5 Web Development Tools I Most Want to Learn in 2021

Brian Francis
3 min readApr 14, 2021

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Let’s talk about some exciting technologies that I think can change the way we write code as a web-developer.

One of the things that we as web developers have to be very good at that doesn’t get enough credit is the ability to learn new things. We work in a space where things can change so fast. That’s why in my opinion, it is important for us to constantly expand our horizons and learn new things. I’m gonna talk about 5 things that I plan on learning in 2021.

This article will be different from most of the articles that I write because I don’t know how to use these tools effectively, so I won’t be able to demonstrate or deeply explain how they work.

Tailwind CSS

Tailwind CSS to use their words is what is described as a “utility first CSS framework.” Essentially what this means in easy-to-understand terms is you are provided with a bunch of classes (tools) that can make for some truly impressive UI when combined in a certain way. I’m especially excited to learn this one because I plan on leveraging it to style my portfolio website. Below is a link to their website.

Svelte

Svelte is another frontend framework (similar to React, Angular, or Vue). What is so compelling about Svelte to me is that there is such a minimal amount of boilerplate. The syntax is also very clean, and there are many little shorthand techniques to use in the code. I would love to build a couple of fully-fledged apps with it this year to see what it’s like to work with. Below is a link to their website.

Docker

Docker is something that has been on my list for a long time. I’ve just never spent the time to learn it. Essentially what Docker is to me, is the ultimate solution to dealing with Server-Side code. It utilizes what is known as containers to make it easy to run your app at scale. Below is a link to their website.

AWS Amplify

The above topic (Docker) is an approach to Server-Side code, so I would be remiss not to bring up a serverless solution that I’m excited about. AWS Amplify is essentially what is known as a Backend-As-A-Service (BAAS). For those of you who are familiar with Firebase, I think this is very comparable to that. One of the things that I’m most excited about with learning this is that you can interface with AWS Amplify using GraphQL (which I’m a huge fan of). Below is a link to the documentation for AWS Amplify.

Strapi

I’m particularly excited about learning Strapi. Strapi is what is known as a CMS (Content Management System). I’m so excited about learning this because I plan on using it on the portfolio website that I will be building to manage certain content on the site. Strapi also will allow me to use GraphQL to interface with it, which is extremely exciting. Below is a link to their website.

Wrapping Up

I’m hoping that this list of technologies gave you some exciting ideas for your next project. I know I’m excited to learn them and maybe write some articles about them. I would love to hear technologies that you are excited about and want to learn in the comments.

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