What I've Learned After 6 Years as a Frontend Developer (For Those Considering a Career Change)
I've been a frontend developer for 6 years now. When I was a junior, creating flashy UIs was fun, but as I've moved toward senior level, my interests have completely changed.
Two things in particular have changed the most.
First, performance optimization. Now, getting LCP under 1 second matters more than implementing animations. It actually has an impact on revenue.
Second, collaboration. Frontend often plays the bridging role between designers, backend, and product managers. Being able to communicate well has become far more important than writing clean code.
For those looking to start in frontend, it's not too late to begin now. However, rather than just making simple UIs, you need an attitude of understanding the entire web ecosystem.
9 answers
Personally, I'm drawn to the fun of UI at first, but in the end, I think the path to senior only opens up if you also understand the data and server side.
Yeah, performance is the answer.
Do you have a source?
This is correct lol
Well, that's debatable; the impact of one second of LCP on revenue varies by case, doesn't it? Rather, there are many times when feature development speed matters more.
LCP over animations... That reminds me of when I used to build sliders with jQuery back in the day. Times sure have changed.
Six years is almost... I'm also 5 years in, and collaboration really matters. Especially when you get into emotional fights with designers, there are times I wonder why I'm doing this lol. Still, frontend gets a lot of traffic, so it's worth doing.
To those looking to switch careers: if you're 1–2 years in, it's fine, but if you're a developer from another field with 5+ years of experience, the frontend job market can be a bit tough to break into. Make sure your portfolio is solid.
I'm also 4 years in and I relate. I feel like AI is going to replace simple UI work, and understanding the business side seems more important now.