The most helpful online tool every developer/software engineer must know.

Software development/software engineering is an endeavor imbued with endless learning for self-improvement if one wants to be updated with the fast-evolving technology industry. Irrespective of your level of expertise as a developer/software engineer, there will always be a need to look up certain concepts or techniques of web development, and juggling from one tool to the other can be overwhelming and make one lose focus at times, especially as a beginner.

Although, as a software engineer, understanding the art of googling is considered one of the most important qualities of a good software engineer because, you constantly find yourself searching for ideas or concepts on google. While Google has been an indispensable tool in the life of software developer/engineer, there are other important online tools that google rely on to profer solution for the problem you are searching for. One of the most helpful tools I have found as a developer/software engineer is the MDN Web Docs, previously Mozilla Developer Network.

The MDN Web Docs is an extraordinary online developer tool with learning resources and a documentation repository that provides developers with information on open web technology for website and web app development. It was established in 2005 by Mozilla and maintained by a community of developers and technical writers, it also contains content contributed by Google, Samsung, and Microsoft. MDN Web Docs host topics that cut across HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Django, Web APIs, Node.js, and MathML among others. These topics are documented and structured in a format that is suitable for beginners, intermediate, and professional developers/software engineers who need to either learn or look up certain techniques or seek ideas on how to go about the usage of a particular syntax in a project.

Starting as a beginner developer, I spent most of my learning time with MDN Web Docs, learning and practicing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with relevant code examples provided on the developer tool console. The content contributors had chosen a simpler approach to explain every concept without any ambiguity, the code snippet examples are better illustrations of the concept explained, and most importantly, the relevant practice exercises after each topic if attempted, provide the users with various ways to approach a problem. The MDN tutorial content layout is well formatted and interlinked with clickable links such that a user will have no challenges to navigate from a topic to other related topics that would give the best possible explanation the users need. At the end of every topic, there are clickable key resources and references to other web tools such as W3C, Firefox Developer tools, and Editor tools among others that could be of help to the users for further study.

It is worth mentioning that MDN Web Docs also provides a cookbook dedicated to each topic with fully worked examples and explanations of common tasks and solutions. Another interesting part of MDN Web Docs is that users have the liberty to choose their preferred language, select preferred theme, and as well choose to participate in the MDN Web Docs community of technical writers and content contributors all for free, although one can choose to subscribe for the premium MDN Web Doc (MDN Plus). The quality of the content of this web tool is more robust and verse than any university or Bootcamp curriculum, this makes it obvious that it is an indispensable reference tool for universities and boot camps. I have found MDN Web Docs as the most organized tool that anyone who is looking to become grounded in any of the web development tracks can quickly start with, and get the best foundational lessons which are organized module by module without getting stuck in tutorial hell or become overwhelmed with an overflow of information.

You can access MDN Web Docs on any device, its interface is user-friendly and responsive on any device. You can easily access it through this link MDN Web Docs to begin your adventure of endless possibilities. If you find this article beneficial, consider leaving a comment, and also sharing to benefit others.