Introduction To Web Development

When most of us talk about using the "internet", we're typically talking about a very specific part of the internet: the World Wide Web (WWW, or simply "web").

The web is a massive network of webpages and media, connected to each other through links, and accessible via URLs.

We call it a web because of its vast interconnectedness. Starting from one URL, like wikipedia.org, we can follow links to eventually reach millions of webpages from across the globe.

There are more than 2 billion websites on the internet today. Every website is written in HTML, and our personal computers can view those websites thanks to HTTP.

What is a Website?

A website (also written as web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Notable examples are wikipedia.org, google.com, and amazon.com.

All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World Wide Web. There are also private websites that can only be accessed on a private network, such as a company's internal website for its employees.

Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, education, commerce, entertainment, or social networking. Hyperlinking between web pages guides the navigation of the site, which often starts with a home page.

Users can access websites on a range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The software application used on these devices is called a web browser.

You can read more about the purposes of websites in this article

Static website

Main article: Static web page

A static website is one that has web pages stored on the server in the format that is sent to a client web browser. It is primarily coded in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML); Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used to control appearance beyond basic HTML.

Dynamic website

Main article: Dynamic Website

A dynamic website is one that changes or customizes itself frequently and automatically.

Dynamic websites contain Web pages that are generated in real-time. These pages include Web scripting code, such as JavaScript, Python, PHP, or ASP. When a dynamic page is accessed, the code within the page is parsed on the Web server and the resulting HTML is sent to the client's Web browser.

Dynamic pages, access information from a database. Therefore, to alter the content of a dynamic page, the webmaster may only need to update a database record. This is especially helpful for large sites that contain hundreds or thousands of pages. It also makes it possible for multiple users to update the content of a website without editing the layout of the pages.

What Do Web Developers Do?

Main article: What do webdevelopers do?

In short, web developers build and maintain websites.

Web developers often work for clients who are trying to get their product or service onto the web. The work is typically very project focused and involves collaborating with a team that helps to coordinate the client’s needs into the end product. The client could be a tech company, an organization, or a government. The work could involve front-end, back-end, or full-stack web development.

Web development could be a good profession for you if you like solving logical problems, building useful things, and experimenting with new technologies. Web developers are in high demand, generally have a good work/life balance, and command comfortable salaries. Google your specific location to get a better sense of your local web development job opportunities.

Types Of Web Developers

Main article: Types of web developers

Earlier, we mentioned that web development work could be in the front end, the back end, or the full stack. What exactly do these terms mean?

The front end is the stuff you see on the website in your browser, including the presentation of content and user interface elements like the navigation bar. Front-end developers use HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and their relevant frameworks to ensure that content is presented effectively and that users have an excellent experience.

The back end refers to the guts of the application, which live on the server. The back end stores and serves program data to ensure that the front end has what it needs. This process can become very complicated when a website has millions of users. Back-end developers use programming languages like Java, Python, and Ruby to work with data.

Full-stack developers are comfortable working with both the front and back ends.

For more detail, Udacity has a great blog post on this topic: 3 Web Dev Careers Decoded: Front-End vs Back-End vs Full Stack

Steps Of Making A Web App

Motivation

Learning to code is incredibly rewarding but can also be difficult and frustrating. The strongest assets you can have as a student are a desire to build, a problem-solving mind, and persistence in the face of setbacks.

The web development industry has a long history of successful developers with varying backgrounds, so people tend to care more about what you’ve actually built than how you got there.