So here I am—starting over again as a front-end developer in 2025. I never thought I’d be back at square one, staring at the sea of frameworks, libraries, tools, and “must-know” technologies wondering: Where do I even begin again?
If you’ve taken a break from front-end, or you’re pivoting from another role, the landscape today can feel a bit overwhelming. React is still dominant, but now there’s Svelte, SolidJS, Qwik, and of course, the never-ending ecosystem updates around tools like Vite, Next.js, Tailwind, Astro... and don’t even get me started on TypeScript or the endless plugin configs.
Choosing what to focus on is one of the hardest parts.
Do I chase the most “hyped” tech? Or stick with something stable and proven? This time, I chose something different—I decided to stop trying to learn everything. I gave myself permission to pick a stack and go deep rather than wide.
For me, that’s meant:
- React + Tailwind for front-end UI (easy to prototype, feels familiar, and still in high demand)
- TypeScript to stay sharp and reduce bugs
- Focusing on real-world projects rather than tutorial purgatory
- Retaking tools that are actually on demand like Google Analytics
I’ve been re-learning the essentials with a much healthier mindset: not to be perfect, not to impress, but to build things that work and iterate as I go. I use fewer tools, but I understand them better. And that’s been a game-changer.
It’s okay to start over.
It’s okay to feel lost at first.
What matters is starting anyway—and trusting that the rest will follow as you build.
If you’re also in the middle of a tech reboot, I’d love to hear how you’re approaching it. What stack are you settling into this year?