Whether business needs a landing page for a website, or products are presented and sold digitally over their website, hiring the right web frontend engineering team plays a critical role for promoting businesses.
But first we need to understand what frontend engineering is and what skills frontend engineering demands to get hired. Frontend engineering, as the name conveys, is the front image of a website, and hence, a business’s brand image. In this article, we will discuss these aspects in detail.
What is Frontend Engineering?
Web development is mainly divided into two parts: frontend and backend. Users interact with the frontend, and all the data storage and processing is done on the backend.
Frontend engineering is the process of designing and developing the user interface of any software application through which the users will interact directly with a business as it hides the complexity of the business logic and the internal interactions between the different components of a large system. Let’s say for an example, if a business has an e-commerce website that sells products and services, the frontend engineer’ role will be designing the layout of the webpages, adjust the fonts, colors and images, and designing the cart, the login form, products gallery, the payment interface, and the checkout page.
Frontend development requires the use and familiarity of a lot of different technologies that the engineer must be proficient in. We will discuss these technologies later on in this article.
What do Frontend Engineers do?
Frontend engineer’s role differs from one company to another, however, there are a fixed set of responsibilities that they have regardless of what type of business or websites, so here’re the core responsibilities of a frontend engineer:
- Design and develop the website layout and structuring the different components of web pages.
- Design and develop forms for login, signups, payment, … etc.
- Adjust and configure fonts, colors, and background.
- Interact with application interface endpoints to fetch data.
- Make sure that the UI is compatible with different screen dimensions.
- Design and develop an efficient caching strategy to store repeated requests and frequently used data.
- Ensuring that user experience is smooth by making sure that frontend code is performant with no significant delays.
To achieve the above requirements, frontend engineers use different technologies.
What Technologies do Frontend Engineers Use?
HTML
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the standard markup language for creating web pages. It defines the content and structure of web content, allowing browsers to display it correctly.
It serves as the most fundamental building block of the web. It defines the meaning and structure of web content.
It consists of a series of elements that wrap different parts of content to define how they should appear or behave.
CSS
CSS is like the stylist for a web page. Imagine a website as a well-dressed person: HTML provides the structure (like bones and muscles), and CSS adds the style (like clothes and accessories). It turns plain text and boxes into beautifully designed websites.
When a browser reads an HTML page, it also looks for CSS rules. CSS rules define how elements (like headings, paragraphs, buttons) should look.
CSS ensures that all pages on a website look consistent and appealing by doing the following:
- Fonts: Choose different fonts for text.
- Colors: Change text and background colors.
- Layout: Arrange elements side by side or stack them.
- Spacing: Add margins and padding around elements.
- Animations: Make things move or fade in.
- Responsive Design: Adjust styles for different screen sizes (like phones vs. desktops).
Javascript
Javascript is a very popular programming language that web browsers can understand, it is used to make webpages more dynamic and enhances its ability to render webpage’s components conditionally and dynamically. It is also used to communicate with backend by fetching data to present to the user and sending data from user to backend.
During the early days of the web, Javascript was used on its own without any additional libraries or frameworks. However, nowadays, a lot of Javascript libraries and frameworks were made to simplify working with frontend engineering as the fields of UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) were growing in complexity. Here are we will give a brief overview of two of the most popular Javascript libraries and frameworks that frontend developers in small startups ans big enterprises use:
React
React is a free and open source Javascript library developed by facebook and is currently maintained by a global community of React’s users and enthusiasts. React is a library as it is considered a lightweight toolbox for building web interfaces.
Imagine building a house. You have different parts: walls, doors, windows, and furniture. In web development, we create similar “parts” for websites or apps. React is like a toolkit for developers. It helps them build these parts (called components) efficiently. Think of components as Lego pieces. Each piece has a specific function (e.g., a button, a menu, or a photo gallery). Developers assemble these components to create the final web page or app.
The Virtual DOM is what makes React a very powerful library. Imagine a blueprint of your house. It’s easier to make changes on paper than to tear down walls in real life. React uses a Virtual DOM (like that blueprint) to manage updates. When something changes (e.g., a user clicks a button), React updates only the necessary parts of the page. This makes your app faster and smoother.
React makes web pages load faster because it’s smart about updates. It ensures a smooth experience—like when new chat messages appear instantly without refreshing the whole page.
Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp use React for their interfaces.
Angular
Angular is a free and open source Javascript framework developed by Google. It’s a larger framework, but it provides more features out of the box. Angular is more like a full-fledged construction project with blueprints, tools, and workers.
Similar to React, Angular also uses a component-based architecture. It provides more features out of the box, such as data binding, routing, and API (Application Programmable Interface) interactions.
Angular uses the real DOM and two-way data binding. It automatically keeps the view (UI) and data model in sync. While powerful, this can make Angular heavier and slower compared to React.
What is Frontend Engineer Salary?
United States:
For Entry-Level Engineers, their average salary ranges from $65,210 to $68,000. As you gain experience, you become Mid-Level Developers, annual pay could be between $82,819 and $111,919.
Seasoned front-end developers earn even more, with averages from $92,788 to $107,000.
Egypt:
Freshers in Egypt can expect salaries between 10K and 20K. Experienced front-end devs might earn from 30K and 50K.
Factors Influencing Your Salary
Several factors impact how much you’ll earn as a front-end developer:
Education Level
Whilst having a degree is not strict requirement to become a frontend engineer. Having a bachelor’s degree tends to boost your salary compared to code camp graduates.
Experience and Expertise
The more years you’ve spent coding, the higher your earning potential.
Specialized skills (like mastering React, Angular, or Vue.js) can also impact your pay.
Location Matters
Salaries vary based on where you work. Silicon Valley pays differently from a smaller town.
Cost of living and demand in your area play a role.
Company Size and Industry
Working for a tech giant versus a startup affects your salary.
Industries like finance, e-commerce, and healthcare may offer different pay scales.
Conclusion
Frontend development is both creative and technical. Keep learning, build your portfolio, considering that this field is growing rapidly with new technologies always keep surfacing. Remember, your skills are the blueprint for your future earnings! Jobzella can be a great asset to find your next frontend developer job!