DEV Community: Emediong Bassey

Why I Want to Be a Front-End Developer and How HNG Will Help Me Achieve My Goals

Emediong Bassey — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 13:10:17 +0000

My Motivation for Becoming a Front-End Developer

I started coding in 2020 lockdown with Python and data science. I was fascinated by the power of data analytics and machine learning, but along the line, something felt missing—I craved the ability to build tangible, interactive applications. That’s when I discovered front-end development. The idea of crafting beautiful, user-friendly interfaces that people interact with daily excited me more than working purely with data. I realized that front-end development allowed me to merge my love for design with problem-solving, bringing ideas to life on the web.

Unlike data science, the learning curve for front-end development is not as steep, allowing me to grow, build projects, and start earning quickly. My ultimate goal is to become an AI software engineer, developing AI-driven applications that will be used globally. Front-end development serves as a strong foundation for this journey, helping me understand user interactions and build engaging interfaces for AI-powered software.

HNG is a crucial starting point in achieving these ambitions. It provides a structured pathway to sharpen my front-end skills while connecting me with a network of experienced mentors and industry professionals who can guide my career progression.

How HNG Will Help Me Grow in the Field

The HNG Internship is a golden opportunity for aspiring developers like me to gain real-world experience and mentorship. It provides a structured learning environment where I can work on practical projects, network and collaborate with industry experts, and receive constructive feedback. Unlike traditional learning, this internship immerses participants in an intensive, hands-on experience, ensuring they build not just theoretical knowledge but also practical skills.

HNG also connects developers with potential employers, opening doors to exciting career opportunities. For instance, companies looking to Hire React.js Developer or Hire Next.js Developers can easily find skilled interns who have honed their expertise through the program.

My Goals for the Internship and How I Plan to Achieve Them

Master Front-End Technologies – I aim to deepen my understanding of React.js, Next.js, and TypeScript while refining my CSS and JavaScript skills.

Build Real-World Projects – By actively contributing to team projects, I will develop applications that showcase my abilities and problem-solving skills.

Improve Collaboration and Communication – Working with teams will enhance my ability to write clean, maintainable code while also learning from experienced mentors.

Land a Front-End Developer Role – With the hands-on experience and connections gained from HNG, I aspire to secure a front-end developer role in a reputable company before the end of the program.

To achieve these goals, I will dedicate time to completing all assigned tasks, actively participate in discussions, seek mentorship, and continuously practice coding beyond the internship’s requirements.

Conclusion

My view on becoming a front-end developer is more than just writing code—it’s about solving problems and improving user experiences. HNG offers an unparalleled opportunity to gain industry-relevant skills and connect with potential employers. Through this program, I am confident that I will sharpen my technical skills, grow as a developer, and take significant steps toward achieving my career aspirations.

I am excited to embrace the challenges ahead and make the most of this internship journey!

React or Vuejs: Which to Use?

Emediong Bassey — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 12:27:31 +0000

Hi there, it’s been a loooong while!!!🤩

My first article on Dev.to was published some years ago, and guess who’s back! 💪

It’s already obvious that this is my second article here, and in this piece, I will be attempting a Comparative Case Study of two Popular Frontend Technologies which are Reactjs and Vuejs.

This article is the Stage 0 Frontend task of the HNG 11 Internship Program which fully resumes on July 1st. You might be asking, what the heck is HNG? Hear me out then!

The HNG (Hotels.ng) Internship is a large-scale remote internship program designed to help budding tech talent acquire and refine their skills through real-world projects. It is primarily focused on individuals in Africa, but it is open to participants globally. The program typically runs for several months and covers various aspects of software development, design, project management, and more🙌

You can register for the internship at https://hng.tech/internship, and also subscribe for the HNG Premium at https://hng.tech/premium, to get access to certifications, mentorship, job announcements and connect with world-class professionals. Personally, I have been a part of the previous two editions of the internship, and I can always recommend the program to any techie with a desire to do big things.

Enough of the chit-chat, let’s get started 😅

Comparing React and Vue.js: A Technical Perspective

Choosing a frontend library/framework to learn can be a very uphill task for newbies.

When I say newbies, I include anyone who just learnt HTML, CSS and JS😝. Pardon me, I also identify with you😅! Youtube channels and Tech influencers are not even helping these guys (newbies), because they just glorify a particular stack without giving a reason why they do that.

Even Senior developers often find themselves debating between which Frontend tool to use for large-scale products. Of course, most projects will always go with React and Vue.js, most times because they are the two most popular JavaScript libraries/frameworks in the industry. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and the choice often depends on the specific requirements of the project, but have we ever looked into why and when we can use them?

In this piece, I will be providing a detailed comparison of React and Vue.js from a technical standpoint - I bet you, this might just be the best thing for newbies and product-driven frontend developers😎

BRIEF OVERVIEW:

React:
React was developed by Facebook and released in 2013. It is a JavaScript library primarily used for building user interfaces. React emphasizes the creation of reusable UI components and it utilizes a virtual DOM to optimize rendering performance.

Vue:
Vue was developed by Evan You and released in 2014. It is a progressive JavaScript framework designed for building user interfaces and can function as a library for small projects or a full-fledged framework for larger applications. It also uses a virtual DOM for rendering optimization.

2. Learning Curve;

Most often than few, newbies ask the question, which one is faster to learn? Let’s check

React:
Learning React requires understanding JavaScript ES6+ features and JSX, a syntax extension that allows HTML within JavaScript. React’s ecosystem includes various libraries for state management (e.g., Redux, MobX), routing (e.g., React Router), and other functionalities, which can add complexity. React’s documentation is comprehensive (check it out at https://www.react.dev), but the unopinionated nature of React means developers need to make more decisions about architecture and state management.

Vue.js:
Vue.js is often considered easier for beginners due to its simpler syntax and design. It uses a template-based syntax similar to HTML, which can be more intuitive for new developers. Vue provides an official state management library (Vuex) and router (Vue Router) as part of its ecosystem, making it more opinionated and providing a clearer structure out of the box.

3. Performance

React:
React’s performance is optimized through the use of a virtual DOM, which minimizes direct manipulation of the real DOM.React Fiber, a reimplementation of the React core algorithm, improves rendering performance and provides better handling of asynchronous rendering. React is suitable for complex, high-performance applications.

Vue.js:
Vue also uses a virtual DOM and offers performance comparable to React in most scenarios. Vue's reactivity system is highly efficient, ensuring that only components that rely on reactive data are re-rendered. Performance differences between Vue and React are often negligible and depend more on the specific implementation and optimization techniques used.

4. Community and Ecosystem

React:
React has a larger community and a more mature ecosystem due to its earlier release and backing by Facebook. React has extensive resources, tutorials, and third-party libraries are available. It has a vast number of job opportunities and a strong presence in enterprise-level applications.

Vue.js:
Vue’s community is smaller but very active and growing rapidly. The Vue ecosystem is robust, with official libraries for routing (Vue Router) and state management (Vuex), as well as a CLI tool for project scaffolding. Vue is gaining traction in the industry, particularly among startups and smaller companies.

5. Flexibility and Scalability

React:
React is highly flexible and can be integrated into various stacks and platforms. Suitable for both small projects and large, scalable applications. The unopinionated nature allows developers to choose their tools and libraries, offering great flexibility but requiring more decisions.

Vue.js:
Vue is also flexible and can be integrated into existing projects incrementally. Designed to scale from simple to complex applications with its core libraries. The opinionated structure can lead to more consistency and faster development times for new projects.

6. Tooling

React:
Create React App (CRA) provides a quick start for new projects with a well-configured environment. A rich set of development tools and extensions, including React Developer Tools for Chrome and Firefox and supports TypeScript and modern JavaScript out of the box.

Vue.js:
Vue CLI offers a powerful project scaffolding tool with plugins for additional functionalities. Vue Devtools provides an excellent debugging experience. Vue supports TypeScript and modern JavaScript features, with TypeScript integration improving over time.

7. State Management

React:
State management is a critical aspect, often handled by libraries like Redux, MobX, or the Context API. The ecosystem provides multiple options, but it can be challenging to choose the right one.

Vue.js:
Vuex is the official state management library, providing a centralized store for all application components. Vuex is well-documented and integrates seamlessly with Vue, making state management more straightforward.

Conclusion

Both React and Vue.js are powerful tools for building modern web applications, and the choice between them often comes down to the specific needs of the project and the preferences of the development team.

React is ideal for large-scale applications where flexibility and performance are critical, especially if you appreciate its component-based architecture and are comfortable with JavaScript and JSX.

Vue.js is excellent for smaller to medium-sized projects or when you need a more straightforward and opinionated framework that speeds up development with its template-based syntax and integrated libraries.

Ultimately, both frameworks have strong communities, excellent documentation, and a wide range of use cases, making either a solid choice for your next project.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEB 2.0 and WEB 3.0

Emediong Bassey — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 03:26:52 +0000

As technology develops rapidly, it makes it difficult for one to be totally ignorant about the current trends and happenings around the globe. New feats in technology from time to time are put forward for the masses ogle or immediately incorporated for public use. Most recently, there are a lot of buzzes about the future of the internet and most likely, one may have stumbled on some words including "Web 3" ,"Web 2", "Blockchain", "Cryptocurrency" etc.
Well, I should say, it might sound new to some people, while to others, no! I myself, I got to first learn about the difference between"Web 2" and "Web 3", some few months before this post.

Like most conventional writers (or content creators) rituals go, I will immediately blow some wind (or should I say, powder) of knowledge into your vague world of almost complete/semi ignorance of Web 3 (i.e if you are a novice to the new trend). Taking the the first bold step, let's get it cracking by explaining what the "Web" means. Web refers to the World Wide Web (www), which is an information system where documents and other web resources are identified by Uniform Resource Locators (URL), which may be interlinked by hyperlinks, and are accessible over the internet. The internet however is a global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). So basically , the most done day to day activities, like making social media communication, live streaming services, instant messaging etc.
Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 actually refers to stages of development of the web and actually represent it's history.

Web 1 refers to the first stage of the World Wide Web evolution, which actually brought out the web pages in the late 1990s. Web 1 was just filled with Web that are just static pages and a huge majority of users are consumers of the content. In Web 1.0 advertisement on websites while surfing the internet was banned. Users of Web 1 were charged per page viewed. Web 1 is mostly regarded as the STATIC WEB.

Web 2.0 refers to the second stage of evolution of the world wide web. It includes websites which highlights user generated contents, usability and interoperability for end users. Web 2.0 is also called the participative social web. Web 2 refers to the version of the internet most of us know today. It is the very Web that has brought us technologies like social networking, instant messaging, live streaming etc. It brought to us useful Web Applications like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram etc. Web 2 is significantly influenced by the use of a central large server for data storage and Web 2 is also called the Dynamic Web.

Web 3.0 is the most recent stage of evolution of the web. It's most core feature is seen in it's decentralization of data storage systems which allows users of the web to also be a key contributor in it. It uses a connection of several interlinkable computers called nodes , of which data isn't owned but instead shared. This distributed network of computers working together enables the development of useful technological features on top of it . Technologies like blockchain technology, cryptography etc. are facilitated by the possibilities brought about by Web 3.0. Web 3 is often called the SEMANTIC WEB.

SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEB2.0 AND WEB 3.0

FEATURE	WEB 2.0	WEB 3.0
Decentralization	Web 2 is built on a centralized system whereby data storage on the web is handle by a single (or group) data entities, the servers, which are owned by companies providing the web services. It therefore means that these bodies detect what happens of the data of its web users	This is the core feature of web 3.0. Data storage and information utilization on the web is decentralized, leaving out the central server storage system. Data could be stored in multiple locations simultaneously and hence letting it be decentralized.
Ownership/Censorship	Content generated and consumed on Web 2 are regulated and owned by the web providers. This problem of content ownership overlaps also with yet another issue, Censorship, whereby content restriction is implemented in order to hide explicit contents and also suppress free thinking. It some instances it might seem advantageous-providing sanity and nonchalancy to the system. But it significant ways, it ways, it demeans transparency	Being a decentralized system, Web 3.0 offers complete and explicit ownership to the users contents. Since no central body is regulating the flow and type of content, users are allowed to express themselves more freely, without the fear of censorship of contents.
Scalability	Scalability here refers to the amount of information exchange between the source and user at a given time. It depicts its speed and capabilities. Web 2.0 currently seems more advantageous in scalability, when compared to Web 3.0. Because of the use of large servers which process information and enable long distance and large scale communication much more effective. This is as a result of fact that data exchange comes from one central source location to the users making it possible to reach almost all designated users at the same amount of time	Scalability is still a major problem in web 3. Owing to the relative infancy of the Web 3, most of its applications are being hindered by this. Most significantly is the blockchain, where transactions registration on blocks are lagged. The distributed network of nodes (computers) makes information exchange between nodes less scalable, especially if the nodes are far apart. This is however improved as computational ability of the nodes used in the network improves.
Trustless and Permissionless	Web 2 is a system where virtually every page you use requires one or more means of user verification; where most user personal information are required for trust processes.	One of the core features of web 3 is that it allows participants to interact directly without going through a trusted intermediary (Trustless) and anyone can participate without authorization from a governing body (Permissionless). This allows a lot of peer-to-peer applications where users make interactions anonymously.

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