Tag Archives: front end developers

5 Best Task Runner & Module Bundler Front-end Development Tools

5 Best Task Runner & Module Bundler Front-end Development Tools

As a front-end developer, you must be aware of the roles of task runner and module bundler tools. They run undercover automating and combining processes to make the final code seamless.

As the name implies, task runners automatically execute processes behind the scenes, saving both work and time, while module bundlers combine various files that can be executed together.

Both are practical front-end development tools that optimize performance by taking care of simple and repetitive processes. There are various task runner and module bundler tools to choose from. The question is, which ones are right for your needs?

Here’s a helpful guide to the most popular task runner and module bundler tools to choose from.

Five Popular Task Runner Tools

1. Grunt

Grunt

The Grunt ecosystem is massive. Many of the tasks developers need to automate are available as plug-ins. There are hundreds of these available already.

Chances are, there will be one to suit your needs. If there isn’t, then creating a plug-in with Grunt is simple and convenient.

Grunt’s key features are:

  • You can automate repetitive tasks with minimum effort by simply creating a setup file. There are built-in tasks that extend functionality.
  • It’s based on NodeJS and is very flexible. It includes tasks in JS and config in JSON.
  • It allows developers to work with a new codebase as it has minimum infrastructure.
  • Grunt is robust and can advantageously be used for big production sites.

2. Gulp

Gulp

Gulp lets you create efficient pipelines by taking advantage of the flexibility of JavaScript. It is supple, efficient, and provides you with speed and accuracy.

Gulp also has many community plug-ins, and there’s a good chance the process you need is already easily available.

Gulp’s key features are:

  • Aspects such as file watching are built-in.
  • Most plug-ins are simple and designed to do a single job.
  • It uses the JavaScript configuration code, which is simple and flexible.
  • It uses Node.js, so it can be faster.

3. Yarn

Yarn Run

Yarn has a reputation for being quick, secure, and reliable. In essence, what it does is to let you use and share JavaScript code with other developers from all over the globe.

You can report issues or add to development, too. When the problem is fixed, you can use Yarn to keep it all up to date.

Its key features are:

  • It uses the Hadoop operating system, which means processes will be resilient and capable of distributing very large data sets.
  • You can use the Hadoop cluster in a dynamic instead of static manner.
  • There is a central controlling authority which, among other things, allows for immense scalability.
  • It is highly compatible with existing Hadoop MapReduce applications.

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4. Require JS

requirejs

Require is a JavaScript file optimized for in-browser use. It can also be used in other JavaScript environments. It manages the dependencies between files and improves the speed and quality of code.

It is also stable and provides support for plug-ins. It can easily load more than one JavaScript file at a time.

The key features of Require are:

  • It combines and streamlines modules into one script for optimal performance.
  • In the case of large-sized applications, it can reduce code complexity.
  • It can collect several JavaScript files from separate modules when compiling.
  • With React, debugging is simpler as it loads files from plain script tags.

5. Brunch

brunch

Brunch focuses on the production of a small number of files that can be deployed from a large number of separate development trees. This front-end development tool provides smooth and quick work experience.

Brunch works across frameworks, libraries, and programming languages, which makes it very useful and flexible.

Its key features are:

  • The commands are simple and easy to execute.
  • There is support for node programs.
  • You get source maps from the start.
  • It has the ability to create fast-zero builds as well as incremental builds.

Five Popular Module Bundlers

1. Webpack

Webpack

Basically, Webpack is a static module bundler for the latest JavaScript applications. It works by building a dependency graph to map every module the project needs. In this way, it creates one or more handy bundles.

One of the main advantages of Webpack is that it is configurable to fit your specific needs.

Its key features are:

  • It generates output based on configurations. You can also define split points to create separate bundles within the project code itself.
  • Its flexibility gives you control over how to treat different assets encountered.
  • Webpack relies on loaders and plug-ins. Loaders operate on a module level, while plug-ins rely on hooks provided.
  • There is a high learning curve, but Webpack’s advantages make this worth it.

2. Rollup

Rollup js

Rollup compiles small pieces of JavaScript code into libraries or applications that can be large and complex.

Because it uses a standardized code format with ES modules, you can seamlessly combine useful individual functions from separate libraries.

Its key features are:

  • It can optimize ES modules for faster native loading in the latest browsers.
  • It can “roll” and compress data into a single summary document for easy access.
  • It offers more elasticity because queries can identify the most minor available interval and use that for their processing.

Also Read: Top Security Threats and Security Analysis Tools for Front-end Developers

3. Fusebox

Fusebox Javascript

Fusebox is a highly customizable front-end development tool and comes with frequent updates. It is simple to configure and has powerful features.

It allows you to build an application quickly and with ease of use. Plug-ins allow you to employ anything that the Fusebox core doesn’t handle.

Its key features are:

  • It uses a TypeScript compiler by default along with a powerful cache system.
  • There is zero-configuration code-splitting, for a simple configuration syntax.
  • It supports an integrated task runner for its extensive set of plug-ins.
  • It has a built-in task runner, and the project automatically updates to reflect your changes.
  • EMS dynamic imports are also supported.

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4. Parcel

Parcel JS

Parcel is a speedy, zero-configuration web app bundler. It uses worker processes for multicore compilation. It also has a filesystem cache for fast rebuilds.

With its simple, out-of-the-box operability, it improves performance and minimizes hassles during configuration.

Its key features are:

  • You get support for JS, CSS, HTML, file assets, and more without plug-ins.
  • With Babel, PostCSS, and PostHTML, code is automatically transformed.
  • It splits output bundles, so you only load what is needed initially.
  • It highlights code frames when it encounters errors, so you can pinpoint problems.

5. Browserify

Browserify

 

Browserify lets you bundle dependencies in the browser. You can write code that uses ‘require’ in the same way you would use it in Node.

It is simple, powerful, and easy to install. Its advantages are due to the ability to extend the Node ecosystem. It is flexible as it can be extended via plug-ins.

Its key features are:

  • It minimizes many pre-processing tasks with a transformative system.
  • It solves the problems of asynchronous loading.
  • It allows you to participate in the vast and growing NPM ecosystem.

The Uplers Advantage

At Uplers, we have a skilled and experienced team of developers with a thorough working knowledge of the most useful task runner and module bundler tools. We use these as well as other front-end development tools to create professional and immersive websites.

If you’re looking for front-end developers to manage your projects in the best way possible, do get in touch with us. Discover the Uplers advantage!

Top 10 Linting Software for Front-end Developers

Top 10 Front-end Linting Tools for Web Development

Linting software comprises of tools that help developers in writing highly optimized code. These front-end linting tools for web development use static code analysis techniques, helping developers check the code without actually executed it. These tools are part of a code-checking process and are introduced in the development stage to identify errors in the source code and to flag potential bugs according to the flowchart below:

  • Write code.
  • Compile it.
  • Analyze with a linting software.
  • Review bugs.
  • Resolve the bugs and make changes to the code.
  • Link modules once code is clean.
  • Analyze again with the linter.
  • Do manual code reviews.

While you can lint at different stages, lint programming should take place early during the development stages because automated code checks make code review and test processes more efficient. Irrespective of your workflow, you should ensure to lint early and on a regular basis to save you from coding headaches down the development line.

Linting software solutions are much more than being simple bug prevention tools, though, and they can also help you effectively catch errors during debugging. Here, we will take a look at ten linting tools that you can use as a front-end developer to lint your JavaScript and CSS files to improve code quality.

Top Front-end Linting Tools for Web Development 

1. CSSLint

CSSLint

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CSSLint is written in JavaScript, is open-source, and is arguable the market pioneer in CSS linting. It comes with a host of customizable options and lets you choose which types of warning and errors you want to test for.

It also evaluates your CSS syntax against the rules you choose for. CSSLint is a great front-end tool as it not only works in browsers, but it also has a command-line interface as well. You can also integrate it into your build system.

2. SublimeLinter CSSLint

SublimeLinter CSSLint

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While CSSLint is the linter of them all, SublimeLinter doesn’t do too bad a job itself. With a CSS linting plugin called SublimeText built on the top of its linting framework, SublimeLinter provides users with an option to lint their code, from CSS to PHP to Python to Java inside its SublimeText editor.

However, the SublimeLinter CSSLint plugin requires you to install CSSLint as a Node.js module before you can install the plugin. What’s great about it is that it only needs to be configured once to be alerted of the relevant warnings through notifications inside your SublimeText editor.

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3. W3C CSS Validator

W3C CSS Validator

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Although not a linting tool in the traditional sense, W3C’s CSS Validator lets developers check their CSS source code against W3C’s validators. These validators were built with the intent to offer developers a front-end tool for web development that was similar to the Lint C program checker.

At first, W3C created an HTML markup validator. This was later followed by the creation of the CSS validator. And while the CSS validator from W3C may not have as many options as CSSLint, it does return detailed and comprehensively simple notifications and error messages.

What’s interesting about W3C’s CSS validator is that you can also check your code against their mobile web standards. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

4. JSLint

JSLint

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First released by Douglas Crockford in 2002, JSLint is a reliable JavaScript linting tool that can process JSON text and JavaScript source code. It also comes ready with a configuration that, according to Crockford, follows the JS best practices. However, while JSLint has quite a few options that you can choose from, it doesn’t let you add custom rules or disable features.

5. ESLint

Source

Considered the next best thing since sliced bread, ESLint’s popularity is high and rising in the JavaScript linting landscape. A great part of it stems from the flexible nature of ESLint.

ESLint not only lets you customize its sophisticated linting rules and integrate it with major code editors, but it also lets you easily extend the scope of its functionalities by attaching different plugins to it.

You can specify the parser options and also choose which JS language standard you want to support during the linting process. This means that you not only check your scripts against the default ECMAScript 5 syntax, but you can also do so against the JSX, ECMAScript 6, and ECMAScript 7 syntax.

UI UX design

6. JSHint

JSHint

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Originating as a community-driven project to create a more configurable version of JSLint, JSHint lets developers customized all its linting options, and store the configuration separately.

This option makes JSHint a versatile linting tool as it can be easily reused for projects of any size. It can be used to lint vanilla JavaScript, and it also has comprehensive support for many JS libraries like Node.js, Mocha, jQuery, and Mootools.

7. JSCS

JSCS

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A code style checker that flags issues related to code formatting, JSCS is a JavaScript Code Style linter for JavaScript and doesn’t do much apart from that.

JSCS’s goal is offering developers a means to enforce commitment to a certain coding style guide. It is also different from other linting tools because it does nothing unless you command it to use a preset or give it a configuration file. These configurations and presets can be downloaded from their website.

JSCS lets you create your own custom configuration, but it also has different presets from projects such as Google or Wikimedia coding style presets. It also supports custom reporters and fixes your formatting errors automatically so that you don’t have to keep checking them one by one.

Also Read: How Much Salary you should Pay to a Decent Front-end Developer?

8. StyleLint

StyleLint

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An immensely useful linting tool, StyleLint, can help developers avoid and circumvent errors in any syntax that PostCSS can parse. It is a versatile front-end tool for web development and tests for more than a hundred rules while also giving you the option to choose which ones you want to switch on.

Developers that don’t want to build a custom configuration can also opt for a defined, standard configuration contains more than 60 StyleLint rules. StyleLint is also very flexible, and it can be augmented by other plugins while also being capable of being used in three forms: as a Node.js module, as a PostCSS plugin, or as a command-line tool.

9. StandardJS

StandardJS

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A code style linter, just like JSCS, StandardJS is slightly more complex than its counterpart. StandardJS is an excellent choice for you if you don’t want to spend time behind configuration.

StandardJS follows a few outlined formatting rules. Its main function is that it keeps your coding workflow free of distractions. If you don’t want to have a custom configuration and are looking to introduce a consistent coding style, StandardJS is the tool to go with for you.

10. Dirty Markup

Dirty Markup

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A linting tool that helps you clean, format, and validate your CSS, HTML, and JavaScript code, DirtyMarkup is the best bet for you if you want a straightforward solution. Dirty Markup also provides notifications and error messages in real-time as you write or modify the code in its editor.

Hitting the “Clean” button fixes the syntax errors  and also tidies up the format. However, it leaves the warnings as they were to let you solve them any way that you want. And while you don’t have the luxury to choose the rules that you want to test for, the three file types have certain settings that let you control the format of the cleaned output.

How Uplers Can Help You

Linting software is a necessary web development tool in the arsenal of front-end developers to catch problems early on during the development phase. However, it only sees as many errors as the rules the front-end developers are knowledgeable of. If you want to catch bugs more effectively, you need front-end developers with comprehensive knowledge of linting tools.

Uplers is a global digital performance marketing agency that helps you hire erudite front-end developers. With Uplers, you can be certain of comprehensive expertise in front-end tools for web development and can rest assured of the quality of your code.

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Top 4 Demanding IT Skills You Must Outsource to India

Top 4 Demanding IT Skills You Must Outsource to India

In today’s hyper-connected world, you are no longer limited to your city or country for sourcing the right talent for your work. With remote working slowly emerging as the new norm, the outsourcing industry is all set to experience a further boom, owing to its multiple benefits like reduced costs and access to a larger talent pool. There are top Demanding IT Skills You Must Outsource to India. 

Why Companies Outsource?

Deloitte reveals that 59% of businesses outsource to reduce costs, 57% use outsourcing to return focus to the core business, while 47% use it to solve capacity issues.

Talking about the preferred destinations for outsourcing, India remains a leader in the space, with 80% of European and US outsourcing firms ranking India as their number one outsourcing destination. NASSCOM also confirms that up to half of all Fortune 500 companies outsource their software development to Indian firms.

Why Companies Outsource

Source

India’s popularity as the preferred outsourcing destination is also confirmed by the Global Services Location Index shared above. One can see that India has the highest overall score, which is owing to the best combination of cost, skills and business environment. China scores higher in skills and business environment, but it has a much lower score in financial attractiveness – meaning you would end up paying more if you choose to outsource your work to China. 

Vietnam can be seen as the only country that is financially more attractive but possesses less than half of India’s skill level. Thus, outsourcing to Vietnam would certainly be cheaper but also lead to poor quality work.

Why is India The Top Choice for IT Outsourcing?

PwC identifies three main reasons for India’s leadership position in the IT outsourcing industry:

  • India has a large talent pool for IT/ITeS industry with over 100 million English speaking people
  • Diverse skill base to support IT/ITeS services across industry verticals
  • Hassle-free transaction with flexible policies around taxation and investments and government support to the sector

At present, the industry is valued at $150 billion – cementing India’s position as the topmost provider of high-quality, low-cost technology skills. It is also noteworthy that a majority of large IT services companies and global in-house /captives have “established or spun off their digital capability into a digital CoE / digital labs” in India.

Top IT Skills you Must Outsource to India

According to McKinsey, India is the fastest digitizing economy after Indonesia, and this change is reflected in the country’s job market, as identified in LinkedIn’s 2020 Emerging Jobs Report India. 

Below, we have identified four key roles that can be suitably fulfilled at a much lower cost by outsourcing to India.

Front-end Developers

We are living in an experience economy, and there’s nothing more integral to your success than crafting impeccable and outstanding customer experiences. Front-end Developers help you achieve that by influencing the digital experience of your viewers. 

In addition to IT skills like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc., when looking for a Front-end Developer, you are also looking for soft skills like good verbal and written communication to make sure your instructions are understood and executed properly. 

At Uplers, we compared what efficient Front-end Developers charge across the world and found Indian developers to be one of the cheapest in terms of cost. The average hourly rate charged by Front-end Developers in India ranges between $20-70. Front-end Developers in Indonesia and Philippines charge even lesser – but outsourcing to India is a popular choice because of friendly government policies and proficiency in the English language. To get an idea of how much you can save, Front-end Developers in the USA may charge you anything between $160-250 for an hour’s work.

Best Remote Teams

Digital Marketing Specialists

Every business needs customers to survive and thrive. And, at a time when most customers rely on the Internet to find information, it is essential to market well to ensure your digital identity is not lost in the clutter. Hiring a digital marketing company in your city is an option, but in times of remote working, you can gain the same benefits at a lower cost by outsourcing your digital marketing to an expert in India. 

By hiring a digital marketing agency in India, you don’t burden your HR or invest in any new tools or technology. Besides, digital marketing being an emerging career in the country, there are experts available in plenty to get your business the edge it needs in the market.

Another advantage, especially if you are US-based, is that you are no longer subject to the American labor laws. And can enter into a negotiable contract with an Indian firm. The time-zone difference is an added benefit in terms of 24/7 support.

Digital Marketing Specialists

Source

Full-stack Developers

Most start-ups today are looking for all-rounders in their teams, such as software developers that are not just coders but also good designers and solution architects. In other words, the demand for Full Stack Developers is on the rise but a ‘Master of Trades’ does not come cheap, making it pertinent for start-ups to look for Full Stack Developers in developing countries like India that are bustling with talent and offer lower rates due to high competition in the sector. 

According to a career website, a Full Stack Developer in the US earns upwards of $100,000 annually. In India, on the other hand, the average salary of a Full Stack Developer is about INR 600,000 per annum, which is a little less than $8,000 annually. 

ReactJS Developers

ReactJS is a popular JavaScript framework for creating attractive and user-friendly interfaces. However, being introduced less than a decade ago, ReactJS developers are hard to find or already hired by forwarding companies. Unsurprisingly, ReactJS developers are paid handsomely across the world. 

In the US, the annual average ReactJS developer salary is $72,681 while it can go up to INR 10,00,000 or $13,000 (approximately) in India for a senior position. The reason for this cost difference is the high competition in India, which is due to the availability of a large number of skilled professionals. Thus, if you are looking for expert ReactJS developers, offshoring your requirement to India can give you the two-fold advantage of cost reduction and access to a larger talent pool.

The Best Among Equals

If you are looking for tech experts, to scale your business, outsourcing to India will:

  • Lower your costs
  • Give you access to a larger talent pool
  • Save you time to focus on other business goals
  • Let you take advantage of the difference in time zone (if any)

However, to reap the maximum benefit, you must know how to optimize your ROI when outsourcing to India and consider other factors like client testimonials, market presence, communication skills, etc., before onboarding anyone. At Uplers, we offer you the services of dedicated experts for your ongoing needs with the possibility of scaling up or scaling down according to your requirement, leading to further cost reduction. Get in touch to know more.