I keep seeing online that to become a junior developer you need only html, css, jquery and some javascript. In real life, I've never met any front end developers (even junior) who know just this (though I do follow a youtuber who does this). In real life it is common to see even entry level front end roles require 1-2 years of Html.css, javascript including either Angular or React.
I'm sure I would have a difficult time getting some of these entry level front end roles, being ~ 2 years in the industry and knowing a few different stacks (though I consider myself mostly full stack) and having a solid portfolio/resume because I have less than 6 months experience with React and hardly any Angular. Though I live in New York so the competition is pretty harsh out here, so maybe in smaller cities this is possible.
I can't understand how people get full time junior dev roles just knowing html, css, and some javascript/jquery. Anyone in this position that can share a bit about yourself, the role and how you got it? I'm mostly just curious.
Tommy Hodgins
CSS & Element Queries
I use mostly frameworks like Bootstrap and Foundation and some jQuery plugins to achieve a responsive template in a shorter period of time. But in some cases, I use pure HTML, CSS and jQuery but the development time is longer than using framework but you have the full control of what you want to your work. I never used any other JS framework like nodejs, react etc..
First of all, drop jQuery from the "basics" list. It is also just a library and nothing special compared to other libraries, like React. Today, I wouldn't even use it for any modern homepage anymore. It's only use was to unify browser APIs. Today, browser vendors already follow the standard closely, so such a library is unnecessary, and, in case of jQuery, even very unperformant.
Secondly: yes, I do develop vanilla web applications. Well, mostly vanilla. Because most of the time, my problem does not match the big libraries. Angular, Aurelia & Co are nice if you want to centralize data management; for example when you want to keep the view and the data on the server in sync with very simple binding magic. React, Polymer & Co. are nice if you have many small widgets which you want to mix and match. Take a look at Hashnode and Facebook: they have lots of little features, which can be modularized.
Since most of the time, my application has neither problem, I have no special expertise with them and I do not use them. I set up whatever I need in 10 minutes and stick to that solution. It works out nicely and I do not have abundant JS to transfer or complex build-scripts.
Thirdly, I started out my full-time employment without any knowledge of any framework. I was quickly made the web-dev mentor and now I get all kinds of projects. I still go vanilla and I am not junior any more.
imho, if you have trouble finding a job, it is because your knowledge bases on frameworks. Having a deep understanding and enough experience with the bare language will enable you to quickly understand the frameworks, without being dependent on them. That's a lot better than knowing the frameworks, because you will be able to choose the right tool for the job (even if you never used it before) and quickly pick up new frameworks and libraries as they come onto the market - instead of doing hype-driven development.
You might want to check out the following posts:
Well I'm one of those people :D I write a lot of HTML and CSS, and over time I'm having to be able to write some frontend plugins in JS - but I haven't had any client work using frameworks like Angular, React, Ember, etc.
So far all of the people I've worked with (and all of the people the freelancers I know have worked with) are all either building static HTML, building on top of WordPress or another PHP-based CMS, or are building frontends for custom PHP and Ruby applications. So far none of the people I've worked with have touched JS on the backend (Node and NPM stuff) for work projects, or have been using things like React, Vue, Angular, etc on the frontend. Even as popular and visible as some of these frameworks can be, a lot of the business world seems to build their own stuff to meet their own needs.
I do think it's possible to have HTML, CSS, and JavaScript under your belt, and a good understanding of the browser and the web platform and be able to find good employment!