Guides/Suggestions for minimalist web design and development?

[dante]

I signed up for freecodecamp this week because I may want to enter web development in the next 5-10 years (I'm in my 40's now. woof).

I'm currently working on my first assignment which is a "tribute" page.  Although I'm still a sperm (or egg) I'd like to ask some questions and offer some thoughts.

First of all: Why are there so many frameworks to choose from?  I mean, I'm all for progress and choices but there almost seems to be too much choice.  This environment feels very Linux-ey in permutations.  How can anyone master everything? (Is that even possible?)  Is the average web developer described as "jack of all trades: master of none?"

For now I'm focusing on HTML/JQuery/Bootstrap and will hopefully start Javascript before the week is through.

With that in mind I'd like to say that I come from a data background so the design element is very challenging on two fronts:

I'm a minimalist at heart - I believe in writing code/performing transactions with the most minimal amount of code possible yet at the same time making it high-level enough for a business person to figure out relatively quickly.  Also even though I'm a beginner and don't have all the answers just yet it would seem that some webpages are unnecessarily complex from a scripting perspective.  Maybe/Maybe not.....  I just have this gut feeling without even knowing the subject matter that they went the wrong way about it. I don't know.

The Tribute example that FCC provides seems to have a lot of junk code in it which - while I'm sure serves a purpose I don't know if the intention was to throw off anyone who would attempt to copy it.  I would say if someone did copy it then it would be obvious how they came to that conclusion.

Also...

I don't know design.  I mean, I'm used to using a command-line so... any site from the 90's will look aged for sure - still if it is functional and I won't raise an eye brow.

So does anyone have books/tutorials/blogs/vlogs/anything I should be following?  Both to become an efficient scripter using the most minimal amount of syntax possible and understanding clean minimal design elements?

As I understand it one of the main criticisms of senior web-developers is bringing in a noob and all the noob wants to do is throw in the whole kitchen sink: I'm the opposite of that.

I know I rambled on here but any help/suggestions you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[davkol]

How it feels to learn JavaScript in 2016

[dante]

How it feels to learn JavaScript in 2016

I thought the article was messing with me as I completely lost it when they mentioned broccoli.

I had to google it and yes, someone named a task manager broccoli!

This response pretty much sums it up:

Look at the bright side, front-end devs will never be out of jobs. God bless those who’re gonna need to refactor all these cluster****s in like 5–10 years.

[SpAmRaY]

I get coding is the future but I've never been very good at it and I almost feel like it is just too late to even start.

But on the other hand most things I've had to learn I needed an end goal in mind or a specific task I needed to complete in order to work through the processes, workflow, software, etc.

Most of the things I do nobody ever taught me how, I just had to figure it out.

[tp4tissue]

Here's what's going to happen.


People who made all the Big background stuff  are already dead or dying..


In 50 years.. no one is going to know how to fix it...

[Darksair]

First of all: Why are there so many frameworks to choose from?
…
How can anyone master everything? (Is that even possible?)  Is the average web developer described as "jack of all trades: master of none?"

My understanding is that it's because the frontend has only recently became a proper "engineering" kind of work; in the age of "Web 2.0", Javascript was mostly used for visual effects.  With the progress of standardization, performance improvement, and making JS a more useable language (class, typing, etc.), people start to use Javascript to write real programs.  By then, all other major languages has long developed various patterns and paradigms for different purposes.  The JS community only need to borrow them and make JS libraries for them.  This is the reason you see a lot of new frameworks coming out during the recent years.

So in short, the JS community is just doing catch up on what has been done in a long time with other languages.  These many frameworks is a reflection of all these paradigms people has been practicing in other languages.  Now is Javscript's turn.

And just FYI, the realm of "web dev" has been extended by a lot recently, it's not just about writing HTML, CSS and JS anymore, but more about designing and reusing components, designing protocols (used for communication between frontend and backend), and even native apps (React Native and Electron).  JQuery and Bootstrap is a good start, but it's definitely not the cutting edge, especially JQuery…

[rowdy]

I used to code raw HTML - I created our company's first (or maybe second) web page raw.

Now I tend to use web2py (a Python web framework) due to already knowing Python, and having gone through 3 or 4 other (primarily Python-based) frameworks a few years ago.

We now have a couple of (major) systems written in web2py running in production for several years, and I also use web2py for a few simple apps at home.

JavaScript is idiotic.  The number of JavaScript frameworks is idiotic.

[dante]

Thanks for the advice.  I understand that frameworks may be an evil necessity but in this beginning I don't want to rely on them too much.  I can just picture getting really good at one and then at a job interview they ask some stupid easy HTML questions that I can't answer because I'm relying on a framework.

By the way, how important is being on a social network when it comes to breaking into web dev?  For example, I don't have a facebook or twitter account...

[rowdy]

Having some basic knowledge of the underlying HTML will help you understand how the other bits fit on top.

Maybe.  Been a while since I looked at the sort of frameworks you are considering.

[UsualSuspectXXX]

Do yourself a favor and learn vanilla Javascript before picking up a framework. Everything will make much more sense.

So, set aside jquery and bootstrap until you understand how Javascript works.

[dante]

Do you know what has occurred to me?  That web programming is almost like an 80's text based word-processor like WordStar/WordPerfect where you insert tags etc. for underline/bold etc...

Are you kidding me?  Am I uncool for this revelation?  Should web development like this be more application driven like Indesign/QuarkXPress(remember that one?)

[pr0ximity]

It's difficult to know where to begin...

Now more than ever, if you want to be a versatile dev your strongest assets are fundamentals and the ability to learn and see patterns at a high level.

There are still plenty of jobs where you can learn the current Java or .NET + C# version and have a career for life. A huge portion of major enterprise software and websites are backed by both of those techs, and they're still very viable. node.js and Python are a bit newer but the same idea, lots of jobs.

"Web dev" is a broad subject, and learning "everything" is pretty tough to do all at once. Some subsets: styling/visual design (CSS+HTML) experience design (read Don Norman), browser application programming (client-side JS), server-side application programming (Java, .NET, Django, Rails), database design, deployment and ops. If you build a non-trivial web application from scratch in any framework you'll gain experience in those areas.

Don't get focused on the "what" as much as the "how". Every MVC web framework is conceptually identical, and syntax and laguage quirks are easy to learn.

Basically, just do it and don't get hung up on the details. Or, if you have very specific jons you're interested in tailor things that way (i.e. enterprose web development -> pick Java or .NET and make some apps)

[pluplog]

Dropping my 2 cents worth here (been coding for a living for the last 7 years). I see frameworks generally as a curated set of abstractions. Depending on the task at hand, some make sense, others less. If you throw in the part about changing requirements, then it gets cloudy quick. A minimal framework, say... Flask/Sinatra/Scotty vs Django/Rails/Yesod/whatever else... can be a good choice when you start doodling something but quickly becomes untenable (possibly) boilerplate once you want to expand upon it. So it really depends. I know it sounds cliche but the right tool for the right job comes to mind, i.e. what qualifies as minimalism really depends on the context.

That all said, Github is your friend. Go read the source, the comments, the layout, the approaches and poke holes in it. Fork some of the stuff, see if you would have a simpler approach, and maybe you might even find yourself making a pull request or two. Along the way, you'll form more concrete opinions about the shape of minimalism you're seeking. Good luck!

P.S. Imagine if you ask why are there so many types of keyboards around... I imagine a full sized keeb with enough LEDs to blind would horrify you but there are folks that dig that stuff ya..