The Framework Developer Test: Death by Form
Chances are, you don’t know JS as good as you think you do.
I’ve been working with and teaching Javascript for nearly 10 years now, mostly to junior developers and career changers. After seeing so many Juniors struggle with the same concepts, I made my own mentorship program where I helps devs learn JS in a practical way that has helped me and people on my team to be more effective, confident and pass more interviews.
The first assignment I give them is… interesting.
The intention of the exercise is to determine whether or not they are a framework developer.
What is a framework developer?
Most of the developers I work with have graduated a bootcamp. They know ReactJS. Maybe Vue if they went to a really terrible bootcamp (I’m kidding…. or am I?).
What are the hallmarks of a JS framework developer?
- Doesn’t understand core concepts of JS
- Relies on the magic of their framework — things just work but they don’t know why
- The framework they know is the solution for every problem… when your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail
- Struggles to build anything using Vanilla JS
That last bullet point is really what hurts a lot of front end developers during an interview.
They inevitably come across a challenge where they are tasked with building a small app or feature without leveraging a framework. I’ve been there myself. It was a bit embarrassing… and eye opening!
The Form Challenge:
The first assignment I give to developers in my program will either be incredibly simple or surprisingly challenging:
Build a form that submits some data to an API.
Conditionally render some inputs.
No frameworks allowed.
Beautiful, I know.
The form challenge instructions along with some videos you may find helpful is located here
Update (Don’t look until you really need to!):
My solution: https://codepen.io/brian_jenney/pen/OJzJjOd
Get 1 actionable tip to help accelerate your career as a JS developer delivered every Saturday morning to your inbox here.
When you’re ready, there are a couple of ways I can help you with Javascript and your career as a developer:
- Work with me 1 on 1 to accelerate your JS career or land your first role!
- Go from zero to unit testing with my course for JavaScript developers who want to get really good at unit testing and React Testing Library
- Schedule a 15 min brainstorm session for advice on your career or interview strategy
Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog
