Last updated - January 5, 2024
One of the most important aspects of a website or mobile app the owner is concerned with is its user interface. Nowadays, users don’t have enough patience to deal with a bad UI. If the website or app doesn’t load in a few seconds, shows glitches during usage or the website look isn’t up to par, the user will skip to the next alternative without giving it a thought, which will be detrimental to the ROI. So it is crucial to have a great UI, performance, and functionality.
A recent survey revealed an astonishing fact about the importance of UI. The reports suggested that the conversion rate can almost be doubled just by optimizing the UI and making it more creative and attractive. Looking at this, there is no denying that the duties of a front end web development company or web developer have grown significantly in the last decade or so.
These days, they have to work on enhanced search engine optimization, responsive design, convenience, etc., in addition to being well aware of the latest web design and development trends. So it is easy to understand how important and hectic this job is. But luckily, there are some tools ready at hand to help make their job easier.
Most Essential Frontend Web Development Tools
There are several front end web development tools to make the developers’ jobs a little easier. But before moving on to the different options available, you need to understand what a front-end web development tool is.
A front-end web development tool is a way for the developer to properly and effortlessly design and create the layouts of websites and mobile applications. Not only do these tools have built-in features for creating a more enchanting web layout, but they can also help expedite web development, provide better browser add-ons and plugins, and even streamline your code. That’s how these tools have made it possible to create better designs and improve functionality.
There are several free and premium front-end web development tools available on the internet, but here is a list of some of the best ones you should definitely check-out:
Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code, or VS Code, is one of the most common free, open-source web development tools used on the planet. It is a well-organized, time-saving code editor that gives the developers controls like task running, debugging, and version control. Made by Microsoft, VS Code can be run on macOS, Linux, and Windows. If you are a front-end web development company, VS Code can be an excellent tool with some of the best features:
- VS Code lets you run certain commands with just some key combinations.
- You can easily associate the current file extension with any installed language through “configure file association”.
- VS Code has a split view that lets you work on two files of the same project simultaneously.
- It has Git integration that lets you push, pull and commit code alterations to any remote Git repository.
NPM
Also known as a node package manager, NPM is a free, open-source, cross-platform package manager for the JavaScript programming language. Almost every front-end web development company because it is one of the best web development tools with more than 800,000 code packages in its open-source software library. You can also call it the world’s largest software registry. The two main functionalities of the node package manager are:
- NPM offers online repositories for node.js packages, available to search on search.nodejs.org.
- It also gives a command line utility for installing Node.js packages, other than doing dependency management and version management of Node.js packages.
Bootstrap
One of the most popular free, open-source web development tools, Bootstrap is a dynamic front-end framework used to create highly receptive mobile-first web pages. It contains excellent templates for forms, navigation, typography, buttons, and other UI components, based on CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. Here are a few features of Bootstrap that make it one of the best front end web development tools:
- It is very easy to start and get acclimated to Bootstrap.
- It is very easy to customize Bootstrap.
- Bootstrap has some pre-styled components like Buttons, Badges alerts, Drop-downs, Navigation, and Progress Bar
- Bootstrap offers LESS as well as old CSS files
Atom
Atom is among the popular free, open source web development tools often used as text and source code editors for Linux, macOS & Windows, with an ability to provide support for embedded Git control and JavaScript. Due to its customizability in the CSS, HTML, and JavaScript, it is often referred to by developers as a “hackable text editor for the 21st Century”.
Sass
Several front-end web development companies use Sass as a CSS extension language. It enhances the functionalities of CSS, including inline imports, easier nesting, variable creation, inheritance, etc.
CodePen
CodePen is a front-end web development tool used to build, test, and edit the codes as you go along. With CodePen, not only can you design and build a website, but you can also test, showcase and deploy it to ensure everything works as intended.
Grunt
Grunt is a web development tool used as a JavaScript task-runner to perform repetitive functions like minification, compilation, linting, and unit testing. One of the most significant advantages of this software is that you can automate almost any task almost effortlessly.
GitHub
One of the most well-known front-end web development tools available on the internet. It is a code-hosting platform for collaboration and version control.
Envato
Envato is one of the leading online platforms not only preferred for hiring your desired front-end web developers but also for using creative design templates, buying and selling creative assets, and learning new creative skills. Envato can be a great place whether you’re looking for website graphic themes, video, templates, photos, or audio.
Along with the ones mentioned above, there are several other front-end web development tools with similar capabilities. They can make your work a little easier. But it is up to you which one suits best for your project.
Now that you are aware of the best web development tools, it is imperative to understand how to choose the suitable one for you.
Things To Consider While Choosing Frontend Web Development Tools
As mentioned above, there are several front end web development tools available; but it is very important to understand how to choose the right one. So here are a few factors to consider while choosing the suitable front-end web development tool for you:
Code flexibility and scalability
Given how fast the tech landscape is changing, it would be really unwise if you could not expand or scale up the framework effectively. That’s why it would be best to choose a tool that is easy to customize.
Server rendering
If your prime target audience uses a mobile network, it is important to have a great user experience. For that, it would be to choose a tool with good server rendering.
Coding time
Generally, the time it takes to write code depends on the web development tool along with the capability of the developer. Although some tools might be tough to learn, they may reduce the coding and processing time. On the other hand, some might be easy to learn but will take longer to process the codes. So choose wisely.
Support and maintenance
Before choosing a web development tool, you may want to ensure it provides good support and maintenance.
Productivity and Performance
These are two of the most important aspects of any technology, the highlight features of the best web development tools. So before any front-end web development tool, ensure it offers excellent productivity and performance.
Now that we have told you all about the essential front-end web development tools, it is up to you to choose the right one, as it will have a significant impact on your website as well as your overall business output. These factors can certainly help, and you can even consult with an expert.
Choosing the right front-end tool would mean a great user experience, which would increase customer retention and improve the ROI as a result. So choose wisely.
