HOW TO BECOME A FRONTEND DEVELOPER IN 2020: What to learn, how long it takes + resources

Today we’re going to talk about how to become a frontend web developer in 2020, including what you need to learn in order to get your first job, how long it will take, and some resources to get you there. This video is for someone just starting out, wanting to take the leap and looking for a road map moving forward.

What is frontend web development? It is using code to create the visual part of a website. The content, the colours and positioning, as well as the logic that is on a page, such as submitting a form. That's frontend. The other part is 'backend', which is everything related to the database and network; the non-visual things that are going on behind the scene.

How long does it take to be job ready? I believe it takes between 3-12 months. First, outline a timeframe which you are able to dedicate towards learning web development(3, 6 or 12 months) and create a schedule around it. This way you can track your progress and hold yourself accountable. Whether it is 3 or 12 months, the only thing that changes is how much time per week you are able to dedicate towards learning this craft. If it is 3 months, you'll need to be working 12+ hours per day, and for 12 months, maybe 2 hours per day. The key is coding daily, so you can immerse yourself.

What do you need to learn? HTML (the content - the text, images, links), CSS(the styling - colors, positioning and responsiveness) and JavaScript(the logic for your website, when you click a submit button - what happens?). Once you have learned those three and have a strong foundation in JavaScript, then you'll be at a crossroads; React, Angular or Vue. These are JavaScript libraries and frameworks, which act as wrappers around vanilla JavaScript, giving you additional functionality that would take longer to code otherwise. It is important that the first thing you do before getting too deep into one of these, is to look on job websites (LinkedIn, Glassdoor or Indeed) and ensure that there are a lot of jobs for all of these in your area. Search for titles including "frontend developer" and "frontend engineer", as well as the words "Angular", "VueJS" and "React" and see how many listings there are. If there are more of one of these technologies in your area, it may be better to learn that one. You'll likely find many of each. Personally I would recommend React as it is easier to learn than a full framework and there are usually a ton of jobs out there for it. That said, I work with Angular every day, and absolutely love it. It has a steeper learning curve though, so be warned. As a bonus, I would recommend looking into TypeScript and Redux.

You'll also need to be familiar with the version control technology Git, allowing you to 'save' your app at a specific point, roll back to it if necessary, and share the code online to others using Github or Bitbucket. It may also be helpful to know the basics of SASS (CSS wrapper, giving you more utility. It is still CSS, but just some extra tools which can be huge time savers). Along the way, you'll also need to learn basical terminal commands, using NPM packages and the build tool Webpack. You should also be familiar with the basics of Agile methodologies, which is a management style that a lot of development teams work in. If you're familiar with the very basics, then it will be an easier transition for you to join a dev team, and hiring managers will know that as well.

So, what resources can you use to learn all of this? I found that between YouTube and Udemy, you can learn everything required. I am going to leave a pinned comment down below with a list of Udemy courses you can pick up for $15 (when on sale, approximately once a month). Each course is about 20-30 hours and it will teach you the required fundamentals.

If you're looking for a free resource to learn JavaScript, I highly recommend Eloquent JavaScript. I'll leave a link to that, as well as a list of free APIs.

On a final note, learning code is not easy. There will be roadblocks and it can be a difficult grind at times. Remember that the path you are on now is worth it and can get you to the place in your life where you really want to be, whether that is career satisfaction, ability to work from anywhere in the world, or financial freedom.

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Thank you very much for watching, have a fantastic day, and I'll see you in the next one.

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