What web development trends and technologies should you include in your portfolio?

I am convinced that one of the benefits of Modular Organization (Manovich) is the versatility that allows us to design a site or web application with a solid structure. I mean, it implies not only the reorganization of resources within an application, but also the recursiveness of reusing coded structures to accelerate the development of the elements. However, in order to improve loading times, it is extremely beneficial to purge resources that will not be used.

In your portfolio, include trends and technologies such as responsive design with modern CSS frameworks, front-end JavaScript libraries like React or Vue, and API integrations showcasing dynamic data usage. Demonstrate competence in progressive web apps (PWAs) for a native-like experience, and feature projects with serverless architectures or using cloud services. Highlight your ability to implement accessibility best practices and any experience with modern development tools and version control systems like Git. Show your engagement with current best practices like mobile-first design and performance optimization to underline your up-to-date skill set.

JavaScript frameworks have revolutionized web development, empowering developers with pre-built solutions, components, and features to enhance productivity and efficiency. React, Angular, Vue, and Svelte are popular choices, offering distinct advantages. Embracing these frameworks elevates your projects with top-notch performance, scalability, and alignment with best practices, showcasing your expertise in cutting-edge web development.

With great power comes great responsibilities. Every library has it's own power, and one should be aware enough to use them. You can make yourself aware of them by picking one library learn more about the feature, and how you can utilise the same in your project. For example, NextJS is a React Library which has power like SSR, and React doesn't come up with SSR inbuilt. Like this, you know what library has what, and how you can use it, to achieve your desired results.

Incorporate projects in your portfolio that utilize popular JavaScript frameworks and libraries such as React, Angular, or Vue.js to demonstrate your fluency with dynamic, client-side web applications. Showcase your versatility with server-side JavaScript (Node.js) for full-stack capabilities. Include examples of Single Page Applications (SPAs), AJAX for asynchronous web apps, and if applicable, modern static site generators. Highlight your experience with JavaScript build tools and transpilers like Webpack and Babel, and show your commitment to modern practices with examples of TypeScript implementation for improved code reliability and maintainability.

Feature projects in your portfolio that use CSS preprocessors like Sass or LESS to exhibit your advanced styling capabilities and efficient coding techniques. Demonstrate how you leverage their features for variables, nesting, mixins, and functions to create maintainable and scalable stylesheets. Show responsive layouts with modern CSS frameworks and grid systems, and include examples of CSS animations or transitions for interactive UIs. Highlight your use of autoprefixers for cross-browser compatibility and any experience with CSS-in-JS if relevant, to display your modern approach to styling in web development.

In your portfolio, emphasize your expertise in web accessibility by showcasing projects compliant with WCAG and ARIA standards. Demonstrate your skill in creating semantic HTML, ensuring keyboard navigation, and implementing accessible forms and controls. Highlight any experience with screen readers and other assistive technologies, as well as your ability to conduct accessibility audits using tools like axe or Lighthouse. Feature your understanding of accessible color schemes and typography, and detail how you design with inclusivity in mind, ensuring that your web applications are usable by people with a wide range of abilities.

In your portfolio, showcase your proficiency with static site generators like Hugo, Jekyll, or Gatsby to highlight your modern web development skills. Display projects that capitalize on the performance and security benefits of static sites, and mention how you integrate them with headless CMSs for dynamic content management. Demonstrate your ability to deploy sites to CDNs and the use of Jamstack architecture for building fast and scalable projects. Include examples of how you use modern frontend frameworks alongside these generators to create rich, interactive user experiences that are both efficient and SEO-friendly.

Progressive web apps (PWAs) combine web and native app features, offering offline access, push notifications, fast loading, and device compatibility. With advantages like cost-effectiveness, higher user retention, and superior performance, PWAs are gaining popularity. To showcase PWA skills, use tools like Workbox, PWA Builder, or Lighthouse, adhering to the PWA Checklist criteria for development and testing.

With PWAs, you also target the mobile application relying audience, who want to access everything and anything via an app. PWA gives exactly the same power, if used properly you can achieve a lot of great things, not exactly like Native Mobile Apps, but close to it. For example using features like Caching in your PWAs is one of the best things you can do in the project.

Performance optimizations, where you load data. It's important for the page to load fast. Most users will leave the site if there is slight delay. You can showcase your skill by measuring your work using tools like page speed.

All previous valuable things considered, I would suggest adding some basic security elements, such as validation in forms, authentication, ...