Git. It allows you to manage the source codes, track the changes that you’ve made in your code or even roll back to the previous state in a much convenient way. It saves every change and allows all the developers in the team to work on the same code at the same time without any hassle. It makes the collaboration among developers more smooth by reducing the risk of situations like code conflict, etc. Meanwhile, Git is free to use, open-source, and very much secure – what else you need to get started with the enriching tool for front-end web development.
8. TypeScript
Many of you must be surprised after seeing TypeScript in this list – but honestly, TypeScript is a worthwhile tool for front-end development. It is a programming language that is actually a syntactical superset of JavaScript programming language. Though, it provides you with several additional worthwhile features as compared to JavaScript. You need to know that TypeScript can be executed on any browser or JavaScript engine. Also, as JavaScript is a subset of TypeScript – you can easily use all the JavaScript libraries in your TypeScript code. In addition, it has better documentation for APIs, is more structured and concise, upholds interfaces, discretionary static composing, better tooling supports with IntelliSense, and much more.
9. Npm (Node Package Manager)
Npm, Node Package Manager is actually a package manager for JavaScript. It helps you to discover and install packages of reusable code to use in your programs. There is a command-line client that allows you to install and publish those packages. You can simply add npm to your project using this particular command – “npm init”. Moreover, you can find the downloaded packages or dependencies in the folder named “node_modules”. One of the major advantages of using npm is – you just need to run “npm install” and all the external dependencies will get installed by it. Without any doubt, this particular tool is strongly recommended to all the front-end developers out there.
10. Grunt
When there is a talk of Task Automation – Grunt is the most recommended tool for front-end developers. It allows you to automate repetitive tasks such as compilation, unit testing, linting, and many others conveniently to enhance efficiency and productivity. The Grunt ecosystem is indeed very vast and is extending regularly. There are a number of pre-configured plugins that come up with Grunt for task automation. Let us tell you Grunt and Grunt plugins are installed and managed through npm, the Node.js package manager – that we’re going to discuss in the next point. You need to ensure that your npm is updated before setting up Grunt. Adobe, Twitter, Mozilla, Walmart, etc. are some of the popular names that use Grunt.
Also, the list doesn’t end here…!!
There are many other tools as well that are equally important as the above-mentioned ones, and you can use them for Front-End Web Development to make things much easier and convenient. Furthermore, it is not mandatory also that you should go for these particular tools – you can search out for their alternatives as well to find the suitable ones for you. For instance – we’ve mentioned Visual Studio Code – however, you can explore another code editor also like Sublime Text, etc. as per your requirements.
- HTML Tools: HTML5 Boilerplate, HTML5 Bones, Haml, etc.
- CSS Tools: Bootstrap, Metro UI, Sass, etc.
- JavaScript Tools & Frameworks: AngularJS, Vue.js, React, Ember.js, TypeScript, etc.
- Deployment Tools: CircleCI, Bamboo, Travis CI, etc.
- Performance Testing Tool: GTmetrix, Speed Curve, Web Page Test, etc.
- SEO Tools: Google Webmasters Search Console, Varvy SEO tool, etc.
So, as of now, you probably would have known that the front-end development domain is no more restricted to only learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (though these are still the fundamentals of web development) – now there are various tools and software out there that you need to learn to stay productive and relevant in the industry. What are waiting for now…?? Go and explore these tools to level up your Front-End Web Development game…!!
