Free

Front-end Handbook

By Cody Lindley

Free

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Book Description

This is a guide that anyone could use to learn about the practice of front-end development. It broadly outlines and discusses the practice of front-end engineering: how to learn it and what tools are used when practicing it.

It is specifically written with the intention of being a professional resource for potential and currently practicing front-end developers to equip themselves with learning materials and development tools. Secondarily, it can be used by managers, CTOs, instructors, and head hunters to gain insights into the practice of front-end development.

The content of the handbook favors web technologies (HTML, CSS, DOM, and JavaScript) and those solutions that are directly built on top of these open technologies. The materials referenced and discussed in the book are either best in class or the current offering to a problem.

The book should not be considered a comprehensive outline of all resources available to a front-end developer. The value of the book is tied up in a terse, focused, and timely curation of just enough categorical information so as not to overwhelm anyone on any one particular subject matter.

Sponsored by — Frontend Masters. Read online at Gitbook.

Table of Contents

Introduction
What Is a Front-End Developer?
Part I: The Front-End Practice
- Front-End Jobs Titles
- Common Web Tech Employed
- Front-End Dev Skills
- Front-End Devs Develop For...
- Front-End on a Team
- Generalist Myth
- Front-End interview questions
- Front-End Job Boards
- Front-End Salaries
- How FDs Are Made
Part II: Learning Front-End Dev
- Self Directed Learning
  - Learn Internet/Web
  - Learn Web Browsers
  - Learn DNS
  - Learn HTTP/Networks
  - Learn Web Hosting
  - Learn General Front-End Dev
  - Learn UI/Interaction Design
  - Learn HTML & CSS
  - Learn SEO
  - Learn JavaScript
  - Learn Web Animation
  - Learn DOM, BOM & jQuery
  - Learn Web Fonts
  - Learn Accessibility
  - Learn Web/Browser APIs
  - Learn JSON
  - Learn Static Site Generators
  - Learn Front-End App Architecture
  - Learn Interface/API Design
  - Learn Web Dev Tools
  - Learn Command Line
  - Learn Node.js
  - Learn Module Loader
  - Learn Package Managers
  - Learn Version Control
  - Learn Build & Task Automation
  - Learn Site Performance Optimization
  - Learn JS Testing
  - Learn Headless Browsers
  - Learn Offline Dev
  - Learn Security
  - Learn Multi-Thing Dev (e.g., RWD)
- Directed Learning
  - Front-End Schools, Courses, & Bootcamps
- Front-End Devs to Learn From
- Newsletters, News, & Podcasts
Part III: Front-End Dev Tools
- General Front-End Dev Tools
- Doc/API Browsing Tools
- SEO Tools
- Prototyping & Wireframing Tools
- Diagramming Tools
- HTTP/Network Tools
- Code Editing Tools
- Browser Tools
- HTML Tools
- CSS Tools
- DOM Tools
- JavaScript Tools
- Static Site Generators Tools
- App (Desktop, Mobile, Tablet, etc.) Tools
- Scaffolding Tools
- Templating Tools
- UI Widgets & Components Tools
- Data Visualization (e.g., Charts) Tools
- Graphics (e.g., SVG, canvas, webgl) Tools
- Animation Tools
- JSON Tools
- Testing Framework Tools
- Data Storage Tools
- Module/Package Loading Tools
- Module/Package Repo. Tools
- Web/Cloud/Static Hosting Tools
- Project Management & Code Hosting
- Collaboration & Communication Tools
- CMS Hosted/API Tools
- BAAS (for Front-End Devs) Tools
- Offline Tools
- Security Tools
- Tasking (aka Build) Tools
- Deployment Tools
- Site/App Monitoring Tools
- JS Error Monitoring Tools
- Performance Tools