this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2025
48 points (98.0% liked)

Web Development

4728 readers
4 users here now

Welcome to the web development community! This is a place to post, discuss, get help about, etc. anything related to web development

What is web development?

Web development is the process of creating websites or web applications

Rules/Guidelines

Related Communities

Wormhole

Some webdev blogsNot sure what to post in here? Want some web development related things to read?

Heres a couple blogs that have web development related content

CreditsIcon base by Delapouite under CC BY 3.0 with modifications to add a gradient

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
snowe@programming.dev
erlingur@programming.dev
Ategon@programming.dev
48
As a backend developer, where do I even start with frontend? Feeling major choice paralysis (feddit.dk)
submitted 6 days ago by SorteKanin@feddit.dk to c/webdev@programming.dev
76 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I'm an experienced backend developer. To me, the backend world seems super simple compared to the frontend world.

It seems like there are a million options and I don't have the experience to say what's good and what's not. I'm hit with major choice paralysis, basically.

I don't have any special requirements - I "just" want to build a pretty standard, responsive, modern-looking UI. Ideally without too much boilerplate, in a framework that "feels good", in a way that might at some point attract other contributors as well, if I get to the point of open sourcing.

Of course I could just reach for the most popular thing i.e. React, but that doesn't seem to be the "hip" thing to use nowadays (or maybe I'm wrong? What do I know, I'm a backend dev).

But even if I choose a framework, there's a million other libraries out there to choose as well. For instance, which UI library to choose? What about observability and state management and authentication and so on?

Sorry if this is a bit ranty. I am honestly just looking for an experienced frontend developer to point me in some direction (i.e. some set of frameworks/libraries; a "stack" if you will), so I can get out of this choice paralysis.

What would be your go-to stack for a new frontend project today?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] entwine@programming.dev 1 points 6 days ago

I'm not making fun of anyone. I know how stressful situations like that are, but you need to chill because being an abrasive asshole isn't how you get people to help you.

When I looked for work with front end, everything is asking for framework experience, when I have raw html/js/css experience. So what you’re saying isn’t helpful. I’m pointing that out and asking for practical advice, you’re being a dick for making fun of my situation.

I wasn't trying to be helpful to you. You are not OP. OP didn't ask "what should I learn to land a job". I never claimed that knowing basic js/css/html was going to help you get a job. Anybody can do that, it's webdev 101. I was pointing out that those basic skills are all you need to write good front-end software, and that most front-end frameworks are over-engineered and unnecessary.

But to answer your question: learn what employers are looking for. Duh. You looked at job postings and found that they were asking for framework experience, so you already have your answer. If you land a web dev job, it's going to be to work on an existing legacy (and often shitty) codebase, not to write new software. The trendy/popular stuff is what's trendy/popular, so learn that to increase your chances.

But most importantly, fix your attitude. It doesn't matter how smart you are if nobody wants to work with you.