As you can see, in order to give a better user experience and enhance ROI, online businesses are becoming more and more concerned with the UI of their individual websites. As a result, the need for front end developers has grown dramatically in recent years.
But at the same time, we also can’t overlook the fact that the front end developer job has changed somewhat since 10 to 12 years ago. Along with keeping up with the most recent web design trends, they must work on a variety of issues, including responsive design, increased SEO, simplicity of use, etc.
To make your job simpler, there are a variety of Front End Web Development tools accessible. We’ll get more in-depth information about several such tools in this post.
What are These Front End Web Development Tools?
The software that front end web developers use to more quickly and easily create the website’s layout and user interface is known as a front end web development tool. With the use of such technologies, front end web developers’ labour is minimised, especially the boring or repetitive activities, which speeds up the web development process overall.
For various specialised needs, there are several front end web development tools available, including tools for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, code-editing, deployment, prototyping & wireframing, security, and many more. Although there are a number of things to take into account before choosing a certain tool, like your needs (which are very clear! ), the functions given, convenience of use, compatibility with other platforms, costs, etc.
Now, let’s get started with several best tools for Front end Web Development:
- Chrome DevTools
A popular web development tool called Chrome DevTools enables you to quickly diagnose issues and change web pages directly from the Google Chrome browser to create better websites. You may quickly change your HTML and CSS code or debug JavaScript code in a live environment with the aid of Chrome DevTools. It provides you with numerous other noteworthy benefits, including the ability to quickly identify run-time performance issues using the “Timeline” feature, test the responsiveness of the website using the “Device Mode,” debug JavaScript using breakpoints using the “Sources Panel,” view and debug network activity using the “Network Panel,” and many more.
- HTML5 Boilerplate
One of the most straightforward yet useful front end web development tools available is HTML5 Boilerplate. You may use it to build quick, reliable, and flexible websites and applications. The ability of HTML5 Boilerplate to be connected with any front end frameworks, content management systems, etc. that you use is one of its strongest features. It also includes docs with different extra tips and tactics as well as Normalize.css for CSS normalisation. Additionally, the Apache Server Configs aid in enhancing the speed and security of your website. You should be aware that well-known brands like Microsoft, NASA, Nike, and others use HTML5 Boilerplate for their respective platforms.
- Sass
One of the most frequently utilised CSS extension languages worldwide is Sass. What Sass does: It aids in extending the capabilities of CSS by enabling the introduction of variables, inline imports, inheritance, simpler nesting, etc. You should be aware that it is completely compatible with all CSS versions, allowing developers to utilise any CSS library that is out there. Before utilising Sass, you must instal and configure it on your project. Once installed, you can use the sass command to easily compile your Sass to CSS. Many well-known software businesses and developers support Sass, and some well-known frameworks made with Sass include Bourbon, Compass, Susy, etc.
- AngularJS
If you have even a passing familiarity with front end programming, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of AngularJS. It is an open-source front end web framework, to be specific. It enables you to convert static HTML into dynamic HTML, which makes it easier for you to create dynamic and rich websites. You may use MVC to construct client-side JavaScript apps (Model-View-Controller). Numerous enhancing features, like Data Binding, Controllers, Directives, Reusable Components, and others, are provided by AngularJS. Additionally, AngularJS will undoubtedly wow you in terms of community support because so many developers use it worldwide!
- jQuery
The term “jQuery” is extremely well-known in the web development community. Ajax/JSON support, DOM manipulation, event handling, CSS modification, animation, and many more features are all supported by this cross-platform JavaScript framework. Additionally, it may be used with other libraries and offers a variety of plugins for adding other capabilities. It also boasts a large developer community, greater documentation, strong chaining abilities, and a number of other benefits. It is the most extensively used JavaScript library, according to studies, thus as a front- nd developer, you should absolutely look into using it for your upcoming project.
- Visual Studio Code
Front end developers need a better code editor fundamentally, thus with that in mind, we’re going to highlight one of the most suggested code editors for you, Visual Studio Code. This Microsoft open-source code editor provides you with a wealth of useful features, including syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, an integrated debugger, built-in Git commands, simpler deployment options, and many more. In addition, Visual Code Studio has built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js. It is also available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Js extensions can also be used to support C++, Java, Python, PHP, and other languages. If you’re a novice front end developer, it’s highly advised that you give Visual Studio Code a try.
- Git
The well-known version control programme Git is another item on this list of tools. It makes it much easier for you to handle the source codes, keep track of the modifications you’ve made to your code, or even go back to a prior state. Every update is saved, and it makes it easy for all of the team’s engineers to work concurrently on the same code. By lowering the possibility of events like code dispute, etc., it improves the collaboration between engineers. What more do you need to start using the enlivening tool for front end web development? Git is free to use, open-source, and incredibly secure.
- TypeScript
The inclusion of TypeScript on this list must have shocked many of you, but TypeScript is actually a useful tool for front end development. It is a computer language that, in reality, is a syntactical superset of JavaScript. Though, compared to JavaScript, it offers you a number of additional useful capabilities. You must be aware that any JavaScript engine or browser can run TypeScript. You can also simply utilise all the JavaScript libraries in your TypeScript code because JavaScript is a subset of TypeScript. Additionally, it supports interfaces, allows for optional static composing, has better API documentation, is more organised and succinct, has better tools support with IntelliSense, and does a lot more.
- Npm (Node Package Manager)
Npm, or Node Package Manager, is really a JavaScript package manager. It assists you in finding and installing reusable code packages for usage in your projects. These packages may be installed and published using a command-line client. Using the command “npm init,” you can easily add npm to your project. Additionally, the downloaded packages or dependencies may be found in the “node_modules” subdirectory. One of the main benefits of utilising npm is that all external dependencies are automatically installed with just one call to “npm instal.” This specific tool is without a doubt highly suggested to any front end developers out there.
- Grunt
When it comes to task automation, Grunt is the technology that front end developers are most frequently advised to use. To increase efficiency and productivity, you may easily automate repetitive operations like compilation, unit testing, linting, and many more. The Grunt ecology is definitely quite large and is constantly growing. For the purpose of automating tasks, Grunt comes with a variety of pre-configured plugins. Let us note out that npm, the Node.js package manager, which we will cover in the following section, is how Grunt and Grunt plugins are installed and handled. Before installing Grunt, make sure that your npm is up to date. A few well-known companies that employ Grunt include Adobe, Twitter, Mozilla, Walmart, and others.
