Not every front-end developer can meet all of your needs. The effectiveness of such developers depends on many factors, such as work experience, skills in certain areas, etc. This is why choosing the right front-end developer is a daunting task. Even more, problems arise if you need a developer for one project. In this case, the best solution is to hire a freelance front-end developer.
Types of Front-End Developers
Before hiring a developer, you should decide what kind of projects you need a front-end developer for. This will help you avoid making mistakes when choosing the right developer. All of them can be divided into three groups, depending on their skills and work experience. So, we have junior, mid-level, and senior specialists.
Junior Front-End Developer
Juniors are usually the ones who start software development. They are well versed in the basics. This includes HTML, CSS, some JavaScript, and one framework. The biggest advantage of hiring junior developers is that their salaries are the lowest, and therefore they are cheaper for the company.
Most juniors have little experience in development, so they have enough skills to deal with the development of simple programs, for example, a landing page or some widely-used functionality. It should be added that they are excellent team players, as they take on all tasks from middle and senior developers.
Middle Front-End Developers
Middle front-end developers have the skills of one or two development frameworks, as well as everything that juniors can do. The middles' experience is 3+ years and they occupy the medium-price segment on the front-end development market. Such developers have experience in working with various projects, and therefore well understand all of them and can even make independent decisions regarding development.
Middle developers work well in a team, or they can perform duties on a freelance basis. But they may not be able to handle complex projects.
Senior Front-End Developers
Seniors are the most experienced developers with 5+ years of experience. Accordingly, hiring such developers will cost the company more. They can create powerful and effective programs that fit perfectly with business logic.
Before starting work on each project, they study in detail the goals and budget to select the tools and technologies that will be best suited for the given project. Based on their own experience, senior developers can come up with the best solution to problems, as well as the functionality that best suits your application.
What Skills to Look Out For in a Front-End Developer?
When choosing a freelance front-end developer, you must clearly understand their responsibilities and the tools they use in their work. This will help you find the best developer. Let's take a closer look at the skills.
HTML / CSS
HTML is the basic programming language that is used to create all web pages. CSS is also an integral part of any website development, as this language is used to present the document you create with HTML.
JavaScript / jQuery
Another required skill for a front-end developer is JavaScript knowledge. Without this tool, you will not be able to embed interactive features such as audio, video, games, into your site. As far as jQuery is concerned, it is the tool that makes up JavaScript and makes it easier to use. With jQuery, you can compress your codes and make them shorter.
Frameworks
The CSS and JavaScript frameworks are a collection of CSS and JavaScript files that are responsible for performing various tasks that represent basic functionality. Instead of starting from a blank slate, you start with a page full of JavaScript.
But it is worth remembering that each framework has its strengths and weaknesses, and therefore you need to carefully choose which framework for which the site is best suited.
Version Control
Version control is the process of tracking and controlling source code changes. This is so that you don't have to start from the beginning if something goes wrong. With this tool, you can track changes made in the past and go back to previous versions of the work to find out where the error was.
UX/UI Design
It is impossible to develop an effective program without developing a thoughtful and memorable interface. So basic knowledge of UX/UI best practices is essential for a front-end developer in order to understand how to enhance the software for it to fully satisfy the needs of end-users.
Back-End Development
A front-end freelancer needs to have a basic understanding of the back-end development in order to effectively collaborate with other team members.
Front-End Developer Responsibilities
Before hiring a freelance front-end developer, you should research their responsibilities to understand whether candidates can perform basic functions or not. Below are some of the main responsibilities of such developers:
- Create a program layout with HTML and CSS
- Creation of the front-end of the product: animations, server responses, and user interaction
- Writing clean code that can be used in the future
- Optimizing programs for maximum efficiency
- Collaboration with the team
Hire Front-End Developers Through Ideamotive Tech Talent Marketplace
If you don't want to risk choosing a specialist, Ideamotive is the best option for those looking for a freelance front-end developer and want to be confident in the developer's competence. Our marketplace offers a huge selection of vetted front-end developers of various levels. Any developer on our site has vast experience in this area. Therefore, you can be sure that you will get a high-quality developer.
Plus, you don't have to spend months searching and hiring the right developer. With Ideamotive, this process takes less than 21 days (sometimes even a few hours!) It is worth remembering that the possibility of reducing, replacing, or expanding the staff of the company makes it very flexible.
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