Introduction

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 in 2020 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 route, 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 focussing 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 in? Or will you rely on your favorite framework/library and do all the projects in 2020 with it? Feel free to leave a comment and don't forget to follow me for more upcoming posts!