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As a recruiter, you are tasked with one of the most important jobs to your software company. You are a powerful conduit between the company and the pool of candidates you carefully sift through to find the perfect fit.

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For this, knowledge about frontend development is nothing short of crucial. You need to specify what kind of frontend engineer you need. The goal is to be able to say, “I want someone who can do XYZ for this purpose”.

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Orienting yourself in the ecosystem of tech languages allows you to do several things: to easily spot who is qualified and who is not; to challenge the hiring manager in the specificity and effectiveness of the position they’re looking to fill; and to write concise, transparent job descriptions.

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That’s what this webinar was about: to guide you into the basic elements of frontend development.

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Here we present the main takeaways of this webinar.

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Afterwards, you can practice your technical knowledge using the free learning materials available on Tech Jargon.

Debunking Frontend Myths

When asked what frontend is, many recruiters will give the same answer: the part of the website that is visible to users; web development.

But these definitions miss something essential.

Frontend encompasses every single thing that users can interact with. 

When you’re driving a car, the GPS is part of the frontend system; it’s an interface you engage with in a dynamic way. It is the site of an exchange of information.

It is therefore not just about the web development – It is about interaction. The USER must be considered in any definition of frontend.

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Technologies Involved in Frontend

The technologies involved in frontend fall into several categories: programming languages, markup languages, styling languages, and frameworks. The three main languages of frontend are JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, but they fall into different categories.

Programming Languages

Programming languages are used to write dynamic computer programs. JavaScript is the most widely used programming language; every search engine uses it. It is a must-have skill for a frontend engineer, as frontend is extremely JavaScript-heavy.

Typescript is another example of a frontend programming language. Created by Microsoft in 2012, it is essentially JavaScript that scales, to verify if JavaScript code is fake before it is run. JavaScript alone will not verify if something is fake or not until you start using it. Typescript on the other hand checks the code before it is executed. That is why any frontend engineer should be using Typescript by default.

If a frontend candidate does not have Typescript skills, you should check with the hiring manager if that candidate is someone the company actually wants. If the answer is no, you can suggest this engineer a Hackjam session to bring their Typescript skills up to speed.

Markup Languages

Next, we have markup languages like HTML, SVG, XML, and Markdown.

What is the difference between a programming language and a markup language?

We’re glad you asked.

To answer this, we will compare HTML with a programming language like JavaScript.

HTML is a markup language: a set of tags that specifies the headings and paragraph structure to arrange material on a webpage. It structures elements and makes them look appealing. HTML is thus a static language: its purpose is primarily visual and structural, and as a user you cannot interact with it. This is what a markup language does.

By contrast, unlike a markup language, JavaScript allows you to interact with the information on a webpage by sending information you enter from the frontend (like a search query) to the backend. JavaScript gives the website its dynamicity so that you can request the information you want from it, and that information is retrieved from the backend.

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Styling Languages

Styling languages add extra flavor and dimensionality to structured material written in markup languages. Some prominent frontend styling languages are SASS, SCSS, Less, Stylus, and CSS.

CSS, one of the three original basic languages, qualifies as both a markup language and a programming language, but it has evolved more fully into a styling language. CSS provides color to your material to make it more beautiful and interesting.

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Frameworks

The three main frontend languages, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS all go through a framework that speeds up actions. Frameworks support the development of web and mobile interfaces by automating the work that you do every day. Common frontend frameworks include React, backbone.js, ember.js, Svelte, Angular, and vue.js.

Communication Between Frontend and Backend: HTTP

Communication between the frontend and backend of a website is mediated through the transport protocol HTTP(S) (HTTP stands for ‘hypertext transfer protocol’, while the optional ‘S’ is for ‘secure’).

When you request information from the frontend of a website, your request is sent to a server in the backend. Just like a server in a restaurant, the server brings what you requested, with HTML and CSS rendered into your browser for you to begin interacting with it.

HTTP requires a format for representing data so that it can be sent like a package between frontend and backend. The format JSON does this. It is equivalent to the notebook the restaurant server writes your order in.

If an engineer does not know JSON, that means they probably are not a true frontend engineer, because they do not understand the fundamentals of communication between frontend and backend.

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Interfaces

An interface allows a user to access and interact with material running on a remote server.

As you probably guessed, web interfaces are for web developers, while mobile interfaces are for mobile developers.

It is important to note that frontend refers to both web pages and mobile apps, though people mostly refer to web apps when they talk about frontend.

To Wrap it Up

By understanding your frontend jargon, you are better able to fulfill your goal as a recruiter. You can sell frontend jobs, vet candidates, and write precise and enticing job descriptions. You can ask for specific skills in interviews and know the value of each skill in the position that must be filled.

Additionally, you are better able to challenge the hiring manager. For example, if the hiring manager tells you that the company needs a developer versed in an outdated or obscure technology like JQERY, you can immediately counter with “I’m not going to find a developer who does JQERY. Why are you using it?”

Frontend is immensely valuable: it is web applications, mobile applications, and everything the user interacts with. Your knowledge of frontend will produce sudden insight moments in interviews, such as if a candidate is a true frontend engineer or has several additional useful skills. That is why it is important to constantly update and refresh your knowledge of frontend.

Additional tips for frontend knowledge: 

If you’re unsure of the different technologies in any of the tech categories (e.g. frameworks), you can search “Angular vs.” in Google, and autocomplete will fill in all the other options in that framework category.

To deep-dive into practicing technical knowledge, follow the training that is offered online.

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Check out the visual notes of this webinar:

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