Road bike front wheel question
The front wheel itself (for rim brakes) should be symmetric and can be installed both ways, unless you can find direction marks printed directly on its rim. The tires, however, can have recommended direction printed on them, which you should follow.

For fully slick tires both directions are equivalent. For tires with tiny tread it is not as important as it may seem, but you should still follow the rotation arrow printed on them in order to not look like a novice. For tires with aggressive tread the direction is important and, interestingly enough, the same tire often should be installed differently depending on whether it is on front or back wheel (then there are two marked rotation arrows on it).