A web-based product consists of two parts: the one visible only to developers and the one that users see in their browsers and directly interact with. The functionality depends on the first one, and usability — on the second one.
And rich functionality is not everything that makes a product successful. For it to be sought after, it is necessary to embody all useful features in a beautiful and user-friendly form. And this is where you need high-quality front-end development. Do you want to learn more about what it is and what stages it consists of? You will get the answers to these questions from this article.
The Definition of What is Front-End Development
This is building a user interface, a side of a web product that browsers show. It includes all graphic units: a header and a footer, menus, toolbars, all blocks with content, buttons, sliders, search bars, etc. The focal aim of a development team is to make all them attractive and convenient to use.
Front-end Development Guidelines
To successfully cope with the creation of the visual part of a project, you need to confidently master the following technologies:
- HTML and CSS, the basic tools for setting up the visual side of web-based projects, with frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation.
- JavaScript, a programming language for building more sophisticated projects with interactive parts, with frameworks and libraries for faster and simpler work (Vue.js, Ember.js or AngularJS).
How much time will it take to learn all this if you are not a professional programmer? At least a few months subject to many hours of practice every day or even a year if studying only in free time. Most likely, you are not ready to delay releasing a product for so long. So, it is better to entrust this complex job to qualified specialists.
Front-end Development Requirements: a Clear Task Ensures a Satisfying Result
Before giving a task to a team make sure that you have defined all requirements to an expected result. It is better to gather all of them in one place: UX/UI specifications document.
For a team to understand what specific result you want to get, they need the following information:
- who is the target audience;
- typical scenarios of using a future product;
- names, number, locations of the interface components, the instructions of how they should look like (for websites, specifications should include a sitemap, wireframes of all pages, and the range of workflows that a ready-made project should have).
Front-end Development Steps: Their Sequence and Description
Usually, creating the visual part of a product comes in 5 stages:
- Requirements gathering.
- Prototyping.
- Coding.
- Quality assurance and testing.
- Post-deployment maintenance.
What are the steps for effective front-end development?
| Requirements collecting | At this stage, a client prepares all specifications for a team. The final result directly depends on this step. |
| Prototyping | At this step, developers make a project layout. Its main purpose is to show a client what the product will look like and how it will work. It’s possible to say that a prototype is a preliminary version of a ready-made project. After a client gives feedback on it, developers start to create a working version of a product. |
| Coding | This is an essential step when a development team implements all the client’s specifications and implements a required interface of a product. |
| Quality Assurance and Testing | Usability and user experience undergo tests at this stage. It helps to understand if a result meets the client’s requirements and whether it will satisfy the end-users’ needs. |
| Post-deployment Maintenance | The work of a development team does not finish with releasing a project. Post-deployment maintenance is necessary for a product to succeed. Developers can add or improve some elements of the interface in case of bugs or inconvenience of use. |
We have already described the requirements gathering stage above. Now let’s talk about the further stages starting with coding. Here are the main technologies that developers use for creating an interface:
- HTML;
- DOM;
- CSS;
- JavaScript.
Keep reading, and you will find detailed information on each of them below.
HTML in Front-end Development Process
HTML is the basis of building an interface. It defines the content and structure of a web product.
Developers use either common editors for source code or IDEs (integrated development environments with many additional features and benefits) for writing an HTML code.
Some examples of software for editing HTML
| Plain editors | IDEs |
| Sublime Text | WebStorm |
| Notepad++ | Komodo IDE |
| Atom | Zend Studio |
Here is the simplest example of an HTML code:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset=“utf-8”>
<title>Web page title</title>
<link rel=“stylesheet” href=“style.css”>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Heading</h1>
<p>Paragraph with content</p>
<p>Paragraph with content</p>
<h2>Subheading</h2>
<p>Paragraph with content</p>
<p>Paragraph with content</p>
<h2>Subheading</h2>
<p>Paragraph with content</p>
<p>Paragraph with content</p>
</body>
</html>
As you can see, it sets the structure: which elements and how many of them the page will consist of. But as you have already noticed, HTML has nothing to do with the style. Therefore, to set what these elements will look like, we need CSS.
DOM in Front-end Development Process
Document Object Model (DOM) is an API for HTML and XML codes. It renders the document in such a way that browsers can change its structure, style, and content. It reconstitutes a page as nodes and objects, connecting programming languages to a page.
So, essentially, this is a connection between programming or scripting languages and a web page that users see in their browsers.
It must meet the W3C and WHATWG standards of modern browsers. Up-to-date flash drives use multiple APIs, functioning together. The core of a flash drive determines objects that completely interpret the whole code sheet and all the units within it.
CSS in Front-end Development
CSS defines the style of all structural elements described in the HTML code. It sets their color, size, font style, etc. For editing a CSS file, a coder can use the same editors like Sublime Text or NotePad++ or IDEs like WebStorm or Zend Studio.
A sample of CSS code looks like this:
body {
font-family: Times New Roman;
font-size: 11pt;
background-color: #808000;
color: #000000;
}
Such a code defines the color of background and text, and the font style and size of the body content.
To simplify the creation of the styles of web page elements (buttons, menus, tabs, tables, radio buttons, drop-down lists, tooltips, modal windows, and so on) and fasten the CSS code editing developers can use one of the following frameworks:
- Bootstrap;
- Semantic UI;
- Foundation;
- UIkit;
- Bulma;
- Materialized;
- Pure;
- Material Design Lite.
JavaScript in Front-end Development Process
This is a programming language that allows complementing a website with interactive features. For JavaScript code editing, it is possible to use the same programs that have already been mentioned above (Zend Studio, WebStorm, Sublime Text, and others). For faster and simpler work, developers use frameworks.
What JavaScript frameworks are used most commonly
| Angular | A Google-based framework that takes leading positions on GitHub. It is perfect for making mobile apps and dynamic SPAs.
It has a huge community which means that it is easy to find a specialist to create a product with this technology and it is not difficult to get professional advice while working with it by yourself. It allows getting a lightweight code, as it describes the desired end result, not all the steps of its achievement. Thus, a product is easier to maintain. One more advantage is a huge number of ready-made modules for solving various tasks. |
| Vue.js | An open-source framework, flexible and highly integrable with external technologies, perfect for designing UI of SPAs. It allows a very high-speed work thanks to the use of various templates and the availability of detailed documentation. |
| Ember.js | An open-source MVVM framework for developing complex model-driven multi-page applications. Its main advantage is the most rigorous organization and stability, since all components have the same functions and properties. When you work with it, you may be sure that there is a very certain right way to do something, which is usually the only possible one. It has a clear architecture appropriate for building complex web applications. |
QA and Testing in Front-end Development Process
At this step, testers start working. They check UI and collaborate withe representatives of the end-users community to test UX.
UI testing checks whether the realization of all the interface components meets the client’s requests.
Steps of UI testing:
- Analyzing requirements.
- Developing test-cases.
- Executing tests.
- Making reports.
UX testing checks if the interface of a released product meets the requests and needs of the target audience and whether it is easy and convenient to use a website or app.
Steps of UX testing:
- Setting goals;
- Choice of respondents.
- Making up the supposes about the reasons for certain user behavior.
- Creating scenarios of the most typical user behaviors.
- Choosing the types and methods of testing;
- Conducting qualitative and quantitative tests;
- Reporting.
If testers have found some problems, a development team improves the product.
Post-deployment Maintenance in Front-end Development
This stage means the work of developers on a ready-made product. It is often necessary to improve the interface in a completed project. For example, it is possible to test UX only after release. Therefore, if testers find some problems you will need developers to fix them. This will help to make a product more convenient for users. Thus, it will become more successful.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Front-End Development?
Front-end development is creating a client side of a product, a user interface. This is the external part of a website or web application that the users directly interact with.
Front-end development includes creating all graphic elements that users see in their browsers (header and footer of a website, menus, toolbars, all blocks with content, buttons, sliders, search bars, etc).
What Technologies are Used For Front-end Development?
Modern professionals work with:
- HTML;
- CSS and frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation;
- JavaScript with frameworks and libraries like Vue.js, AngularJS, Ember.js.
Which Language is Best for Front-end?
The best option is JavaScript. It allows adding dynamic components to a web interface.
Final Thoughts
Building an interface is a difficult process that requires the knowledge of specialized technologies. Therefore, it is better to entrust this complex job to a professional team.
JoinSoft can help you with front-end development by a team of experienced professionals who will masterfully use up-to-date technologies to make your web project attractive and user-friendly.
