Mastering these 7 Basics CSS Skills will make you a Frontend Wizard 🧙✨

People treat Frontend development like some mythical beast that only a few can tame. But the truth is, it's not that hard.

As the famous saying goes:

A master is not someone who practiced 10,000 different moves, he is someone who practiced 1 move 10,000 times.

You just need to master a few basic CSS skills and you'll be a Frontend Wizard in no time.

1. Layout using Flexbox & Grid

Flexbox and Grid are two of the most effective CSS tools that you can use to create layouts, but might be a tad overwhelming at first. But once you get the hang of it, they will be your go-to tools.

2. Target Different Devices with Media Queries

You never know the device your users will be using to access your website. So it's crucial to make sure that your website looks responsive on devices of all shapes and sizes.

Media Queries solves that exact problem by allowing the developer to specify styles for each and every screen size

3. Utilize Pseudo-classes & Pseudo-elements

Pseudo-classes and Pseudo-elements are CSS selectors that allow you to select elements when certain conditions have been met or specific parts of an element.

They can be utilized to add interactivity (updating a button style when hovered or pressed) and life (add quotes or style the first letter of a paragraph differently) to your website.

4. Create Eye-candy Animations

Want to make your site stand out? Animations is a great tool to achieve just that!

It can be as simple as adding the transition property to an element used in combination with pseudo-classes or something more complex like creating a custom animation using keyframes.

5. Join the Dark Side by adding Shadows

Shadow is a great way to add depth to your website. CSS allows you to add various types of shadows, namely box-shadow, text-shadow, and drop-shadow. Knowing when to use it will get you a long way.

NOTE: Shadows don't necessarily have to be dark.

6. Position Elements

How to position elements is crucial for frontend development after you get over the beginner stage. By not knowing how static, relative, absolute, fixed, and sticky elements are positioned, you would end up limiting yourself drastically.

7. Smooth out the Jagged Edges

The border-radius property allows the developer to create a polished UI. It's a great tool to pocket in your arsenal if you aim to develop highly professional UX.

Further Reads

That's all folks! 🎉

Research says, writing down your goals on pen & paper makes you 21% to 39% more likely to achieve them. Check out these notebooks and journals to make the journey of achieving your dreams easier: https://www.amazon.com/Tapajyoti-Bose/e/B09VGDDHRR

Thanks for reading

Need a Top Rated Front-End Development Freelancer to chop away your development woes? Contact me on Upwork

Want to see what I am working on? Check out my Personal Website and GitHub

Want to connect? Reach out to me on LinkedIn

I am a Digital Nomad and occasionally travel. Follow me on Instagram to check out what I am up to.

Follow my blogs for Weekly new Tidbits on Dev

FAQ

These are a few commonly asked questions I get. So, I hope this FAQ section solves your issues.

1. I am a beginner, how should I learn Front-End Web Dev?
   Look into the following articles:

2. Would you mentor me?
   
   Sorry, I am already under a lot of workload and would not have the time to mentor anyone.