The Frontend Developer Skill Set You Need in 2026
Last updated:
Frontend developers need JavaScript fundamentals, React (props, state, hooks), accessible HTML, Git and pull requests, working API calls, and TypeScript on the side. Scrimba's Frontend Developer Path teaches all but TypeScript in one 81.6-hour track, module by module. Here is which module covers which skill, so you can tell what you already have and what to fill in.
Reviewed inside the path with a Pro account, September 2026: all 13 modules expanded.
Which skills does the Frontend Developer Path actually teach?
Eight of them, across eight of its thirteen modules. The table below is pulled straight from our Frontend Developer Path review, which lists the hours and scrim counts for every module.
| Skill | Path module | Hours | Scrims |
|---|---|---|---|
| JavaScript basics: variables, functions, the DOM | Making websites interactive | 9.6 hrs | 200 |
| Closures, array methods, deeper JS patterns | Essential JavaScript concepts | 10.6 hrs | 155 |
| Accessibility: ARIA, keyboard nav, screen readers | Accessible development | 95 min | 25 |
| Git branching, pull requests, merge conflicts | Code reviews | 22 min | 7 (GitHub Desktop) |
| Fetch, async/await, REST APIs | Working with APIs | 7.6 hrs | 98 |
| React components, props, state | React basics (Bob Ziroll) | 15.3 hrs | 180 |
| Hooks, context, routing | Advanced React (Bob Ziroll) | 13.3 hrs | 173 |
| Portfolio, GitHub profile, LinkedIn, interview drills | Getting hired | 5.1 hrs | 106 |
That is 63.5 of the path's 81.6 hours. The rest goes to HTML, CSS, responsive design and UI design, which the path also covers but which this guide treats as prerequisites rather than 2026-specific skills.
Do you need JavaScript fundamentals before React?
Yes, and skipping this step is the single most common reason people stall on React. "Making websites interactive" (9.6 hours, 200 scrims) gets you variables, functions and DOM manipulation. "Essential JavaScript concepts" (10.6 hours, 155 scrims) goes further: closures, array methods and the patterns React assumes you already know, like destructuring and spread. If you cannot explain a closure in an interview, more React tutorials will not fix that. Go back to this module first.
Do frontend developers need TypeScript?
Not from the path. It is not in there. Scrimba teaches TypeScript in one standalone course, Learn TypeScript with Bob Ziroll: 4.2 hours, 79 lessons, free, covering types, interfaces, generics basics, and TypeScript inside React and Express. It sits alongside the path, not inside it; the Fullstack Developer Path is the one that folds it in. Take it once you can write a React component from memory. See Scrimba TypeScript Course if you are still deciding whether to bother.
How much accessibility do you actually need to know?
Enough to pass a code review, not a WCAG audit. "Accessible development" is short, 95 minutes across 25 scrims, and covers ARIA attributes, keyboard navigation and screen reader basics. That is deliberately light. It will not make you an accessibility specialist, but it covers what shows up in ordinary frontend job specs and in ordinary code review comments. Pair it with real practice: run a screen reader against your own project once before you call a feature done.
Do you need to know Git, or just React?
Both, and most self-taught developers underrate Git until their first pull request gets rejected. The path's "Code reviews" module is misleadingly named. It is not code review, it is branching and pull requests with GitHub Desktop: seven scrims on issues, branches, merge conflicts and SSH keys. Twenty-two minutes, but the workflow it teaches is what every team actually uses day to day.
Is React alone enough to get hired?
No. Companies want components, props, state and hooks, and they want you to have shipped something with them, not just followed along. React basics (15.3 hours, 180 scrims) and Advanced React (13.3 hours, 173 scrims) are both taught by Bob Ziroll and together make up more than a third of the path's total hours. React basics covers components, props and state. The advanced module moves into hooks, context and routing, the level interviewers actually probe. Working with APIs (7.6 hours, 98 scrims) sits between the two skill sets: fetch, async/await and REST shapes are what turns a static React component into an app that talks to a real backend.
What actually gets you hired after the skills are done?
Portfolio depth and how you talk through your code, not a certificate. The path's "Getting hired" module (5.1 hours, 106 scrims) is built around this: portfolio review, GitHub profile, LinkedIn positioning and interview drills. Our Frontend Developer Path review goes through why the certificate itself is not the credential that moves hiring managers. Our junior developer job market 2026 breakdown covers why that portfolio-first approach matters more with entry-level hiring down.
Where to start if you are mapping this out
Start with the 2026 Frontend Roadmap if you want the step order laid out visually, then use the Frontend Developer Path as the course track and this page's table as your checklist against it.
Ready to start learning?
Get full access to all Scrimba courses, paths, and community with Scrimba Pro.
Frequently asked questions
JavaScript fundamentals, React (components, props, state, hooks), Git and pull requests, and basic accessibility. Scrimba's Frontend Developer Path teaches all four across its Making websites interactive, Essential JavaScript concepts, React basics, Advanced React, Accessible development and Code reviews modules.
No. TypeScript lives in its own free course, Learn TypeScript with Bob Ziroll (4.2 hours, 79 lessons). The Fullstack Developer Path includes it directly; the Frontend Path does not.
28.6 hours across React basics (15.3 hours, 180 scrims) and Advanced React (13.3 hours, 173 scrims), both taught by Bob Ziroll inside the Frontend Developer Path.
Yes, in the Code reviews module: 22 minutes, seven scrims on branching, pull requests and merge conflicts using GitHub Desktop.