Intermediate Web and Front-End Development

Automated build tools and bundlers are a complete game changer in web development. For example, Webpack 5 is a module bundler that assists in handling the bundling of assets, modules, and dependencies into a single bundle while allowing developers to concentrate on the development. The automation process helps to standardize builds, speed them up, and minimize mistakes done manually. Instead of being dependent on online solutions, you can use Webpack 5 to build custom solutions or boilerplates. It allows you to create codes in modules. The initial configuration starts from a single module. It then processes all its dependencies, which can be either direct or indirect. The Webpack configuration further helps to determine whether code should be compressed for quicker execution or packed with source maps for better error tracking. In the production mode, Webpack tries its best to optimize the build by automatically minifying the code. The best production practices can be implemented to improve a website’s performance. Furthermore, you can use different Webpack tools to reduce the bundle size and use it with frontend frameworks for building and deploying web applications. Finally, by implementing the best practices for optimizing Webpack, you can ensure that your applications are optimized and function efficiently.

In today's fast-paced world, keeping load and response times to a minimum is critical because the longer it takes a website to respond, the more users will leave. This course teaches how web optimization measures and perceives the user experience of load time and runtime. You can identify tools, APIs, and best practices for measuring and improving web performance. You will discover how JavaScript can create highly interactive websites that engage users. On the other hand, increased engagement comes at a performance cost that can negatively impact website usability. To resolve this, you will learn how to use a testing framework for automated testing to increase testing speed and efficiency, improve test accuracy, and reduce test maintenance costs and risks. Mocha and Jasmine are two open-source testing frameworks you will learn about in this module. You will also learn how front-end testing involves creating a website's graphical user interface (GUI) so that users can view and interact with the website or web app.

Debugging is an essential part of the software development process. Bugs in software applications are typically caused by an unintentional or unexpected event and must be removed. As software may contain bugs even after meticulous planning and defensive programming, in this course, you will learn the various strategies that can be used to localize the error. You will discover how browsers now include a variety of add-ons or extensions that can be used for debugging and other web development tasks. You will learn how to use a debugging tool to debug a program without recompiling or changing its source code. You'll also know how Google Chrome DevTools allows developers to edit code directly in the browser, set breakpoints to detect problems, and debug code quickly. Finally, you will understand how website monitoring evaluates a website's functionality, performance, or availability and how monitoring tools perform routine tests and send notifications when a website is unavailable, making it easier to identify and resolve problems.