Becoming a Frontend + Web3 Developer in 2022

If you are not living under a rock, you probably heard about Web3, blockchain, and the buzz surrounding it.

The response from the tech community is amazing and many web developers are jumping on the web3 wagon, especially front-end developers.

Do you want to get started in blockchain quickly or become a frontend developer in the web3 space? Then this article is for you.

Is now a good time to become a web3 frontend developer?
Looking at the job market and projected employment growth, we think the answer is pretty clear. Now is a great time to start a career as a web3 frontend developer!

Here’s what we’ll cover:

1. How to become a modern frontend developer
2. What technical skills does a front-end developer need?
3. Programming languages, libraries, and frameworks
4. What does it take to become a web3 frontend developer?
5. Tools and platforms that make web3 development easy for frontend developers?
6. Deploying smart contracts and DApps with no code.

Who is this article for?

• Front-end developers who want to become web3 developers
• Tech enthusiast who wants to start a career in web3
• Backend developers with an interest in DApps and web3
• Anyone who is curious about web3 and blockchain.

Let’s get started.

Well, first things first, we have to get started with Frontend development in general before we move into frontend development for web3 apps.

Let me give you a roadmap that will definitely lead you towards your goal.

Becoming a Frontend Developer

Front-end developers use their coding skills to create the user-facing elements of a website.

The frontend developer's job is to code the part of a website or application that the user sees and interacts with. They take backend data and transform it into something easily understandable, visually appealing, and fully functional for the average user.

Being at the crossroads of art and coding requires both hard and soft skills. Front-end developers must be able to code in a few key programming languages and use their creativity in a fast-paced work environment.

Front-end developers are usually familiar with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. These languages are the foundation of any website. The structure of a website is provided by HTML, the style is provided by CSS, and the interactive or dynamic elements are provided by JavaScript.

After learning the three programming language pillars of website design, a front-end developer may need to learn additional languages, techniques, libraries or frameworks such as:

1. React
2. Redux.
3. Vue.js
4. Angular

On top of the coding skills required of a front-end developer, there are a few key skills that all developers need to be successful:

• How to use text editors
• Understanding of application program interfaces (APIs)
• Knowledge of programming patterns
• Being comfortable with the command line
• Using Git

Once you’ve gotten so solid experience in building frontend apps on the traditionally web2 space, it's time to move further and take steps into Web3.

Getting started in Web3 as a Frontend Developer

A developer stack is a collection of technologies a developer possesses. For example, MEAN (MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS/Angular, and Node.js) and MERN (MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js) are common web developer stacks. Similarly, web3 development has a stack - the web3 developer stack. Let’s take a lot of what that includes.

We can imagine web3 as a car and web3 libraries/DApps are the car's chassis, smart contracts/blockchain are the internal hardware components, wallets act as the driver’s license, and the node is the fuel that is needed to run the car. Let’s break them down one by one.

Web3 libraries/DApps:
Web3 libraries make it simple to interact with the blockchain, conduct transactions, and interact with smart contracts. We can create decentralized applications that live on the blockchain or interact with it by using a web3 library., such as web3.js, ethers.js, and web3.py.

Smart contracts:
Smart contracts are snippets of code that live on the blockchain. They operate within the blockchain and are unchangeable. Solidity is the most commonly used programming language for smart contracts.

The majority of developers write, compile, and deploy contracts using Remix IDE. However, tools such as Bunzz make it easier to deploy smart contracts without writing any code. Without the hassle of Solidity, you can quickly deploy smart contracts and build DApps.

Wallets:
A blockchain wallet address serves as an individual's identity while also storing the owner's various cryptocurrencies. Whenever we want to perform a write operation on the blockchain, we must first verify the transaction and pay a fee to the network; this is made easier by using a wallet, such as MetaMask. You can integrate Bunzz with MetaMask by following this guide here.

Nodes/Web3 providers:
To obtain data from the blockchain, nodes or Web3 providers are required; nodes run a copy of the blockchain. Nodes are an essential component of the web3 developer stack because a web3 library cannot interact with smart contracts without them. They act as a portal into the blockchain realm.

You can take courses on Udemy or YouTube to get familiar with these technologies and begin to build web3 solutions in no time.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve taken your first step towards becoming a Web3 developer by understanding how to start. We learned what a modern frontend developer needs to know and how they can begin to dive into web3 to become web3 frontend developers. We also took a look at wallets, smart contracts, web3 libraries, and nodes.

At Bunzz we are building the most comprehensive Dapp development platform a blockchain developer could dream of, and we are just beginning.

Here is a quick guide to building DApps and smart contracts with Bunzz with no code and connecting it to your React, Vue, or JavaScript Frontend apps using the Bunzz SDK.

Take a look at our blog for more articles and guides on Web3 and smart contracts. If you have any feedback, feel free to reach out to us via Twitter.

You can always chat with us on our Discord community server, featuring some of the coolest web3 developers you’ll ever meet and if you enjoyed this article please share and spread the love with more developers!"