JavaScript engineer Rebecca Murphey:
Once upon a time, editing files, testing them locally (as best as we could, anyway), and then FTPing them to the server was the essential workflow of a front-end dev. We measured our mettle based on our ability to wrangle IE6 into submission or achieve pixel perfection across browsers. Many members of the community – myself included – lacked traditional programming experience. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript – usually in the form of jQuery – were self-taught skills.
Something has changed in the last couple of years. Maybe it’s the result of people starting to take front-end dev seriously, maybe it’s browser vendors mostly getting their shit together, or maybe it’s front-end devs – again, myself included – coming to see some well-established light about the process of software development.
Whatever it is, I think we’re seeing the emphasis shift from valuing trivia to valuing tools.
Impressive compilation of JavaScript tools, tutorials and more. Complete newbies should make a beeline for the in-browser developer tools section. If you aren’t debugging in the Chrome Developer Tools or Firebug, as far as I’m concerned, you’re not breathing as a front end developer.