9 Projects you can do to become a Frontend Master

Introduction

Whatever you do, it's always beneficial to have the right tools at your disposal. I love working remotely and am a big advocate of doing remote software development. Therefore, I always strive to have the best equipment available to be as productive as possible. Writing posts like this constantly takes a lot of time. Luckily iVanky helped me out and sponsored this post so that I can concentrate on writing. I recently had the chance to test out one of their hottest products, a dual USB-C Docking Station that allows me to connect both my wide-screen monitors to my MacBook with Dual 4K@60Hz display connectivity. It also supports up to 96W laptop charging, which is awesome. If you are in a situation like me and want to upgrade your equipment, check out this and their other products! And now comes the article:

Whether you are new to programming or already an experienced developer. In this industry, learning new concepts and languages/frameworks is
mandatory to keep up with the rapid changes. Take for example React - open-sourced by Facebook just a shy 4 years ago it already became the number one choice for JavaScript devs around the globe. But also Vue and Angular, of course, have their legitimate follower-base. And then there is Svelte, and universal frameworks like Next.js or Nuxt.js, and Gatsby, and Gridsome, and Quasar, and and and. If you want to shine as an expert JavaScript developer you should at least have some experience in different frameworks and libraries - besides doing your homework with good, old JS.

To help you become Frontend Masters, I have collected 9 different projects, each with a distinct topic and a different JavaScript framework or library as a tech stack that you can build and add to your portfolio. Remember, nothing helps you more than actually building stuff so go ahead, sharpen your mind and make this happen!

Build a movie search app using React (with hooks)

The first thing you could start with is building a movie search app using React. Below is an image of how the final app will look like:

What you will learn

Building this application you will improve your React Skills using the relatively new Hooks API. The example projects make use of React components, many hooks, an external API, and of course some styling via CSS.

Tech Stack & Features

• React with Hooks
• create-react-app
• JSX
• CSS

Using no classes this project gives you a perfect entry point into functional react and will definitely help you in 2020. You can find the example project here: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-build-a-movie-search-app-using-react-hooks-24eb72ddfaf7/
Follow along with the tutorial or give it your own flavor!

Build a chat app with Vue

Another great project for you is to build a chat app using my favorite JavaScript library VueJS. The app will look something like this:

What you will learn

Following this tutorial, you will learn how to set up a Vue app from scratch, creating components, handling state, creating routes, connecting to a third-party service, and even handling authentication.

Tech Stack & Features

• Vue
• Vuex
• Vue Router
• Vue CLI
• Pusher
• CSS

This is really a great project to get started with Vue or to improve your existing skills to tackle development in 2020. You can find the tutorial right here: https://www.sitepoint.com/pusher-vue-real-time-chat-app/

Build a beautiful weather app with Angular 8

This example will help you to build a beautiful weather app using Google's Angular 8:

What you will learn

This project will teach you valuable skills such while creating an application from scratch, starting with the design over development all the way to a production-ready deployment.

Tech Stack & Features

• Angular 8
• Firebase
• Server-Side Rendering
• CSS with Grid Layout and Flexbox
• Mobile friendly & responsive
• Dark Mode
• Beautiful UI

What I really, really like about this comprehensive project is that you do not learn things in isolation but the whole development process from the design to the final deployment. You should really do this one!
https://medium.com/@hamedbaatour/build-a-real-world-beautiful-web-app-with-angular-6-a-to-z-ultimate-guide-2018-part-i-e121dd1d55e

Build a to-do app with Svelte

Svelte kinda is the new kid on the block compared to React, Vue, and Angular but nonetheless one of the hotties for 2020. Okay, To-Do apps are not necessarily the hottest topic out there but this will really help you to sharpen you Svelte skills and look like this:

What you will learn

This tutorial will show you how to make an app using Svelte 3 from start to finish. It makes use of components, styling, and event handlers

Tech Stack & Features

• Svelte 3
• Components
• Styling via CSS
• ES 6 syntax

There aren't that many good Svelte starter projects out there so I find this one to be kinda good to start with. And who knows, maybe you are the one creating another, more comprehensive Svelte tutorial that will be presented in the next year's version of this post?
https://medium.com/codingthesmartway-com-blog/building-a-svelte-3-todo-app-from-start-to-deployment-1737f72c23a6

Build an e-commerce shopping cart with Next.js

Nextjs is the most popular framework for creating React applications that support server-side rendering out of the box. This project will show you how to build an e-commerce shopping cart looking like this:

What you will learn

In this project, you will learn how to set up a Next.js development environment, create new pages and components, fetch data, style, and deploy a next application.

Tech Stack & Features

• Next.js
• Components and Pages
• Data Fetching
• Styling
• Deployment
• SSR and SPA

It is always great to have a real-world example such as an e-commerce showcase to learn something new. You can find the tutorial here:
https://snipcart.com/blog/next-js-ecommerce-tutorial

Build a full-blown multi-language blog website Nuxt.js

Nuxt.js is to Vue what Next.js is to react. A great framework to combine the power of server-side rendering and single-page applications. The final app that you could create will look like this:

What you will learn

This example project will teach you how to build a full-blown website using Nuxt.js from the initial setup to the final deployment. It makes use of many of the cool features Nuxt has to offer like pages and components as well as styling with SCSS.

Tech Stack & Features

• Nuxt.js
• Components and Pages
• Storyblok module
• Mixins
• Vuex for state management
• SCSS for styling
• Nuxt middlewares

This is a really cool project for you and covers many of the great features of Nuxt.js. I personally love working with Nuxt so you should really try this one out as it will also make you a better Vue developer!
https://www.storyblok.com/tp/nuxt-js-multilanguage-website-tutorial

Build a Blog with Gatsby

Gatsby is a great static site generator that uses React and GraphQL under the hood. This is the result of this project:

What you will learn

In this tutorial, you will learn how to leverage Gatsby to build an outstanding blog that you could well use for writing your own articles while making use of React and GraphQL.

Tech Stack & Features

• Gatsby
• React
• GraphQL
• Plugins & Themes
• MDX / Markdown
• Bootstrap CSS
• Templates

If you ever wanted to start a blog this is a great example of how to do so leveraging React and GraphQL. I am not saying that WordPress always is a bad choice but with Gatsby you can create highly performant sites while using React which is an awesome combination!
https://blog.bitsrc.io/how-to-build-a-blog-with-gatsby-and-boostrap-d1270212b3dc

Build a Blog with Gridsome

Gridsome is to Vue...Okay, we already had that with Next/Nuxt but the same is true for Gridsome and Gatsby. Both use GraphQL as a data layer but Gridsome makes use of VueJS. It also is an awesome static site generator that will help you create great blogs:

What you will learn

This project will teach you how to build a simple blog to get started with Gridsome, GraphQL, and Markdown. It also covers how to deploy the application via Netlify.

Tech Stack & Features

• Gridsome
• Vue
• GraphQL
• Markdown
• Netlify

This for sure isn't the most comprehensive tutorial but covers the basic concepts of Gridsome and Markdown and could be a good starting point.
https://www.telerik.com/blogs/building-a-blog-with-vue-and-markdown-using-gridsome

Build a SoundCloud-like audio player app with Quasar

Quasar is another Vue framework that can also be used to build mobile applications. In this project you will create an audio player app looking like this:

What you will learn

While the other projects focus mainly on web applications this one will show you how to create a mobile app using Vue via the Quasar framework. You should already have a working Cordova setup with android studio / xcode configured. If not there is a link in the tutorial to the quasar website where they show you how to set this up.

Tech Stack & Features

• Quasar
• Vue
• Cordova
• Wavesurfer
• UI Components

A small project that shows the power of Quasar for building mobile apps.
https://www.learningsomethingnew.com/how-to-build-a-sound-cloud-like-audio-player-app-with-vue-js-quasar-and-wave-surfer

Conclusion

In this article I showed you 9 projects that you can build, each focusing on another JavaScript framework or library. Now the choice is all yours: Will you try something new by using a framework you haven't used before? Or do you want to strengthen your skills by doing a project for a technology you already have some knowledge of? Or will you rely on your favorite framework/library and do all the projects with it?

I recently started a new site: The Smart Coder where I create free content for the community, such as more posts about javascript projects.

If you like what I write and want to support me and my work, please follow me on Twitter to learn more about programming, making, writing & careers🥰

Comments

[Victor Cazanave]

Interesting and inspiring article!

To learn/practice a JS framework I always build the same (video game search) app to focus on the front-end without spending time on the API, build tools... It's also a good way to compare the frameworks. But it may be time to change to another app :)

[Simon Holdorf]

You must be the master of video game searches, no doubt :)

[Sharad Raj (He/Him)]

😂

[Jaxongir]

woow

[Andrea Cappuccio]

best approach imho

[Pulkit Singh]

Which video games api you used? Gamedb?

[Victor Cazanave]

IGDB (api-docs.igdb.com), but there may be better ones. Since it's only to practice the front-end development, I just picked a random one.

[Ivan Pozderac]

To be honest, I didn't found better Games-related API than IGDB, it was swedish project at first, but acquired by Twitch. Data set is quite rich and useful, so anybody looking for the games database, this one is pretty decent.

I found that IGDB is having most of the handheld (GB, DS, PSP...) games data while others are lacking a lot in handheld department!

[AppCode ⚡]

As Victor mentioned learning a JS frame is a easy way to master JavaScript. Before jumping into a JS framework, on appcode.app (web developer reference site), there is an article on some basic JavaScript concepts such as functions and variables you might find helpful for beginners. Also a image of a basic JavaScript function below.

[Nikita Sobolev]

I would recommend to use wemake-vue-template to get started with Vue and Nuxt.

It allows you to start easily with the full-featured project. Features:

• Proven to work on both small and large scale projects
• Always up-to-date with the help of @dependabot
• Latest nuxt for server-side rendering
• Full typescript support, including Vue's SFC, Vuex, and tests
• Tools to write business logics including: DI, IoC, runtime type validation
• Linting with eslint + stylelint
• jest for unit tests and testcafe for end-to-end testing
• docker optional support for development, testing, and production
• Gitlab CI with full test and deploy pipeline configured by default
• Meaningful docs, covering almost every aspect of the project, including jsdoc annotations
• Full vscode support and list of suggested settings and plugins
• Easy update process, so your template will always be up-to-date

[Ibrahim Abdullahi Aliyu]

Thanks

[JustDoIT]

Thank you Nikita ;)

[Oleg Abrazhaev]

testcafe? I find it a weird choice, now Cypress is trending and it is a pleasure to use tool.

[Nikita Sobolev]

It is a tool we are using for quite some time. I agree that Cypress is more pleasant these days

[XTechnology]

....

Thank you, that's a really important guide. 😉💻

[shivamnarkar47]

Thanks

[Ameer Hazarika]

One of the most useful articles I've read in a while.

I'm also just on the brink of starting with JavaScript Frameworks.

Still a beginner. But I'm hoping I can do one of these.

Thank you for the article brother.

It's amazing.

[DevJasper]

As a beginner, don't ever start off with frameworks, go for vanilla JavaScript first.

[Simon Holdorf]

I think it really depends where you come from, how you learn best and what you want to achieve. It won't hurt to know the basics but if you have fun learning for example some Vue first and that helps you to become a better developer I would go for it.

[Ameer Hazarika]

Yes. I have gone through Vanilla JavaScript. That's the reason I'm proceeding to frameworks now.

[Simon Holdorf]

I have no doubt that you can do it. The only way to find out and become better is to start building stuff! I wish you all the best on your journey :)

[Mohammed Nabeel]

This is a very good article to build your skillset in the trending JS frameworks and which you can best work on. It all depends on how much time and effort we have to apply to it and explore the possibilities. Very insightful, thanks.

[Ameer Hazarika]

Thanks mate.

[Elijah Logan]

Ameer, what projects have you been working on to build your skills?

[Ameer Hazarika]

Right now. I'm working on the Search movie app mentioned in this post.
It's the perfect project to get used to React Hooks.

[Itachi Uchiha]

Thanks for your sharing. These really will be useful for newbies.

Btw, I did all of them but I haven't got a good CSS knowledge. Yes JS and its frameworks are good but I need advice about CSS :) What are your suggestions?

I need a guide like a start zero to a hero guide.

For example, it should contain, "units of measurement", "PSD to HTML", "mobile design and desktop design" etc.

Let's assume, Think a designer who uses the sketch. He/She gave me a template and expecting me coding this template.

What should I do first?

[Simon Holdorf]

Have you checked out Scott Tolinski's site yet? leveluptutorials.com/tutorials/css...

He is a great teacher and has some free resources available

[Itachi Uchiha]

Thanks. I'll check. Actually, he is on my list :) I couldn't watch this series.

[Melvin]

Advance Css/Sass course of Jonas Schmedtmann is a very helpful one, explained all in details 😄

[KP]

Love Scott Tolinski

[Joydeep Bhowmik]

yes sir

[Miguel Martinez]

Excellent overview of frameworks and tools to build Apps.
It seems to me that is a bit ambitious trying to master all of them.
I use React (and Redux for state management) and still I am struggling with that.
Might be it is better to get a approach to all of them that be proficient in one.

[Simon Holdorf]

I wanted to make it a bit broader on purpose so that everyone can find something that fits for him/her. If you are already investing in react I would stick with it.

[Miguel Martinez]

Yes. That is what I thought in first place.
Anyway, I have Vue inmediately in the queue with excellent instructor Stephen Grider in Udemy.

[Robert Kedzior]

As for GatsbyJS, I really recommend going through their tutorial on creating a Gatsby website, before using any templates. It's amazingly documented and well explained. Helped me a lot before I started using templates.

[Robert Kedzior]

Do you think it would be a good idea to have a topic about different CMS selection for GatsbyJS and their usability for different projects? :)

[Simon Holdorf]

You mean like contentful, headless wordpress, etc?

Sounds like a good idea!

[Robert Kedzior]

Yup, exactly, I think they differ in terms of setup complexity/speed for start and some can be better for small projects (like a simple blog for example).

[Duyi-Dingyongzhi]

Hello，sir.
I'm a web developer from China.
It's very lucky that I found your essay a few days ago.It helped me a lot to some extent.
So here's a request that if I could get your permission to translate your essay into Chinese to help more Chinese web learner.It will be extremely delighted if I can have your permission.
And no matter what it would be,I'm still grateful for learning from you.Looking forward to your answer.

Best wishes.

[Simon Holdorf]

Sure, go ahead

[Duyi-Dingyongzhi]

Thanks a lot

[My Social Hike]

Great article.
I am also using VueJs in my current project. It's really fun to work with VueJs.

[Simon Holdorf]

It absolutely is, I really enjoy working with Vue.js!

[Carlos Magno]

This is very exciting, right now I can't do any of these projects. Let's see what I can do in the next weeks.

[Simon Holdorf]

I'm glad it inspired you. The thing is that just have to build stuff if you want to become better. Theory gives you only so much but building apps and doing projects is what takes you forward!
Maybe check out some Vue.js if you are new to this because it is very beginner-friendly in my opinion.

[Hamed Baatour]

wow, I didn't expect to see my Angular tutorial here 😲
I wrote that weather app article back in 2018 and I am glad it's still valid even today.
@simonholdorf thank you for the mention! honestly, you motived me to write another full app tutorial again! happy to hear any app suggestions for my next article (+which framework you want to see)