Web Development Roadmap & Trends in 2024
Web Development: A Pathway from Novice to Professional.
Web applications are classified as distributed applications, usually in a client/server structure, so we have part of the code running on the client and the other part of the code running on the server. Those applications on the client are the front end, usually referring to our browser. The most commonly used technology for front-end development is HTML + CSS + JavaScript. In addition, with the emergence of Node.js, more and more web front-end developers have begun to enter the field of server-side programming, and even play the role of web full stack development in some projects.
1. Basic Frontend Knowledge
For beginners, if you want to become a front-end development engineer, you first need to master basic knowledge such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. This part of the content is recommended to be learned through books. In the introductory stage, you don't need to learn much. You just need to grasp a few core contents and go through them quickly, such as selector, cascade, inheritance, box model, flex layout, grid, etc.
2. JavaScript/TypeScript
JavaScript is one of most popular scripting language. Since its birth, it has been the dominant language in web development. Twenty years later, Microsoft launched TypeScript, a JavaScript superset designed for the development of large-scale network applications.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a multi-paradigm language that supports various programming styles, such as functional programming, imperative programming, and event-driven programming.
Top 5 best JavaScript books recommended by the professionals in 2024:
- Head First JavaScript Programming
This book covers the basic knowledge of JavaScript as well as objects, functions and browser document object models. The book is equipped with a large number of interesting examples, illustrations and exercises to make it easy for readers to master the JavaScript.
- A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript
Without making any assumptions about what you already know, It will slowly guide you to learn JavaScript.
- Eloquent JavaScript (Online free Book)
This book starts with the basics of programming knowledge such as variables, functions, and data structures. Then it moves to more complex topics such as object-oriented programming(OOP), regular expressions, and event handler. With clear examples, Eloquent JavaScript will make you to use the Web language fluently immediately.
- JavaScript: The Definitive Guide
This book is more suitable for people with certain programming experience. For those who want to understand and master the JavaScript language and Web platform to a higher level, this book is the most suitable. This book aims to systematically explain JavaScript language. It explains each knowledge point in great detail. For nearly 25 years, this best-selling book has been a must-read technical work for hundreds of thousands of JavaScript programmers.
- JavaScript: The Good Parts
This book summarizes the core content of the JavaScript with refined text, railroad diagram and short code fragments. For those who already have a deeper understanding of JavaScript, it can help you organize and deepen your understanding of JavaScript.
TypeScript
In large-scale applications, JavaScript complexity grows exponentially, which will make the application difficult to maintain. It supports compile-time type checking, so that the code will be more standardized for teams. TypeScript also makes code refactoring easier because it adding explicit type annotation to variables and functions.
Top 3 best TypeScript learning materials recommended by professionals in 2024:
3. CSS Preprocessor
CSS preprocessor defines a new language to add some programming features to CSS (e.g. variables, nesting, mixins, and inheritance).
4. Frontend Framework
The frontend framework generally refers to the framework used to simplify the web design. These frameworks encapsulate some functions, such as html document operations, beautiful various controls. Using the front-end framework can help quickly build a website. The framework is to provide a complete set of solutions, which are arranged according to the prescribed code structure. Using the frontend framework can reduce the interface development cycle and improve the aesthetics of the interface.
5. Editor & Plugin
VSCode is recommended for web development. It's a free, open-source, and high-performance editor. Here are some VSCode extension for beginners: