What Is A Web Development: Understanding What Is Web Development
Since its beginnings at the end of the 20th century, the internet has grown exponentially. In the modern world, a huge percentage of people use the Internet and all kinds of websites every day. Naturally, some people decide to learn to create them, therefore "What is a web developer?" is a commonly asked question.
Web development is quickly becoming one of the most attractive and best-paid career choices in the modern world. But what is a web developer and what exactly does one do?
You may have thought about learning a programming language or two and becoming a web developer. Luckily for you, we understand that aspiring web & mobile app developers will have questions about the profession, which is why we have put together this comprehensive guide, which aims to answer the above questions and more.
We will look at the types of web developers, and we will look at the web design vs web development debate. We will also cover some of the most popular programming languages for aspiring web developers, including Python, JavaScript, and HTML.
What is the Priority of a Web Developer?
To answer the question “What is a web developer?”, we must first look at what a web developer does and how they do it.
A web developer or programmer is someone who takes a web design - which has been created by either a client or a design team - and turns it into a website.
They do this by writing lines and lines of complicated code, using a variety of languages. Web developers have quite a difficult job, because they essentially have to take a language we understand, such as English, and translate it into a language that a computer understands, such as Python or HTML.
As you can imagine, this can take a lot of time and effort and requires an intricate understanding of various programming languages and how they are used. Different types of developers specialize in different areas, which means that large web projects are usually a collaboration between several different developers.
To understand what is a web developer it is crucial to know that the three main types of developers are front-end, back-end, and full-stack.
Front-end developers are responsible for the parts of a website that people see and interact with, back-end developers are responsible for the behind the scenes code that controls how a website loads and runs, and full-stack developers do a bit of everything.
Front-End Developer
A front-end developer is someone who takes a client or design team’s website design and writes the code needed to implement it on the web. A decent front-end web developer will be fluent in at least three programming languages - HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
HTML allows them to add content to a website while splitting it into headings, paragraphs, and tables. CSS lets a decent developer style the content and change things like colors, sizes, and borders. JavaScript allows the inclusion of interactive elements, such as push buttons. We will go into more detail about these languages later.
So, what do web developers do when they work on the front end of a website?
- What is a web developer responsible for is that they make sure that all of the content that is needed for the website is clear, visible, and found in the right place. In some cases front-end developers may also have content writing skills, allowing them to create the content for the website as they go.
- They make sure that the right colors are in the right places, especially concerning text colors, background colors, and headers. Some of the best front-end developers are also very good designers, allowing them to tweak things as they go.
- They make sure that all outbound links are correctly formatted, that all buttons work properly, and that the website is responsive and attractive. Mobile design is usually a big part of the job, while it is also important to make sure that a website will display correctly on all web browsers.
As you can see, the answer to the question “What is a web developer?” certainly isn’t simple. Even front-end developers have it tough, and this is probably the simplest of the three types of development to learn.
If you want to become a front-end developer, though, head to our article, which can tell you the secrets of becoming an entry-level front-end developer.
Back-End Developer
While it may seem like front-end developers have a difficult job making sure that a website looks great, works well, and contains the correct content, back-end developers have it much worse. While front-end developers are responsible for client-side programming, back-end developers have to deal with the server-side.
This means that they have to create the code and programs which power the website’s server, databases, and any applications that it contains. The most important thing as a back-end developer is the ability to be able to create a clean, efficient code that does what you want it to in the quickest way possible.
Since website speed is a major consideration when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), it is a large factor when developing the back-end.
To fully explain what is a web developer it is essential to know that back-end developers use a wide range of different server-side languages to build complicated programs.
Some of the most popular languages used include PHP, Python, Java, and Ruby. JavaScript is also becoming increasingly widespread as a back-end development language, while SQL is commonly used to manage and analyze data in website databases.
Since different websites have different needs, a back-end developer must be flexible, able to create different programs, and they absolutely must have a clear, in-depth understanding of the languages that they use.
This is very important to make sure that they can come up with the most efficient method of creating the required program while making sure that it is secure, scalable, and easy to maintain.
Full-Stack Developer
If you are looking for a quick, simple answer to the question “What is a web developer?”, then a full-stack developer is probably the closest thing that you’re going to get.
Full-stack developers understand both front and back-end strategies and processes, which means that they are perfectly positioned to oversee the entire process.
In the case of small websites that don’t have a huge development budget, a full-stack developer will often be employed to build the entire website. In this case, it is extremely important for them to have a complete, in-depth understanding of both front and back-end development and how they work.
Learning full-stack development techniques has a huge range of benefits, including:
- You will end up with the knowledge to be able to create an entire website on your own. This makes you a lot more employable, increasing your job security in the future.
- As a full-stack developer, you will understand the connections between the front and back-ends of a website, allowing you do build efficient and effective programs for all parts of the website.
- Full-stack developers are often employed to oversee large projects for big web development companies. Positions like this are likely to be paid more than standard web development positions, making them more attractive to developers. Full-stack defines what is a web developer.
Although most developers start with either front or back-end specializations, there are a lot of reasons why you should consider branching out and learning both.
It will make you a lot more employable, will give you a greater understanding of the whole concept of what is web development, and will make it easier for you to create entire websites on your own.