Hello, I have a question that many beginners before me were asking and will always still ask it but maybe it was not asked the right way . I’m about to get the third certification ( Front End Libraries ) .I want to become a professional front-end dev; I know this is just the beginning and still have a lot more to learn .
My question is what do i do next after this Front End Libraries certification ? Meanwhile i’m not planning to go full stack yet and i don’t want to learn back-end yet , what i want is to master the front end and improve my skills to become a pro .So am i still gonna be able to go forward and land a Job as a Front End Developer without the need to learn back end ? and if so what do you think should i do maybe start building side projects on Github ? learning more frameworks ? making my own professional portfolio?
Hello there, i am answering this question from a learners point of view as i also had the same question. Knowing the back end as a front-end is often more of a bonus to you, makes your work easier and you can fully handle troubleshooting easily,it isnt a must but having basic skills will make your life as a dev easier.
Dont rush to learn so many frameworks, its always best to learn and fully understand vanilla js and atleast one this will give you immense power when you actually need to learn another framework.
To get a job, we (beginners with less than 0-2 years experience) often have to show our employers that we are upto the task and can effectively perform and give input to their organisation. This therefore requires some form of evidence that you are capable of using the tools that you have learnt to solve real world issues, and this brings out the need for a portfolio within it a list of side projects that show the grasp you have of the language or framework. A good grasp of the programming language andframeworks willl then come to play during interviews.
Github is a good place to build your portfolio as well as creating a good portfolio website.
Am answering this as a beginner currently interning in a startup.
Hello, thanks for answering!
So i guess i’ll start building some side projects and maybe go through the rest of the freecodecamp back-end sections in my free time 
. I’m also wondering if i’m gonna be able to build project like a good portfolio before finishing the back-end section
i think you will manage, i restarted freecodecamp last year December having previously done responsive web and the basics of Javascript and right now am finishing up on Quality Assurance projects(i have skipped data visualization projects though) and yet i mainly want to be a front-end dev but who wont sorely rely on his front-end skills to get a job. Building projects will cement your understanding, this is something i experienced with my first projects with no tutorials just me my laptop and google, from then on things are easier. I personally dont have a good portfolio though i have been procrastinating creating one forfar too long.
Understanding how the whole stack works is very important: you don’t need to be an expert, but it is difficult to properly grasp many of the concepts related to client-side development (eg the ones related to how you get the data) if you haven’t actually tried playing around with things on the server side of the fence.
That’s a good way of thinking thanks dude i appreciate your responses it is def helpful and also good luck in your carrier 
A great way to put it out there. would it be okay if i start building my own portfolio from now on before finishing the back-end sections ?
you should have already started your protfolio - wasn’t that one of the projects for the Responsive Web Development cert? 
Yes of course I did ! but now i’m thinking about building something more professional and less ugly hah
thank you, goodluck to you too
Same case on my end lol
I agree 100%. People always talk about API, end point, http methods, performing CRUD operations e.t.c. Unless you have a basic understanding of the backend, you will always be wondering what people are referring to. It is important to have some basic understanding of the backend even if your interest is to be a frontend developer. In fact after taking a basic mongoDB, mongoose, express course i have come to like backend more than frontend.
Don’t aim to become a specialist if your just starting out. Aiming for this will only close doors before even giving them a chance, let alone remove ways for you to expand your “knowledge horizon” and potentially shutting out potential job offers if that is your “endgame”.
There is always a lot to learn, but there is a distinct difference between knowing what you don’t know, and not knowing what you don’t know. The key is limiting the "not knowing what you don’t know. By aiming to never learn anything about the back-end, you close off a lot of back-end concepts to “not knowing what you don’t know”. This will make things harder to learn later, as you lose out on even the high level concepts required to further your knowledge.
I recommend learning a little about the back-end, even if its not your current end-goal. You should know enough to be able to learn more about it, and not feel totally lost when dealing with it.
Good luck!
i get your point @bradtaniguchi thanks for the advice if that’s the case i’ll def start learning the back-end too !
if i’m not mistaken there are 3 certifications that i have to get in the back-end section right ? which are :
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Data Visualization Certification
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APIs and Microservices Certification
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Quality Assurance Certification
and the Information Security Certification isn’t included ?
the Data VIz one is front end
instead the others, and the new Python certs are back-end
Front End:
- Responsive Web Design Certification (300 hours)
- JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures Certification (300 hours)
- Front End Libraries Certification (300 hours)
- Data Visualization Certification (300 hours)
These others are more full-stack than just back-end. They are steps in a linear curriculum, a curriculum that points to full-stack. There is stuff that is not just back-end, but it’s there to build on top of the previous material, and so there is stuff useful also if you just want to focus on front-end.
- APIs and Microservices Certification (300 hours)
- Quality Assurance Certification (300 hours)
- Scientific Computing with Python Certification (300 hours)
- Data Analysis with Python Certification (300 hours)
- Information Security Certification (300 hours)
- Machine Learning with Python Certification (300 hours)
So for someone like me who isn’t planning to learn Python in any soon i will be doing:
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Data Visualization Certification
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APIs and Microservices Certification
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Quality Assurance Certification
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Information Security Certification
is this good way to do it ? what do you think
yes, that was the curriculum until Python was introduced a couple of weeks ago, I would say yes
Thank you @ILM ! that was super helpful, i think i’m less confused now