Frontend Developer Resources 2022

Frontend Developer Resources 2022

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Nick Taylor
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7 min read

Table of contents

I don't know if I'll keep doing this every year, but I did one of these in 2020, and that post got some good signal, so I renamed it to Frontend Developer Resources 2020, which brings us to Frontend Developer Resources 2022. Oops, I missed 2021. Technically we're still in 2021, but humour me. I also added sprinkles of shameless plugs. 😎

También puedes leer este artículo en español gracias a Chema Bescós!

This post is not a complete list, more a list of stuff I found compelling in 2021 that will keep you set in 2022 and build off of my previous list. You may see some repeats from my 2020 post here, but they're still super relevant.

Most resources are free, but some resources you need to pay. I also highly recommend an egghead.io subscription. I've been a happy subscriber for quite a while now.

If you have an educational stipend at work, use it. Also, many public libraries give you access for free to paid resources like LinkedIn Learning. Check out your local library before purchasing certain content. Also, just a massive shoutout to public libraries. 😎

I work with Preact daily, and I also work with React. There are other libraries and frameworks out there, but I will veer away from all that in this post. The browser extensions section is the only place where I'll mention frameworks and libraries.

This post is a work in progress, so expect this list to update throughout 2022.

JavaScript

Regardless of whether or not you start with a library or framework, at some point, as a frontend developer, you will need to understand JavaScript in more depth. Here are some excellent resources to get you there.

  • JavaScript 30 – A classic care of Wes Bos. These are fun projects to help solidify some JS fundamentals.
  • JavaScript Katas – I found this resource a long time ago, but it's gotten a refresh in recent years. I even did a live stream of doing some of the Katas!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CY9tTyTWfs
https://twitter.com/addyosmani/status/1472833175923478531
  • Philip Roberts talk at JSConf EU "What the heck is the event loop anyway?" is an excellent explanation of the event loop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aGhZQkoFbQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCOL7MC4Pl0

Discover and rebuild your JavaScript mental models.

  • I don't go super deep in this lunch and learn, but I give some tips on how to get started with debugging JavaScript.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9A0Pifn0Uw

TypeScript

TypeScript is getting more and more popular every year. Even if you're not a fan of it, it's good to be at least aware of it.

Update July 2022: I created a new post for TypeScript learning resources, so check that out too!

https://hashnode.iamdeveloper.com/learning-resources-for-typescript-4g1n

CSS

Let's skip the centring jokes in CSS. We're in the 2020s now, and this is something relatively easy to do nowadays. Dig in and level up on your CSS.

HTML

If you're doing web development long-term, you must become familiar with semantic markup. Pass on the order for <div /> soup.

Accessibility

Accessibility is super important and honestly, if you want to stand out as a frontend developer, levelling up here is a good move.

https://dev.to/s_aitchison/5-things-i-m-thinking-about-when-i-check-a-pull-request-for-accessibility-3gmo

Animations

Animations are a great way of enhancing a user experience, but remember, don't add animations to your site for the sake of adding animations. Here's some great people's work to check out in this space.

Jamstack

Browser Extensions

  • WAVE – "evaluate web content for accessibility issues directly within your browser"
  • axe – "test your web applications to help identify and resolve common accessibility issues"
  • Accessibility Insights for Web – "helps developers find and fix accessibility issues in web apps and sites"
  • If you're working with React: React DevTools (Chromium based browsers | Firefox)
  • If you're working with Preact: Preact DevTools
  • VisBug – Open source web design debug tools

Testing

Testing is a big topic, and I'll scratch the surface here, but knowing what to test is super important. At the end of the day, when you ship something, ask yourself, "Do I feel confident with shipping this?".

  • I'm a fan of Cypress, and we use it at Forem (the software that powers dev.to). Over time, we've been building out our documentation, and I think it's a great resource if you dive into end-to-end testing. Check out Writing Cypress Tests
  • Testing library's suite of tools. Whether it's component tests in React, Svelte, plain old HTML/CSS/JS or end to end testing, Testing Library has you covered.

Cloud IDEs/full-blown development environments

Living on the Edge

A lot of cool stuff is happening on The Edge. I haven't done much here, but looking to level up in 2022.

Tooling

We all love tools. There's plenty to go around, but I'll touch on a few.

  • Storybook – learnstorybook.com
  • If you have Node.js installed and need to configure a JavaScript-based project's gitignore file from the root of the project, run npx gitgnore node (It works for other languages as well, or if you omit the language, it will give you a list of all the supported gitignores)
  • Parcel
  • Vite
  • Turborepo
https://dev.to/swyx/why-turborepo-will-be-the-first-big-trend-of-2022-4gfj

Books

These are some great reads.

Twitch Streams

I'm a big fan of Twitch. I stream on my own at livecoding.ca as well as on the DEV Twitch stream. Here are some great folks you should be watching for all things frontend.

I'm sure I've missed some stuff, but this is the initial brain dump. As mentioned initially, I will update this over the coming year.

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TypeScriptJavaScriptHTMLCSS