Mistakes in front-end web development

As a software project manager, one of my jobs is ensuring that a software product passes certain quality tests. Today, I give away 5 of these checks related to mistakes in front-end development. In any web development project, I make sure to test or ask testers to check for these five mistakes:

Not using SSR while showing links 

SSR or server-side render is a feature in front-end development that allows certain pages to be created on the server and sent to the browser as a whole. That's very important SEO-wise. Because Google cannot (will not) see the elements being loaded after the initial load. If you want your content to be visible to Google, use SSR. The problem that sometimes happens is we want to show a list of some blog posts or page links, and they are supposed to work as internal links, but Google can only see them if they are rendered using SSR. But, the developer loads them as a lazy load component, and your SEO manager will be furious when he finds out that his internal link buildings for the last months were not accessible by Google.

Not minifying resources after updates in front-end development

Today, we don't find many websites that have unified static files on initial release. Everybody is talking about performance and how important initial load time is. But after some time, developers release updates and add a feature or something. Sometimes, developers unminify scripts or style files while releasing and debugging new features and forget to minify them again. This is a mistake that needs to be checked after releases.

Overusing JavaScript in front-end

Don't put all of the styles and features on JavaScript. Use new CSS features. Putting too much JavaScript and compute on the front end has many downsides, from low performance and high resource load time to putting pressure on old devices. Sometimes, it's because of front-end developers' mistakes, but sometimes, it's because the design is wrong, and front-end developers are forced to implement some functionalities that should've been implemented in the backend and API.  

Too many third-party libraries

Have you ever seen a website where when you fix something, something else goes wrong? Sometimes, it's just an implementation issue, but most of the time, in the front end, it's because we are using too many libraries to do simple things, and those libraries are not compatible!

There's nothing wrong with using third-party libraries, but remember that third-party means liability, exploits, and running someone else's code on your application. You should make an effort not to use unnecessary third-party libraries on your website.

Not handling errors properly

Another mistake is not showing user-friendly messages. Do not show any error code that the backend throws at you. Do not tell users technical errors. DO NOT show users a black page saying " a server-side error happened." We should handle two things in error management: showing a user-friendly message to users and reporting the error to some kind of logging system (to API).

BONUS: Not using modern preprocessors in front-end

Not using CSS preprocessors in front-end development can lead to scalability, maintainability, and efficiency limitations when styling websites. Preprocessors like Sass, Less, or Stylus extend the capabilities of standard CSS by introducing features such as variables, nesting, mixins, and functions. These features help developers write cleaner and more organized code, which is especially important for large-scale projects.

CSS code becomes repetitive without a preprocessor, especially when managing global styles like colors, fonts, or spacing. Preprocessor variables allow you to store these values once and reuse them throughout your stylesheets, making updates simple. Without this, developers must manually search for and update every instance, increasing the risk of inconsistency.

Preprocessors also introduce nesting, which aligns CSS's structure with HTML's, making styles easier to read and maintain. CSS can quickly become cluttered without nesting, especially in complex UIs with deep hierarchies. Preprocessors offer useful functions, conditionals, and loops to automate repetitive tasks, such as generating themes or handling responsive breakpoints. Without them, developers must resort to manual code duplication, which is both time-consuming and prone to errors.

By not utilizing CSS preprocessors, developers miss out on valuable tools that enhance productivity, improve maintainability, and reduce redundancy in code, ultimately hindering the overall development workflow.

 

I hope this article helps you check the health of your front-end application. Have a good day.