Hey there my friend!

Welcome to the newest issue of the Top 3 in Tech newsletter. Today we're covering how to become a front-end developer, shifting your mental model about CSS layouts, and questions to ask companies you're interviewing for.

Less than 5 minutes to read - let's go:

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1. Front-End Roadmap

One of the most common questions I get asked is how to get started with front-end development and transition into a web dev career.

It's a great question. And the answer used to be simple:

1. Learn HTML and CSS
2. Learn JavaScript
3. Apply for jobs

But the front-end landscape has changed quite significantly in the last few years - which is both a blessing and a curse.

Websites have gotten more powerful, but also more complex. The amount of stuff you can do in a browser nowadays was unheard of 10 years ago. The JavaScript ecosystem has evolved to include modern frameworks like React, Vue and Angular. CSS is mostly used through preprocessors like SCSS, a framework like Tailwind, or through a CSS-in-JS solution.

Don't get me wrong: this newfound power and capability is a good thing. All of these tools do amazing things for front-end developers, despite their added complexity.

But it does make it a lot trickier for new developers looking to learn and break into the field. There's no "cookie-cutter" path anymore because there's so many options.

With that said, I have my own idea of the optimal roadmap for new front-end developers. This is based on the path I took as well as what I see working in the industry. It's also the skills my company look for when hiring new front-end devs:

1. Learn HTML and CSS (semantics, accessibility, forms, layouts)
2. Learn JavaScript + basic DOM manipulation and data fetching
3. Learn a JS framework. I recommend Vue because I think it's easier to get started with, but React or Svelte are great choices too.
4. Dive into SCSS and Tailwind. You don't need to learn them in detail, but understand how they work.
5. Learn basic Git concepts like adding/committing files, branching, pushing and pulling. The rest you can learn as you go.
6. Pick up a metaframework like Nuxt (if you chose Vue in step 3) or Next (if you chose React) or SvelteKit (if you chose Svelte).
7. Apply for jobs

Now this may look like a lot. And that's because it is.

Front-end has gotten a lot more complex over time, and it can be overwhelming when looking at a long list like this. But this is the reality of what is expected of a front-end developer in 2022. At least it's better to be well-informed and prepared (even if that list looks scary!)

The good news is that all of these things can be learned with the right approach - and that approach is to build lots of projects along the way.

That's always been the best way to learn in my experience. To learn HTML and CSS, build a simple portfolio website. Then add some JavaScript to manipulate it with a carousel. Use your framework of choice to build a small app around something you're passionate about, and style it with Tailwind or SCSS.

The more you build, the quicker you'll learn. And before you know it these tools will become second nature to you and you'll be an amazing front-end hire for any company.

Just keep at it 🔥

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2. Understanding CSS layouts

While we're on the subject of becoming a front-end developer, what better place to start than with an amazing article to build a mental model of different CSS layouts.

The article is by Josh W Comeau, one of my favourite online teachers. It came out this week and was kind of an eye opener for me personally. I definitely recommend checking it out if you work with or are currently learning CSS:

​Learn about the mental model shift to make CSS more intuitive​

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3. Interview questions to ask companies

The final pick for this week is an old Twitter thread I recently re-discovered. It focuses on an important point that almost everyone neglects when interviewing for a job:

You're also interviewing the company.

You need to make sure the company is a good fit for you - both right now, but also in the long term. And if it's not, well, better to find out sooner rather than later!

This thread contains some A+ questions to ask at the end of interviews to make sure the company is right for you (click the tweet to view the full thread):

kurt kemple @theworstdev I recently had to interview for a job and while it's fresh on my mind I figured I'd share my top 5 questions I like to ask about the company and role I'm applying for. Thread 👇 February 29th 2020 328 Retweets 1,769 Likes

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That's it for now! I would really appreciate if you would share the newsletter with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by email or copy/paste the link mads.fyi/top3 on other platforms. It really helps to keep me motivated and let the newsletter grow. See you in 2 weeks ✌

— Mads Brodt