When you take the last exam of your degree, evaluations are not over just yet. Now it comes the most difficult part: to answer correctly many front end interview questions to get a good job position in a company of your interest.
Luckily, most of the top MNC companies are hiring front-end developers to build responsive, elegant, convenient and interactive interfaces over all devices. Then, your chances to start working right away are good, but you have to prepare to do the perfect job interview.
All companies have their own little book when hiring, but you need to have an idea of what you are going to face in an interview to be selected as a Front end developer and get a job in-hand. So, we have tried to compile for you the most common questions that are asked during the hiring process.
Common front end developer interview questions
First, you will need to answer some basic questions to be selected as a suitable candidate. So your interviewer may ask you something like:
What are the technical skills that a front-end developer should have?
A front-end developer needs to be skilled at HTML, CSS, JQuery and JavaScript. Also, he must have experience in Content Management Systems (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla); knowledge of cross-browser testing; skills at OOPS and PHP; some basic knowledge about SEO and how to work with tools like Dreamweaver and Flash.
Which are the layers present in a webpage?
There are 3 kinds of layers in any web page: the Content Layer, the Presentation Layer and the Behavior Layer.
The content layer is the information that a given website holds. The presentation layer defines how the content will appear to its users, the look and feel of the web page. The behavioral layer involves real-time interaction between users and web page.
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Mention some advantages of using CSS
CSS:
- saves time
- Helps in fast page loading
- Is easy to maintain
- Is superior to HTL style
- Has multiple device compatibility
- Is a global standard for web
- Allows offline browsing
- Has platform Independence
Talk about the difference between XHTML and HTML
HTML and XHTML are both markup languages to write web pages. The main difference is that HTML syntax is SGML based, while XHTML syntax is XML based.
Name some of the new features present in HTML5
Some new features in HTML5 are:
- The DOCTYPE declaration
- The Section tag (<section/. …</section>)
- The Header and Footer tag
- The Flgcaption tag
What is the difference between cookies, session storage, and local storage?
Cookies allow applications to store data in the browser. Session storage property allows storing data until the window is closed. Local storage property lets applications to store data without an end.
Which are the benefits of Coffee Script over JavaScript?
CoffeeScript has a lot of lightweight add-ons, such as Python style list comprehension or Ruby string Interpolation. With CoffeeScript we are able to express a program with a lot shorter code than JavaScript, and it makes even good JavaScript code more readable. Everyday tasks are easier to perform with CoffeeScript than with JavaScript.
Main technical questions
Then, you will need to answer more technical question. Note that questions will be aligned with the interest of the employers to fulfill a current task, so you need to be prepared to answer questions related to the technology that the company use more.
When would you use CSS float?
Float is used when we need to make an element of our web page be pushed to the right or left and make other elements align around it.
What is the difference between Class and Prototypal inheritance?
Inheritance in JavaScript differs from most other programming languages, since the object system in JavaScript is prototype based, not class based.
Objects in JavaScript are a collection of a name (key) and value pairs. When it comes to inheritance, JavaScript only has one construct: objects. Every object has a private property which contains a link to another object called its prototype.
What is the importance of the HTML DOCTYPE?
DOCTYPE is an instruction to the web browser that indicates on what version of the markup language the page is written. The declaration needs to be the first thing in your HTML document, even before the <html> tag.
DOCTYPE declaration points to a Document Type Definition (DTD) that provides the markup language rules, so a browser can interpret the content properly.
What is lazy loading?
Lazy loading is a design pattern generally used to delay initialization of an object until the period at which it is required. It can help to performance in the program’s operation if correctly and properly used.
It is a code that is loaded only once the user needs it, such as a button on the page which reveals a different layout once the user pressed it. Hence, there is no necessary to load code for that layout on initial page load.
How do you deal with browser-specific style incompatibility?
There are multiple ways to work around this issue. The simple way to do it would be using a conditional statement in the head tag of our HTML. In this way, we can recognize the browser and load an external stylesheet if needed.
Explain the difference between responsive and adaptive web design
Responsive Web Design is built on a fluid grid that will change with the browser automatically, no matter what the screen resolution is holding content can break apart and realign if need be.
On the other hand, Adaptive Web Design is not necessarily set on a fluid grid. Targets specific device resolutions and can have set relative widths with percentages, controlled by media query.
Which are the components of a CSS style?
CSS style is made up of three things:
Selector: a HTML tag where styles can be applied.
Property: an attribute of HTML tag. Can be anything like colors, border, shades etc. The HTML attributes are converted into CSS property.
Value: is always assigned to any defined properties.
Psychological questions on a front end developer interview
In addition to the knowledge to do the job, you must prove that you have the ability to interact with a team, as well as creativity, passion and commitment.
Here you may face any kind of questions, from brain teasers up to logic puzzles… criteria varies a lot. But there are some basic questions that you should answer as honestly as you can. It is not a bad idea to practice with a friend, so you´ll be prepared and confident.
- Describe a difficult work situation that you have face in the past and what you did to overcome it.
- Tell me about yourself.
- What is your greatest accomplishment?
- What is your greatest strength?
- What is your greatest weakness?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- Why did you leave your last job?
- Why do you want to work here?
- Why should we hire you?
- Do you have any questions for me?
Questions to be a front end developer Manager
If the company is looking for a front end developer manager, they are going to ask you these kinds of questions. This job position has greater responsibilities and requires from you to know how to coordinate the work of several front end developers, but salary and career opportunities are substantially higher.
How you would ensure that your web design is user-friendly?
Here we talk about working alongside with user experience designers to conceptualize a web page that is built on a user-centric experience. We also need to test the website with users to ensure optimal design. Other important aspect is to assure that the web page is optimized for mobile phone viewing.
What is front end optimization?
Also known as content optimization, it is the process of fine tuning a website to make it quick to load and more browser-friendly. Front end optimization helps in minimizing the number of requests needed for a given page to load and reducing file sizes.
How can we increase page performance?
Page performance can be increased by the following methods:
- Cleaning the HTML document.
- Reducing external HTTP requests.
- Using sprites, compressed images and smaller images.
- Incorporating JavaScript at the bottom of the page.
- Using the minimal amount of CSS, JavaScript and HTML in the webpage.
- Using CDN and caching.
How do you structure your source code to make it easily modified by your colleagues?
A front-end developer needs to discuss their use of code organization and makes comments on it. They need to explain how they use notes in their programming process to explain the steps they have taken, ensuring an efficiency of understanding amongst collaborators.
Of course, this is only a sample of the front end developer interview questions that the interviewers can ask you. Nevertheless, you may want to do some research of which area of expertise the company requires, so you can prepare yourself better. If you read carefully over the job description for clues, your chances to get the position that you apply for increases. Good luck!