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37 Tips from a Senior Frontend Developer

Ndeye Fatou Diop on May 07, 2024

I really liked @abbeyperini post and decided to share my tips after 5+ years as a software dev. Ready? Let's dive in 💪. 1. Master the fu...
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OLUWAPELUMI

thank you very much for this

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like them!

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bbylumi profile image
OLUWAPELUMI

you're welcome

i'm actually a young dev so i've been wondering how'll i get to know all of this

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

It definitely comes from experience (sometimes painful one 😅)

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archwin010 profile image
Godwin Archibong

Thanks a lot for this piece, it's so timely! I am just starting out. Delving into JS, I am comfortable with HTML and CSS. JS ain't easy, but my goal is to learn and master it before adding frameworks. The truth is that, the learning journey is a never-ending process. I sure will take these tips to heart.

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softwaredeveloping profile image
FrontEndWebDeveloping

Hi Godwin. I'm a fairly new dev too. I found learning JS challenging, but my big breakthrough was when I read a book called "You don't know JS yet." It's an involved read, but, if your like me, after studying the first three chapters, you should be able to write basic JS. You can download a free pdf of the book online. I hope this helps!

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

OMG, I read the same book @softwaredeveloping. It was an amazing breakthrough to me.
The book was even hard to read at first and I had to re-read it 😅.
That book is all you need to know!

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softwaredeveloping profile image
FrontEndWebDeveloping

Indeed. It's a great book.

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Godwin Archibong

Thanks, I will

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softwaredeveloping profile image
FrontEndWebDeveloping

I hope it helps!

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Super glad you like them and best of luck in your journey 🙏

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Michael Tharrington

What an awesome freaking list of advice. This is great!

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks a lot 🙏

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monicafidalgo profile image
The Coding Mermaid 🧜‍♀️

"Take ownership of your career path" so true!

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

This one took me a long time to realise. I used to be just there and saying « yes » to tasks.
But no one can have more your interests in mind than you 😅

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Jana

This was such a great read, as a junior Frontend Developer with only 3 months of professional experience, I can not relate more to so many of your points. Thank you for sharing these tips and being such an inspiration for us!

Truthfully, I aim to be a reliable senior such as yourself one day, that can guide and help others on their journey. I should stop waiting for "29. Mentor younger devs" until I feel "ready" or "good enough". Your post is eye-opening.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Super glad you like it. Yes there are always people you can help even after 3 months.

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archwin010 profile image
Godwin Archibong

Thanks a lot for this piece, it's so timely! I am just starting out. Delving into JS, I am comfortable with HTML and CSS. JS ain't easy, but my goal is to learn and master it before adding frameworks. The truth is that, the learning journey is a never-ending process. I sure will take these tips to heart 😌🫡

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htho profile image
Hauke T.

Hi, I either don't understand 26. or I think this is bad advice for junior Devs:

26. Work from your strengths, not your weaknesses

Stop wasting time trying to fix apparent weaknesses.

If it takes you consistently >1 hour to do a task that others at your level accomplish in <5 minutes, steer clear of that task.

Likely, investing more energy won't make you exceptional at it.

Instead, do the essentials and concentrate on maximizing your strengths. If something comes naturally to you and is valuable, do it more 🚀.

If something (that is part of your job) is a pain in the a** then you need to improve your skills there. As a junior everything can become a struggle: do you have a hard time understanding code that uses async/await? Go learn Promise. Especially as a junior something that takes a lot of time might actually be a lack of knowledge ("1. Master the fundamentals") and skills ("15. Master your dev tools 🛠️") like keyboard shortcuts, automation, advanced editing features, RegExp for Search&Replace, Refactoring Tools, ...

Once you are experienced and established enough you might be able to afford to avoid a task that is part of your job and that everybody else can do.

I find myself telling my managers "Well, I could do that task, but I have the high priority/value tasks X, Y, Z to do. I am not that familiar with this module and need to spend some time getting to know the details. Mid-Level Dev Q is able to do that task as-well and it probably takes them the same amount of time."

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Oh I definitely mentioned you need to master fundamentals. Like you can’t be doing frontend and not understand async, etc..
What I mean by focus on strengths is like maybe you are not comfortable with architecting code but you are amazing at building simple UIs/animations, etc. you should focus on that vs. the first one.
Frontend development is large and you have to choose the area where you can be one of the best.
Being average doesn’t pay off😅

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htho profile image
Hauke T.

Frontend development is large and you have to choose the area where you can be one of the best.

Somehow this gives me a bad gut-feeling. Although the field is huge, and I know that in some way I am a specialist, some part of me deeply rejects the Idea that you need to specialize.

We need to learn constantly - and just because today I am bad at creating UIs, it doesn't mean that I should refuse to learn it, when that skill becomes necessary for me tomorrow.

Let me conclude by adding to your advice: "Always keep an open Mind. After you found X is hard, you will learn Y and Z, and some of that knowledge can be applied to X. Just because something is hard for you today, It doesn't mean it has to be when you need to learn it 5 years from now."

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

I definitely see your point there. I will take an example to illustrate for myself. For example I am bad at coming up with UI/ thinking about the UX, etc. I put in a lot of work but no results whatsoever.
On the other hand, I am very comfortable with JavaScript, with hard problems,etc.
So I decide to rely on people better than me at UX and rely on my strengths instead.
I think we should do what makes us unique more 🙏

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David Miller

I'm a junior dev myself. I was able to both empathize and learn from this article. Thanks for taking the time and thought to write it.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

I am happy you like it. Hope you won’t make the same mistakes I did 😅.

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Mehedi Islam Ripon

don't spam!

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Ashley D • Edited

This! 🙌
Wonderful article. Not only did I learn some wonderful tips, I also found I related to many of your experiences @_ndeyefatoudiop. ❤️

  • (#34) - Be comfortable saying no: That was definitely something I've struggled for for years as a people pleaser. However, after going through a particular bad round of burnout and health issues as a year ago from overloading myself, I have learned to embrace starting to say no.
  • And great callout for #25- taking breaks is important but we twin- it can be hard to step away but it always ends up being worth it because you are right- when you come back refreshed- you think better. 😊
  • (#27)- And so true about taking ownership of career path... I never thought I could rewrite my career. I was pigeonholed in customer-facing work for a decade, but I finally got the chance to do a bootcamp apprenticeship which I just started this year to transition to tech.
  • I love (#7) as well about not copying code you don't understand. It can be tempting, but I agree and especially for beginners like myself- I think the best way to learn is trying to code it first before looking it up, or if I do use chatGPT- I use it to talk through my code instead of having just give me the answer at once.
  • And yasss for (#36)- focus on quality vs just adding on a bunch of features. That is excellent advice- especially as we have a capstone project coming up here for bootcamp. That is a great reminder and helps me in how I approach it. 💖
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Ndeye Fatou Diop

I am super glad you like all these points, @ashleyd4880 😀.
It means a lot to know that this is a shared experience!

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Paweł Ciosek

great post! 👏

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks 🙏

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MarsCode • Edited

Great tips! Additionally, for beginners, considering an AI-powered IDE or plugin,might be helpful.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks ! Yes copilot is definitely super helpful if you can afford it 😌

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dancemove_marscode profile image
MarsCode

Definitely, Copilot is great! Oops, sorry for the shameless plug, for those who are looking for a FREE option, MarsCode also offers advanced AI features. Worth checking out! 😊

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Tanvir Shaikh

i want to make new dev friends

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FrontEndWebDeveloping

Well, here I am! 😄

Hi, my name's Benjamin. I've been developing for six months. How long have you been developing? Do you have a dev related job yet?

If your interested in getting in contact, I can send you my email.

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Tanvir Shaikh

i'm working as full-stack dev, developing for 6 years , sure you can share

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FrontEndWebDeveloping

Oh, okay. Well, I've only been doing front-end six months. Here is my email:

const email = "Ben_Leevey@proton.me"
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Cheikhnouha

Thanks you so much for this

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

You are welcome 🙏

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AnaDev

So much good advice! I'll keep this list close to refresh my memory from time to time hahah Thank you

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks a lot AnaDev! Glad you like it 😌

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Ricardo Esteves

@_ndeyefatoudiop awesome article, let me tell you!! Really enjoyed it.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks! Glad you liked it 😌

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softwaredeveloping profile image
FrontEndWebDeveloping

A good post. Well written and logical. Also, your advice is widely applicable and suitable for a large audience.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Very glad you like it!

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farid

Thank you. You put a lot of valuable information in this post.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it 🙏

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apb8176

💖🦄🔥

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Leonardo Oliveira

Thank you

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

You’re welcome

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javinpaul

Great advices, very practical

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks 🙏

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Shaikh Mohd Noman

Thanks, it was very insightful, I'll start working on it today.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it😌

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himanshu maheshwari

great knowledge sharing

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it 🙌

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Wes

Thank you - great advice!

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it Wes 🙏

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Tay

Thank you! These are some really great tips.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like them 🙏

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Muskan Dodmani

A very big thanks to you sir! 🫡🫡
All of this was so insightful
I'll be applying for jobs and once I get one, I'll make sure to apply these tips

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks Muskan 🙌
Best of luck in your journey !

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Md Nazmul Haque

Thanks man

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

You are welcome 🤗

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Alex Gonzalez

thanks for sharing in a unique guide the keys to become a Senior!

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it 🙏

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Haya

taking notes for my first job in tech 💖🦄🔥

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Congrats for that first job 🙏

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Rajeev Kumar

So true! Every piece of advice in the post is beneficial for me.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Super glad you like it!

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bybydev profile image
byby

That's too many to remember, my only advice after 10+ years is that keep building a lot of projects on your field of expertise.

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

This is a very good advice indeed: a combination of many of the tips given 😅.
Practicing different things is definitely the thing to do!

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MD-Dhaval-Saxena

Great Advice!

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like them!

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dmendezg14

Thank you, I start learn to full stack. Very Good!!

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

I am glad you like them! Best of luck in your journey!

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msc2020

Very good!

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like them!

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Sreeram

Very useful article. I've been coding for more than 10 years and can relate to most of the points. Well done.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks a lot! I am glad you like it!
Wouaw 10 years is a lot 🙌

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Minhaz Halim (Zim)

Such a great advice

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it and hopefully you won’t have to learn these the hard way 😅

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Staff

Love this, thank you!

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it😌

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Raj Kiran Chaudhary

Great tips. Thank you for sharing

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you liked them

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Tássio

Nice article! 👏 Guess I would also add something regarding not having framework/tools preferences. Thinking about people who decide to use framework/tool A or B based on preferences and likes.

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Jeff Chavez

I need this. Thank you.

"Don't copy/paste code you don't understand"

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Jasper Macaraeg

Thank you for tips it help me a lot!

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Super happy to hear that 😌

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ThoBinh02qv

This article will help me a lot!

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

I am happy to hear that 😌

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Fullstack Dev

This is a great advice right there!

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it!

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R A M

Thank you for this

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Glad you like it 🙏

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Allison Randel

This is great! Thanks for sharing!

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Thanks! I am glad you like them!

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Miguel

Thank you very much for this post

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Very glad you like it 😌

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Salvation Maduka

great insight, i grabbed a lot

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_ndeyefatoudiop profile image
Ndeye Fatou Diop

Super glad you like them!

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Yahaya Oyinkansola

Thank you for sharing your experience in this article on how to grow as a developer to senior levels. I feel like there is a problem with the no 1 point. Senior devs say that we should master the fundamentals, but yet, a lot of people say staying too long on learning fundamentals will not help you stay relevant, that you can always learn as you go, even if it isn't making sense initially. So please in your experience, how do you balance this out?

Point no 2 - I always feel like I don't understand the web enough, especially when I see this point on other articles or videos

Point no 11 is something I just recently started taking serious. I will always start a project without taking out time to understand what needs to get done. Later on when I am now stuck, I will start feeling like a failure because I know what to do, while also not knowing what to do (This might sound funny). This is a serious thing that developers need to learn early on, it changed the game for me when I decided to take it serious

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John Liter

As someone that is new to Web Development and currently in school for it, this article is by far something I’m going to keep and use. This advice is amazing and it really put spoon perspective for me. Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. It is very inspiring and has inspired me to look at quite a few things to help me succeed and to also teach to future coders.

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Nicolas Boyet

Nice article, I also see some stuff to add

  • Read the logs and understand them before sharing your problem with others
  • Try to have a holistic view of how everything works, from your own computer to your browser once you know how to use your favorite lib/framework. You will learn a lot about more advanced concepts/pattern
  • Read the FULL docs of your used framework/lib works and search inside when you're looking for something before searching on google/asking ChatGPT
  • Read technical books
  • Learn design pattern/architecture and when to use it

Here's my two cents :)

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Mohaned Benmansour

I have four years of experience as a web developer and six years in general development. This list offers excellent tips for beginners. However, I recommend mastering JavaScript before diving into any JS framework. Additionally, given the current trends, understanding TypeScript and its data types is equally important. Thank you for the insightful tips

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Ingo Steinke, web developer

That's a lot of useful advice!

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Stephen Smith

I disagree with bullet point #2 HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are not the only things that can run in the browser. With the creation of web-assembly almost any code can be run in the browser. Not as effectively at times.

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

That’s exactly why I put « only » in quotes 😅.
I know we can compile languages like rust to webassembly then run on the browser. But since this is not widely used, I didn’t mention for simplicity.

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Miguelángel Cabrera

Good man

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Precious Egwuenu

wow, thanks for this. COMMUNICATION is real. you have to demo your work to the team :)

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Future_Developer

Thank you for sharing this masterpiece tips l really learnt a lots from it, really you are an experienced frontend developer it's really shows in the depth of your thoughts and writeup.🌹

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Manjunatha Sai Uppu

Thank you very much for this blo. loved it 🥰

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Ranjith

I follow this personally and this is ultimate
Understand the big picture behind your tasks

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Vinayak Suthar

Thank you, It is very helpful

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Zaheer khan

Great points

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George Gabriel

Thank you very much for this

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Nana Kwasi Agyiri

Very Informative. Thanks very much.

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CODENAMESOL3NYA

Thank you for your advice.

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Carballo

This is a really good advices compilation. Thanks!

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aristeoibarra profile image
Aristeo Ibarra

Thank you for sharing, very interesting. However, this 'Done is better than perfect' is something many of us deal with every day 😅😅

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Vik Williamson

Glad to see that I'm covering all of these in my current path to becoming a Senior Dev! Great post!

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TUSHAR MALHOTRA

Excellent!! Thanks for sharing. I hope i will follow all the key points to become a good Software developer.

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Marcos Javier Gómez Hollger

Wonderful article... Thanks for your time & knowledge ❤️

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Andy Slezak

Nicely done!

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Ben • Edited

Than you so much, I got more power.

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Shakil-Ahmmed8882

Thanks, Ndeye 💗

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Pedro Alberto

Thanks!

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Thanh Thuy

Thank you so much for sharing this. Great advice !!

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Roldex Stark

wow

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Yoginder Kumar

Much needed! Thanks for sharing it.

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Bilal Nadeem

Helpful tips

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Furkan Emin Can

Thank you for such an informative article.

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Forever585

Thank you very much for your post.
Be comfortable saying no is a good tip for me.
Thank you again.

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rahul-haveri

Awesome tips! This applies to software engineering in general as well, Thanks

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Puffblende

inspiring. I struggle hard with imposter syndrome. Unfortunately we do not have younger devs (then me) i could teach...I am the one constantly asking others :D

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Flavien Tsiriherivonjy

Thank you very much

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Teodor Jenkler

Thanks for the content

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Badr Fakiri

thank you !

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Ruman Farooq

This is a very insightful article as it talks about skills that are mostly overlooked but can save lots of struggle in one's career path. Thanks for sharing.🩷

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Echo1

okay!

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taiwo_oluwaleye_ab35390cb profile image
taiwo oluwaleye

These 37 tips are amazing!

They're clear, practical, and full of wisdom. I can't wait to apply them to my projects and improve my skills.

Thanks for sharing!

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Vignesh Sekar

Quick bite with lot of info 🔥

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Neil Mark Luspo

Woahh!!! Thank you very much for this!!!

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jameelio

Well documented.....😃

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WeCodeFS

I just started my journey as a frontend developer.
Interesting and overwhelming article.
Thank you,

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WeCodeFS

I just started my front-end developer path.
Your article is interesting and overwhelming.
Thank you for the tips,