When it comes to developing a software application, website, or mobile app, front end development plays an indispensable role in making an intuitive user experience. Since, you can’t ignore the backend part, as it is also a key element of a successful website or application. However, front end development can create a positive first impression and convince customers to do business with you.
Today’s users look for easy-to-use applications with robust and highly advanced features. It makes it a bit difficult for front end developers to build fully feature and aesthetically pleasing applications and websites for the end users.
Front-end developer strives hard to write HTML, CSS and JavaScript code to improve the functionality of the application. Keeping aware of some of the best front-end coding practices will help you make your upcoming development project super successful.
Hide HTML Elements
For many front-end developers, sometimes hiding elements in CSS and HTML has become a necessary task for a variety of reasons. For instance, a button that is visible in a mobile view, should be hidden in a desktop view. Similarly, a navigation element that is hidden on a mobile screen must be shown on the desktop screen. The key is to know how to hide CSS and HTML elements. With the help of attribute hidden, developers can easily hide HTML elements, making it possible to not display the element on the web page.
Use Shorthand Properties
It is one of the best and most effective coding practices that help app development teams to ensure the CSS code is smaller. With shorthand properties, developers can write shorter and clear style sheets while saving their time, energy and effort. For example, inset is a CSS shorthand property for four different properties including top, bottom, right, and left. If all four properties have the same value, developers can use the shorthand property inset to make your code simpler and cleaner.
Automate Repetitive Tasks
As a front-end developer, you might find a lot of repetitive tasks that need to be done during the development process. Thanks to different task runners that help you automate and combine processes to make the final code cleaner and seamless. Task runners can automatically execute processes by simply taking care of repetitive processes, thereby saving you a lot of time.
Here is the list of some of the most popular task runner tools for front end developers:
Grunt
Gulp
Yarn
Require JS
Brunch
Believe it or not, automation will help you save a lot of time on doing repetitive tasks.
Use the Best Libraries and Frameworks
When it comes to front end development, you will find a list of libraries and frameworks that will help you create a perfect product that offers a memorable user experience. Most web development agencies strive hard to satisfy the client’s requirements by harnessing the power of the next-gen web development technologies.
With the help of front-end development frameworks and libraries, you can satisfy the technical needs of your clients. Here is a list of some of the most famous frontend frameworks you should try to come up with a better product.
React
· Angular
Vue.js
· jQuery
Emberjs
Backbonejs
· Semantic-UI
Foundation
· Svelte
Whether you are working on a mobile-friendly website or minimalistic app, it is always a great idea to choose the best frontend framework to make the development process easier and smoother.
Install jQuery Plugins
There is no denying the fact that jQuery is the most popular JavaScript library for front end development. In fact, jQuery is used by hundreds of thousands of websites on the internet. Since it is lightweight, it has the ability to simplify the way you manipulate page elements and navigate HTML documents.
There is a myriad of jQuery plugins available that can enhance the functionality of a website. Front end developers will find jQuery plugins for nearly every function. Some of the most popular jQuery plugins that you should definitely use for your web development project are listed below:
Isotope
· match Heights
· Owl Carousel
Slick Slider
· iCheck
Selectric
jQuery Validation
· DataTables
Highcharts
· gmap.js
Install Browser Extensions
It’s no secret that Chrome is one of the most popular browsers among developers. Many software and Dallas mobile app development companies use Chrome to fulfill their development needs. Some developers use Chrome to test a software application while some use to view and inspect the hierarchy of the components.
There are a number of Chrome plugins available for front-end developers to improve their productivity and performance. Here are a few Chrome extensions that can make developers’ lives easier.
- Colorzilla
- CSS Viewer
- WhatFont
- Clear Cache
- JSONView
- React Developer Tools
- Ember Inspector
- jQuery Audit
- Meta SEO Inspector
Keep in mind that Chrome isn’t only a browser, it acts as a complete ecosystem for web developer applications. Choosing the best chrome extensions and plugins can significantly improve frontend development and help you come up with better and robust desktop and mobile applications.
Use Typescript
Typescript is undoubtedly a popular choice for front-end development. Approximately 80% of developers prefer to use Typescript in the development project. From providing great IDE support to preventing issues at the software development stage, TypeScript is a great choice to improve the overall quality of your software development project.
TypeScript helps developers to type check the code, which will identify the possible bugs and improve the documentation of the large codebase. It helps you write clean code that is faster to implement. With the help of this programming language, you can easily develop highly advanced features by using a smaller codebase that is easier to maintain and less error prone.
All in all, TypeScript is intended to prevent issues from the software program and provide the interface with documented possible properties, methods and event documentation in JSDoc comments.
Over to You
Whether you are a newbie or professional, you need to practice these coding tips throughout your front-end development career to create better, functional and awesome apps.
