Tag: developer

4 tips to transition from beginner to an intermediate frontend developer

Posted on by venkatesh

Let’s say you’ve built a few web apps and websites. Now you have mastered the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Technically, you are not a beginner frontend developer anymore, but also not at a stage where you can be labeled as an intermediate developer.

You might be wondering about what it takes to transition to an intermediate front-end developer role at this junction. We will focus on that in this article– a roadmap to becoming an intermediate developer when you are in a junior developer role.

Let’s get started.

1. Stop being dependent on third-party code 

When you start as a beginner frontend developer, you might have used third-party libraries, frameworks, and plug-ins in your projects. There is no harm in using third-party resources in your project, but from a learner’s perspective, they limit your understanding of a project.

The first step towards transitioning into an intermediate frontend developer role is to minimize third-party code use. This will force you to work on creating reusable code blocks and have an in-depth understanding of application elements like APIs, manipulating DOM, and handling requests. This approach will slow down your productivity. 

However, the goal here is not to build things faster but to focus on understanding every fundamental building block of front-end development. Before you use any library or plug-in for functionality, try making the same with vanilla code. Once you can build components from scratch, you will find that it is infinitely easier to work on any development project without relying much on assistance from senior developers.

Learn more about becoming a better programmer ASAP.

2. Learn regex

A crucial skill for intermediate frontend developers is regex. To take a mid-level developer job, you have to learn the regex of your language of choice. It is a skill that will open a new world of opportunities such as web scraping, data filtering, data analysis, and many more. Another use of learning regex is that it allows you to write complicated logic for strings. That’s how you can create much more compact string functions.

In web development, regex is commonly used for various applications such as form validation, verifying the format of strings, and data extraction.

The general syntax for a regex expression is something like this:

/<tag(.*?)>|<\/tag>/gi

Here (.*?) it is used to capture a group of strings that will match any content between the tag. The () creates the capture group while ‘.’ is used to match any special character while the * matches the previous character and ? tells *the minimum number of times it should match the characters.

The ability to do things faster is something employers expect from an intermediate front-end developer. Learning regex will allow you to find and change strings and code in any IDE much quicker. There are many resources on the internet to learn the regex , but we recommend Mozilla’s regex cheat sheet.

3. Avoid assuming your way is the only correct way

The only way to future-proof your career as a frontend developer is to keep learning and adopting new technologies and developments as they happen. While it is not a good idea to be distracted by new things all the time, you must keep a close eye on trends and updates in your industry to ensure you are not falling behind the competition.

As a developer, you have to be on the lifelong learning path. It is why you must not be rigid and believe there is only a particular way of doing something. Being open and adaptable is a quality that will make your transition to an intermediate or a senior developer role easier.

There is no ultimate technology in frontend development. Whether it’s JavaScript, PHP, Angular, React, TypeScript, Ruby, or any other programming language, they all have upsides and downsides. If you fall into the trap of believing that your way of doing things is the only correct way, you will ignore a more efficient way of solving problems. This will affect your growth and promotion to a senior level.

4. Be patient, and practice often

It is a common mistake that beginner front-end developers commit. They assume that moving to an intermediate developer role will reduce the workload. As a developer, you will always be tasked with building stuff. The only difference will be how efficiently and quickly you do the same things as you start gaining experience. For instance, a beginner frontend developer working on a massive website will likely use JavaScript frameworks like React and server-side cache scripting to boost the website’s performance. However, an intermediate frontend developer will achieve the same by utilizing a headless CMS to generate static HTML webpages that load instantly.

Programming is not a sprint but a marathon. To become a competent developer, you must accept that the more you know, the more you will realize how little you know. Trying new things and refining your technique is the sure shot at gradually moving to the intermediate developer position.

Conclusion

Intermediate frontend developers are tasked with almost the same assignments as beginner developers, but they have the additional responsibility of being self-driven. To transition from a beginner’s level to an intermediate level, you must practice and develop skills to tackle even more significant problems with minimal supervision.

Talent500 is the platform for Fortune 500 companies and fast-growing start-ups to hire top-notch developers. Sign up here to join our pool of talent.

5 essential Git tips for software engineers

Posted on by vallish

Without a version control system, it’s virtually impossible to maintain source code and share it between teams without conflict. Version control is important to keep track of what changes were made to the code base, by who, and what was the reason for these changes. A software developer needs version control, irrespective of their language. Of all the available version control tools, Git is the most popular choice. It is why Git has over 85% source code management market share.

Chances are you are already familiar with Git if you are a developer. If you are a beginner, mastering Git will provide you with a crucial skill employers look for. Git is a free, open-source distributed version control system that is used to manage source code and introduce parallel changes while keeping track of every change made.

Here we list some helpful Git tips that are optimal for beginners to master.

1. Git aliases

You will use Git multiple times during a coding session. Type commands every time can be too time-consuming. Fortunately, Git allows you to create aliases that improve your daily workflow.

While you can create an alias for any possible Git command, here are the aliases for the three most-used Git commands – checkout, branch, and commit.

git config –global alias.co checkout

git config –global alias.ci commit

git config –global alias.br branch

Next time you have to use these commands in the terminal; instead of typing the full command, for instance, git checkout master, you only need to type git co master.

To add aliases in Git, you can include them in the ~/.gitconfig file directly like this:

[alias]

   co = checkout

   ci = commit

   br = branch

2. Easy way to compare commits 

You don’t have to download different versions of the same file to make a comparison. Git allows developers to compare the difference between two commits or versions using the git diff command.

As a beginner, you must learn how to compare files between commits. It will save you much time as you can find any changes quickly.

To compare the same file between different commits, you use the following command:

$ git diff $start_commit..$end_commit — path/to/file

And to compare all the changes between two commits, you use:

$ git diff $start_commit..$end_commit

When you use these Git commands, the diff view will open inside the terminal. For a more visual picture, you can use git difftool. A much more comprehensive way to visually compare diffs is Meld.

You can configure Meld with this command:

$ git config –global diff.tool git-meld

To view diffs in Meld use:

$ git difftool $start_commit..$end_commit — path/to/file

or

$ git difftool $start_commit..$end_commit

3. Way to easily pull changes from the <main_branch> to a local branch

To pull or download all the newest changes made to the main branch of the code base on the local branch, you can use the git merge or rebase command to update the local brand. Both perform the same function, but beginners are advised to use rebase carefully or stick with the merge command. It is because Git rebase pulls the changes at a much higher hierarchical level than git merge. Here’s a great resource to learn the difference between merging and rebasing.

How to use Git rebase:

git stash -u //stash all your working files

git checkout <main_branch>

git pull

git checkout <your_branch>

git rebase <main_branch>

git stash pop //re-apply all your changes

The same function using the merge command: 

git stash -u //stash all your working files

git checkout <main_branch>

git pull

git checkout <your_branch>

git merge <main_branch>

git stash pop //re-apply all your changes

4. Stashing uncommitted changes

Sometimes you might have to work on an emergency fix in the middle of whatever task you handle. It puts you in a fix, as the situation demands immediate action, but you don’t want to lose your current changes either.

What do you do?

You use the git stash command to remove the changes you are working on temporarily. It is one of the essential Git tips for beginners. Learn to use the stash command, and you will be able to handle any change at any moment without losing your work.

With the $ git stash command, you hide the unfinished changes and have a clean working directory. It allows you to switch to a new brand to fix bugs or make updates without committing to incomplete changes.

Once you have fixed the error; you can revisit the last changes you were working on using:

$ git stash pop

This command recovers all the changes. If you do not need the changes anymore, you can clear the stash stack with:

$ git stash drop

5. Pull frequently

It can take longer to implement the changes when working on a large project or a significant feature. Unexperienced developers wait for the feature to be fully implemented before pulling the changes to the local branch. It is a bad practice, and you should make it a habit to pull changes frequently. It will help you avoid any significant conflicts as you can solve them early on as they arise. When done right, it improves the workflow and makes the merging of branches easier.

To learn more about Git. here are 7 GitHub repositories for new developers.

Conclusion 

Git is an essential tool to master for any developer. These five programmer tips will help you make better use of Git to improve your productivity and collaboration.

Talent500 is the platform for developers to discover global job opportunities with the best companies. Sign up here to know more.

 

Top 6 web design tools for developers in 2022

Posted on by vallish

Web design tools do more than just format the text and images within a web page. Modern web development transforms concepts into live, revenue-driven websites and applications. It requires action that goes beyond raw editing and HTML syntax. Modern web design tools are compelling software applications that can transform any idea into reality within the web space.

The decision can be mind-boggling when cornered to choosing between all the available web design tools. To help you with the choice, we have compiled a list of the top six web design tools for developers in 2022.

Let’s get started.

1. Sketch

Sketch is only for macOS designers as it does not support other operating systems. Still, it is one of the most popular web design tools among designers because it includes many features without being complicated to use. As a native macOS app, it looks like Apple’s Xcode IDE that iOS developers and designers use.

Besides the essential functions like constraint resizing and vector editing, Sketch offers many more tools to generate designs based on concepts and export them directly into a development project. For example, designers can use its Smart Layout functionality to create designs with adaptive resizing characteristics by default. It also offers options for teams through its collaborative tools.

2. Figma

If you are part of a large design team, then Figma is your best web design tool. Its increasing popularity is because of its capability to let designers collaborate on a design.

Figma is one of the most comprehensive web design tools available as a drag-and-drop editor to build anything from interfaces to website designs. Developers can directly include code snippets in the design with this tool. From ideation to implementation, it is the tool you can use to keep the design process running smoothly while keeping track of all the revisions made along the way. 

You get a homogenized set of tools for font and color designing that you can use to create interfaces that stand out.

While Figma offers value for single-developer projects, it’s much more beneficial for teams or projects that scale with time.

3. Affinity Designer

Adobe might be the industry leader in the web designing sector, but Serif’s Affinity Designer gives Adobe a run for its money.  

Affinity Designer has built a vast user base because of his stellar design principles and attractive pricing model. This web design tool is available for Macs, Windows, and iPad. It offers all features you get with Adobe Illustrator or any other web design tool for a fraction of money. You can work with vectors, rasterization, create layers, and more. While Affinity Designer offers designers all the editing and conceptualization features expected from a quality web design tool, it lacks cloud-based infrastructure. As such, you have no option to store your work or share it with other designers and all stakeholders through the cloud.

4. Google Web Designer

One of the most underrated web design tools is Google Web Designer. It is a free webpage design tool that developers can use to create interactive and engaging websites. You can create HTML5-based interactive web designs using this tool. The designs and motion graphics created using Google Web Designer are compatible with any device and run seamlessly on desktops, laptops, and smartphones. Developers can simultaneously edit HTML, CSS, and JavaScript directly from the editing screen. It gives you the freedom from the requirement to open each file individually.

5. InVision Studio

InVision Studio markets itself as a “screen design” app, and its functionalities and capabilities justify its campaign. It is a web design tool that offers an intuitive layer-based editor for all web design needs. You can do much more than web design, prototyping, and creating animations with InVision Studio. For instance, you can link artboards with screens together with a single click. This is an excellent feature for building animations as part of the design process.

Another great feature of this web design tool is its shared component libraries and global syncing options. These two features allow the entire team to work on a project within InVision Studio.

6. CodePen or JSFiddle 

For web designers, one crucial requirement is to be able to write and test the code snippet quickly without impacting the workflow of the entire project. This approach accelerates the design process.

CodePen and JSFiddle are two excellent text editors that work for testing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Before implementing it into your main project, you can test the code snippet and see how it affects your design in a live environment. You can also create a shareable link to the code snippets you are trying for other designers and developers to work on. Both these text editors are included in our list of top web design tools in 2022 because of the online IDE environment they offer to facilitate the design process.

Conclusion

For web design projects, like any other development project, time and resources are of importance. Familiarizing yourself with multiple web design tools allows you to select the best tool according to the project’s requirements without wasting too much time on research.

Talent500 is a platform for web developers to find career redefining opportunities with Fortune 500 companies and fast-growing start-ups. Sign up here to explore more.

 

Top 4 mistakes you should avoid as a junior developer

Posted on by vallish

Whether you are beginning your career or switching fields, starting at a junior level is usually daunting. You expectedly know less than your peers and are bound to make mistakes. Junior developers are not expected to know everything, but there are some common developer mistakes they must avoid. When you start, you must keep a learner’s outlook, try to learn, and prevent imposter syndrome. Rather than faking it, try to learn through your mistakes.

In this article, we are listing the most common mistakes that junior developers tend to make and how these developer mistakes can be avoided.

1. Googling rather than reading documentation

Indeed, Google has made it a lot easier for developers to find solutions when they are stuck. It is quicker to Google the answer rather than reading the official documentation. We understand it’s boring to go through the documentation, and it’s not as fast as Googling the solution.

However, as a beginner, you are depriving yourself of learning the broader side of development by depending on Google. Documentation is one of the best ways to learn about several user cases and possible bugs.

Contrary to what most junior developers believe, reading docs provide better insight. It saves you a lot of time that would be otherwise wasted on Googling dozens of answers. 

When you read the docs, you know what to search in Google. Furthermore, referencing documentation is a great habit that helps you become a better developer.

When you start a new project or join one in the middle of the development lifecycle, you will most likely depend on the Readme documentation to understand the requirements and scope of the project.

2. Not asking for help when needed

One of the most common problems a junior developer faces is not knowing when to ask for help. You might start working on a project and decide to deliver results on your own without taking assistance from peers. As a beginner, you will get stuck with a problem, and after a few tries, you will find the solution, but it might not always be the case. Some issues will be too hard to solve on your own, no matter how much time you spend trying to solve them.

While repeatedly trying to solve a problem is part of learning, you need to know when you need help. There will be issues beyond your knowledge’s scope and require clarification. You cannot waste too much time on a single problem as your team needs to move forward with the project. 

When the deadline is looming, or you have tried everything in your capability and are still stuck with the problem, be open to help. Seek help from your peers and senior developers and ask them to explain the solution to you.

3. No risks, only comfort

Not only for developers, but comfort is a growth-kill for any profession. Junior developers pick easy and comfortable tasks and enter a comfort zone that hinders their growth. You get a false sense of accomplishment when you only stick with the easy development tasks. It will put you in the habit of not challenging yourself to take responsibility for your growth.

Junior developers who do not challenge themselves for growth and get complacent in their comfort zone hardly move up the career ladder. If you do not want to be stuck at the same level, it is necessary to punch above your weight. Proactively ask for challenging tasks but not all the time. You must balance easy and challenging tasks to avoid your comfort zone and not get overwhelmed by the challenges too often.

4. Stop watching tutorial videos

Tutorials are great for learning new technologies, but watching tutorial videos and not practicing actual code will not do any good. While tutorial videos are fun to watch, a reason why many junior programmers try to learn through video tutorials but they forget that it’s a costly venture. 

When you stick with video tutorials, you are trading time to watch those videos. You will have much less time to code and learn by doing.

When you code yourself, your progress is much more accelerated. Junior developers should start a project and ‘learn with a purpose.’ There is no point in randomly watching tutorials if you are never going to use what you see. 

This is why it is essential to use the information you learn from the tutorials by implementing it in your code. When you work on a project, you have a reason to search for tutorials and implement what you learn immediately.

Apart from nurturing technical skills, junior developers must also focus on essential soft skills.

Conclusion 

As a junior developer, you are prone to make these mistakes. We hope you understand what causes these mistakes and what can be done to avoid them.

Talent500 is a platform for companies to build their remote development teams. Join our elite pool of talent to be discovered by the best companies. Sign up here.

Flutter developer toolkit: In-demand skills, learning resources, online courses, interview prep, books & more

Posted on by vallish

Google launched Flutter in 2018 as a framework to develop apps for multiple operating systems. In only four years, Flutter has been used by thousands of developers for mobile application development for both Android, iOS, and web platforms. One of the reasons for the popularity of Flutter is its capacity for cost-saving. Instead of building several apps to run on Android, iOS, and web browsers, a single app can be made on the same code base to work on all the platforms.

However, Flutter is relatively new compared to other app development frameworks on the market. This Flutter developer toolkit is created to help developers find all the needed Flutter resources in one place.

Prior knowledge of native programming languages 

Flutter is a framework rather than a programming language. Flutter developers must understand mobile application programming languages such as Java, C#, C++, Swift, and Kotlin. Of all the languages, Kotlin has emerged as a preferred choice for Android development. Google has already made Kotlin the official programming language for the Android platform. Knowledge of Kotlin will help you develop apps faster with Flutter. We have a few toolkits that you can explore to learn about the essential programming languages:

C# developer toolkit

Java developer toolkit

Being familiar with these programming languages will help you quickly take up Flutter and fully utilize its features.

Knowledge of Dart

Dart is the client-based programming language used to write scripts in Flutter. Google has also conditioned it to allow developers to introduce Flutter into cross-platform compatibility applications universally. Dart is a multidimensional programming language for web, mobile, desktop, and server development. Most job openings for Flutter developers ask for knowledge or experience in Dart. Learning this programming language is necessary for landing a job as a Flutter developer.

Experience in SQLite

SQLite is a popular database for multiplatform application development. It stores persisting data much more efficiently than other databases. However, in Flutter, SQLite offers an additional advantage. With the use of the sqflite plugin, SQLite can be easily integrated into Flutter to perform multiple operations such as read, write, update, and insert. Another reason why SQLite is the preferred database for Flutter application is the immense support from the Flutter community and the wide range of information available.

Knowledge of Git

Git is a tool that’s essential for every developer. Irrespective of the framework or programming language, knowledge of Git is mandatory. Flutter developers actively use Git and GitHub to collaborate with other developers. As a version control system, Git provides the capability to keep track of the changes made in the code. Companies expect developers to know Git and its command so that project management can be done quickly. 

52 Flutter developer interview questions

10 essential mobile app Interview questions

Top Flutter interview questions

29 Flutter interview questions mobile devs need to know

16 tricky Java developer interview questions and how to answer them

Top 41 Flutter interview questions and answers

Official resources 

Flutter official site

Flutter documentation

Flutter dev community

Flutter official learning guide

Flutter on Twitter

Online courses and tutorials for Flutter developers 

Flutter bootcamp with Dr Angela Yue

An excellent online course for beginners or developers unfamiliar with Flutter and Dart, this Udemy Flutter course was created in conjunction with the Google Flutter team and led by Dr. Angela Yue. Learners are taught the essential concepts and overall structure of Flutter using Dart through developing increasingly complex apps. By the end of the course, you would have built 15 apps with Flutter using Firebase to store and manage data.

Flutter and Dart developer course by Maximilian Schwarzmüller

Maximilian Schwarzmüller is one of the best programming instructors on Udemy. His Flutter and Dart developer course is an advanced course that takes learners from level zero to advanced level, teaching them the basics of Flutter and Dart before diving into some advanced concepts like maps, cameras, and authentication. Developers will build around five applications and learn how to publish apps in Google Play and Apple App Store.

Flutter course by Stephen Grider

Instead of an app building approach like other online Flutter courses, this course is split by topics. Stephen Grider is a former software architect who explains complex topics excellently. This course shares information that will help in building quality applications. It is one of the best online Flutter courses to learn complex concepts such as BLOC state management, Reactive Programming, offline data storage, SQLite, and animations.

The Flutter Way

The Flutter Way is a free YouTube channel that teaches how to build quality UIs with Flutter. It is an excellent resource for front-end developers interested in learning the concepts of UI/UX development for Flutter apps.

Filled Stacks

Filled Stacks is another YouTube channel that can help Flutter developers dive deeper into the nuances of Flutter development. It discusses and explores high-quality architectural issues through detailed tutorials.

Books for Flutter developers 

Beginning app development with Flutter

Beginning Flutter: a hands-on guide to app development

Flutter apprentice

Flutter complete reference

Flutter libraries we love

Google Flutter mobile development quick start guide

Managing state in Flutter pragmatically

Online communities for Flutter developers 

Flutter Discord community

Flutter Slack community

Flutter on Stack Overflow

Flutter Reddit community

Google Developer Groups

Podcasts for Flutter developers

Flutter 101 Podcast

It’s all Widgets

Flying High with Flutter

Learning Flutter

Communication: Listening and communicating are essential for developers. Listening is not just hearing what other teammates or stakeholders say but also anticipating and understanding their viewpoint. Also, your conversations must be concise and unambiguous such that there is no ambiguity to create confusion or anxiety within the team.

Patience: Software development is a complex effort that often includes long processes. Hundreds of intangible tasks must be managed from project kick-off to project development. Learn to be patient with the process and allow yourself enough time to build applications and anticipate the overall requirement so there is less room for error.

Open-mindedness and adaptability: Steven Job’s famous Stanford commencement statement, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish,” has a deep meaning. He implies that open-mindedness in being receptive to other people’s feedback. As a developer, you will have to listen and adapt not only to new ideas but to new technologies, frameworks, and development methodologies.

Here are some additional resources to learn more about essential developer soft skills:

7 most valuable soft skills of exceptional software engineers

6 soft skills that still impress employers in 2022

How soft skills transitioned to become the new power skills

Conclusion 

Although not a definitive list, this Flutter developer toolkit has the best resources to help you gain a deeper understanding of Flutter. Engineers at Talent500 handpick the listed Flutter resources. If you are an aspiring Flutter developer looking for a platform to kickstart your career with the best companies, we can help. Join us today and find a job at the best company.

 

 

React Native developer toolkit: In-demand skills, learning resources, online courses, interview prep, books & more

Posted on by vallish

React Native is a JavaScript-based development framework created by Facebook to allow developers to use React to create Android and iOS app interfaces. Released in 2015, the framework is now one of the most popular cross-platform mobile frameworks, according to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2021. React Native has mass adoption for mobile application development because it allows JavaScript codebase to be compiled within the mobile application. This is similar to a native iOS app built using Objective-C or a native Android app built using Java.

As an open-source, cross-platform, and easy-to-learn framework, mobile development companies prefer React Native. Also, the development time is shorter when developers use React Native.

We created this React Native developer toolkit to give learners and aspiring developers a reference list to access the best resources to get started. 

In-depth knowledge of JavaScript

React Native is entirely based on JavaScript. Excellent knowledge and understanding of JavaScript programming language and libraries are mandatory for React Native developers. As JavaScript is the inevitable part of cross-platform app development, your potential as a candidate will be evaluated based on your understanding of this programming language. You must understand how JavaScript components are built and how application logic and services are structured.

Familiarity with React assumptions

React allows several features to make it faster. Assumptions or React Reconciliation is one process that makes the code execute more quickly. The concepts like Virtual DOM, JSX, and component lifecycle are important for React Native developers to understand. Interview questions are often based on React assumptions.

Familiarity with frequently used tools 

While you won’t be expected to know everything about mobile application development, as a React Native developer, there are some tools you must be familiar with. These tools are often used to accelerate the app development process. The most essential React Native development tools you must be familiar with include:

Redux: An open-source JavaScript library frequently used to manage the application’s global state.

Sentry error tracking: For real-time monitoring and efficiently fixing crashes.

ESLint: Frequently used JavaScript code linter to ensure code is written in a clear and standard format compliant with JavaScript patterns.

Jest: A zero-configuration framework for testing JS code used within a mobile application.

React Native Testing Library: React Native testing utilities are often used in mobile application development to encourage good testing practices.

React Native Developer Technical Interview Questions

Top React Native Interview Questions

10 Essential React Native Interview Questions

41 React Native Interview Questions (ANSWERED) Developers Must Know

React Native interview questions and answers in 2022

React developer toolkit

5 JavaScript design patterns every developer should try

Top 7 technical JavaScript interview questions

Official resources 

React Native website

Official documentation

React Native official blog

React Native on GitHub

React Native on Twitter

Online courses and tutorials for React Native developers 

The Complete React Native and Hooks Course

An Udemy beginner’s course helps developers get familiar with the essential concepts of React Native and start building app interfaces quickly. Apart from the core concepts of the React Native framework, this course also teaches Hooks, Context, and React Navigation. In this course, you will learn the fundamentals of React, including JSX, props, state, and event handling. Finally, you will build and deploy the prototypes of your applications and learn how to publish them to Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Complete React Native Developer in 2022: Zero to Mastery

ZTM Academy offers this quality course for learning React Native for beginners and developers. An updated course with the latest inclusions about new features and updates. The course material is based on the latest version of React Native and focuses on efficiency. You will not have to struggle to comb through outdated or incomplete tutorials. This one is a complete course to learn how to build professional and modern Android and iPhone (iOS) apps with React Native.

One of the benefits of this course is that it teaches practically by building a massive restaurant application using React, Firebase, React Hooks, Expo, React Navigation, Google Maps/Places API, Styled-Components, React Animations, and more.

CS50’s Mobile App Development with React Native

Another React Native online course is CS50’s Mobile App Development with React Native course made available by Harvard University on Edx. This course is a continuation of Harvard’s popular CS50 computer science course. It teaches accelerated mobile application development using React Native. It also explains the concept of cross-platform applications and how native apps can be built with JavaScript without Swift or Java.

React Native Express

This is the right resource if you are an experienced developer who wants to experiment with React Native for cross-platform mobile app development. React Native Express covers everything you want to know about the programming language to get started. Professional developers often use this guide and the official React Native documentation to build apps. It covers the fundamentals of JavaScript and essential React Native libraries that are not explained in the official documentation.

Books for React Native developers 

Hands-On Design Patterns with React Native

React Native Cookbook – Second Edition

JavaScript Everywhere: Building Cross-Platform Applications with GraphQL, React, React Native, and Electron

React Native in Action: Developing iOS and Android Apps with JavaScript

Fullstack React Native: Create beautiful mobile apps with JavaScript and React Native

Online communities for React Native developers 

DEV Community

Stack Overflow community

React Conf

Podcasts for React Native developers

React Podcast

devMode.fm

Michael Thomas

Communication: Developers work with engineers and stakeholders, so communication is integral to their job. Impeccable communication skills are required to share the progress of the projects, solve problems, and help teammates. Software developers need active listening, interpersonal communication, and public speaking skills.

Creativity: Mobile application interfaces are a communication medium. Creativity is vital for React Native developers to design interfaces that attract users and provide a satisfactory experience. If you are creative, you can build apps that stand out among competitors. Here are some tips to boost creativity as a front-end developer.

Problem-solving: This skill allows software developers to quickly identify and fix technical errors. Problem-solving skills will enable you to analyze your work and devise helpful solutions. The faster you can identify the issue, the sooner you can deploy the solution and keep the application’s performance high.

Learn more about essential software developer soft skills with these resources:

How soft skills transitioned to become the new power skills

6 soft skills that still impress employers in 2022

5 tips for presenting new ideas as a software developer

5 Time management tips for software developers

4 Productivity hacks for software developers

Conclusion 

React Native is an excellent platform for developing cross-platform mobile application interfaces. As it uses native GUI components, it is also the fastest framework to work with for application development. This ultimate React Native developer toolkit is a complete reference guide for learning resources and interview preparation.

Talent500 is where Indian IT talent finds career re-defining opportunities at global companies. Sign up here and be job ready.

 

 

 

4 simple tricks to beat procrastination as a developer

Posted on by seoteam

Procrastination is a habit that turns even the best developers into average employees. In simple terminology, procrastination is when you favor a pleasurable task over an unpleasant but necessary one. Studies have shown that over 80% of college students procrastinate, 50% of them do it frequently and consistently. This habit gets carried over into their professional life. Being a developer is tricky as you must keep learning new technologies and practicing coding continuously. If you find yourself procrastinating vocationally and struggling to complete the project tasks on time, this solution might be simpler than you think.

We have compiled a list of simple developer tricks to help you be most productive throughout the day and avoid procrastination easily.

1. Plan your tasks ahead 

You start your day by planning what needs to be done. When you are mindful of what tasks could be accomplished within a given time, you are more likely to focus on things at priority. As a developer, you will have a backlog every morning from the previous day or the previous week. If you try to accomplish all the tasks within a single day, you will have wasted your day without accomplishing anything.

This is why you should plan daily what to do in an agile environment. Start with the tasks that can be completed quickly. It will build up your confidence and motivate you to accomplish other jobs on the list. Here is an example of a to-do list:

  1. Complete the cart function code
  2. Review the bug report
  3. Follow up with team leader
  4. Respond to code review

A list like this gives you a rough idea of your daily plan and helps to remove the cognitive load from your head.

2. Use the five-minute rule

Many people use the five-minute rule to deal with procrastination daily. It is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique that involves setting up a five minute time limit on a task you have to do. You work on it for the first five minutes, and if it gets unbearable, you quit or keep going. It might seem like a simple practice to avoid procrastination, but it is known to be effective. Hence, once a developer creates a project and plans through the day, completing tasks without procrastination becomes less overwhelming and more doable.

It is just one of the time management techniques, but there are many more. You can explore one of these time management courses to become more productive in your daily life. The goal is to start with the task at hand without being stressed or uneasy.

3. Change the environment 

Different environments have different impacts on your productivity. If your desk is cluttered with items that distract you, then it’s high time you make a change. Developers should focus on the monitor, keyboard, and nothing else when writing code. Among the essential developer tips is optimizing your workplace for productivity.

Developers should create an environment that makes them feel inspired. It can be anything from using your favorite tools for writing code to using the best hardware for optimum performance. For example, some people have problems  while working in public places because of constant movement and noise. If you face similar challenges, try to find a quiet spot to focus on your code.

You will likely procrastinate unless you can remove every possible distraction from your work environment, whether physical or digital. For instance, put your iPhone in do not disturb mode, and put it in the drawer. This will encourage you to crush the urge to keep checking your phone constantly.

4. Be kind to yourself

A common mistake most developers make is overcomplicating the to-do list with tasks they are most likely unable to complete. In doing so, they are setting themselves up for disappointment through a vicious cycle of self-doubt, guilt, and disappointment. You must learn to forgive yourself. If you often find that you label yourself as a procrastinator, drop the habit; it’s not going to help. Do not get stuck up on past experiences, and focus on doing 5% more towards achieving your goals every day. Cut yourself some slack and allow some flexibility to complete tasks without procrastinating.

Conclusion

Ultimately, every developer faces procrastination at some point in their career. The only way to avoid procrastination is to take proactive action. We hope the developer tricks shared here will help you strategize, plan and execute the game plan to avoid procrastination at work. Remember that it is hard to create something great while struggling with procrastination. This is why you must get a grip on time management skills.

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Why is Flutter better than React Native for developing cross-platform applications?

Posted on by vallish

Cross-platform development has too many advocates now. With so many technologies available, creating platform-independent software with a single code base is possible.

Think about how straightforward it is to deploy and manage a single code for Android and iOS versions of the same app.

The popularity of cross-platform applications is on the rise, contributed by the ease of working on a single codebase, easy availability of hybrid app development tools, and consistent behavior of such applications. 

Another reason to choose the cross-platform approach is that it’s faster and more economical from a business standpoint.

Several frameworks are available for cross-platform development, such as Flutter, React Native, Ionic, Xamarin, and Cordova. However, Flutter and React Native are the market leaders capturing 42% and 38% of the cross-platform development market, respectively.

Both frameworks offer freedom to create the best cross-platform applications, but Flutter still enjoys an edge over React Native.

Why?

That’s what we are exploring in this article.

Flutter and React Native: A background check 

Flutter and React Native was developed as a solution to deploy Android and iOS apps based on a single codebase. Google created Flutter in 2017, while Facebook open-sourced its internal React Native project in 2015.

Flutter is a complete UI framework that allows fast development of user interfaces based on the Material Design and Apple Human interface guidelines. Some popular apps built with Flutter include Google Ads, Alibaba, and Birch Finance.

React Native is Facebook’s cross-platform app development framework based on React (also developed by Facebook). Since 2015, many enterprise-level companies have adopted this framework, including Instagram, SoundCloud Pulse, and Skype.

Let’s find out why developers favor Flutter over React Native.

Performance

Flutter apps are much faster than applications developed with React Native. It has its engine and programming language. Flutter apps are written in Dart; a Java-like programming language optimized explicitly for developing client applications for mobile, web, and server-side platforms. Flutter also has integrated native compilers that convert Dart code to native instructions for ARM processors, resulting in an impressive performance boost.

React Native is entirely based on JavaScript; as a result, the code is more difficult to debug and maintain. Also, in the absence of no native compilers, it’s slower.

Architecture

Flutter is created as a framework for developing UI, which is why it has a low-level Skia engine used in Chrome browsers and Android OS. The engine empowers Flutter to render its component at a higher speed of 60FPS, which results in high performance. Also, it uses its widget library to display Flutter UI seamlessly during UI operation. These architectural features allow Flutter apps to look consistent on Android and iOS. It also results in the unification of the UI appearance regardless of the version of the operating system.

React Native uses a JavaScript engine that acts as a bridge between the native OS components and the JavaScript code of the app. While this approach makes the apps closely resemble native apps, it creates performance issues due to the time taken to interpret JavaScript code.

Smaller app size 

Another benefit of using Flutter for cross-platform application development is the smaller app size. The framework uses fewer additional components to compile the code to simple ARM instructions. Flutter does not store anything more than the bare minimum to run apps. On the contrary, React Native needs more storage to store JavaScript code and interpret the statements. It leads to a bigger app size. For instance, the React Native binary takes up twice as much space on a device’s storage compared to Flutter. As mobile storage is expensive, developers prefer Flutter for cross-platform development.

Development tools and documentation

The convenience of a development tool dramatically depends on the ease of learning and setup. A good framework is easy to learn and operate.

Flutter SDK provides a complete set of tools to help developers quickly learn how to create and debug applications. It also integrates with popular code editors like Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ IDEA. It also offers tools for debugging, test automation, and monitoring app performance. Flutter has a “hot reload” feature that allows developers to run a new code without restarting the whole application. It saves significant time when debugging an application. The Flutter documentation is also top-notch, with some excellent starter toolkit guides to help developers learn fast.

React Native also has a robust documentation and tutorials library supported by its vast developer community. However, it is not beginner friendly, as it can be challenging to set up, and getting started is quite complex if you are new to cross-platform development.

Conclusion 

Although Flutter is relatively new compared to React Native, it is fast becoming the preferred framework for cross-platform development. Development with Flutter is faster, cheaper, and results in high-performance apps – some of the reasons it is better than React Native for cross-platform development.

At Talent500, we actively seek talented cross-platform developers to join our elite pool. Sign up here and get a chance to work with Fortune 500 companies and some of the best global startups.

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We help companies hire, build and manage global teams. We are trusted by industry leaders across the globe – from Fortune 500s and larger enterprises, to some of the world’s fastest-growing startups. We are backed by Accel Partners & ANSR, a global leader and enterprise transformation platform.

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