“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four sharpening the axe.”— Abraham Lincoln (probably)

This quote is often thrown around to emphasize planning and preparation. But today, let’s take it a step further. In the world of frontend development, “sharpening the axe” means investing in habits, tools, and practices that make your craft sharper, cleaner, and future-proof.

Whether you’re a newbie just setting foot in the industry or a seasoned engineer who knows their way around a codebase, your toolkit matters. And keeping it sharp is what separates good developers from great ones.

Here are the essentials I swear by:

🪓 Use TypeScript (Properly)

You probably know the “why” already: type safety, better tooling, fewer runtime errors. But here’s a twist—using any is not a life raft. It’s a hole in your boat.

TypeScript shines when you fully embrace its type system. Treat it like your coding partner. If something feels clunky, that’s often a sign to refine your types and architecture.

🪓 Linting Is Non-Negotiable

A consistent codebase isn’t just aesthetically pleasing; it saves time, reduces errors, and creates harmony in teams.

Tools like ESLint and Prettier don’t just enforce style—they act as an automated reviewer that keeps your future self and teammates from drowning in “fix-this” PR comments.

🪓 Expect the Unexpected

Errors will happen. That’s part of the game. Writing code for the “happy path” is easy; writing for the unexpected takes skill.

Unit tests (and even lightweight integration tests) are your insurance policy. They keep your code reliable as your project scales and evolves. A small testing investment today can save hours of debugging tomorrow.

🪓 Automate Your Forgetfulness

I forget my keys sometimes. Maybe you forget to run type checks before committing.

Let tools like Husky and lint-staged do the heavy lifting. Automate type checks, linting, and tests before every commit. This ensures broken code never sneaks into production—and your future self will thank you for that peace of mind.

Sharpen Your Edge

Your value as a frontend developer isn’t just in the features you ship. It’s also in the quality of your craft. By sharpening your tools—TypeScript, linting, testing, and automation—you build with confidence, speed, and consistency.

So, to all the frontend woodcutters out there: What’s your go-to sharpening tool?