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Roadmap for Web Development

What is Web Development?

Web development is the process of building websites and applications for the internet or for a private network known as an intranet. It's not concerned with the design of a website; rather, it's all about the coding and programming that powers the website's functionality. From simple, static web pages to social media platforms and apps, from eCommerce websites to content management systems (CMS), all the tools we use via the internet on a daily basis have been built by web developers.

Web development can be broken down into layers: client-side coding (frontend) and server-side coding (backend).

Front-end Developer

Front-end web development, also known as client-side development, is the practice of producing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for a website or web application so that a user can see and interact with them directly. The challenge associated with front-end development is that the tools and techniques used to create the front end of a website change constantly, so the developer needs to constantly be aware of how the field is developing.

The objective of designing a site is to ensure that when users open up the site, they see the information in a format that is easy to read and relevant. This is further complicated by the fact that users now use a large variety of devices with varying screen sizes and resolutions, thus forcing the designer to take into consideration these aspects when designing the site. The developer must ensure that the site is responsive, i.e., it appears correctly on devices of all sizes; no part of the website should behave abnormally irrespective of the size of the screen.

What Skills do Front-end Web Developers Use?

Front-end web developers use three primary coding languages to code the website and web app designs created by web designers: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

  1. HTML: HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is used to design the front end portion of web pages using markup language.

  2. CSS: Cascading Style Sheets, fondly referred to as CSS, is a language intended to simplify the process of making web pages presentable.

  3. JavaScript: JavaScript is a scripting language used to create interactive elements on websites.

  4. Bootstrap: Bootstrap is a potent front-end framework used to create modern websites and web apps. It's open-source and free to use, yet features numerous HTML and CSS templates for UI interface elements such as buttons and forms. Bootstrap also supports JavaScript extensions.

Front-end Frameworks and Libraries

  1. AngularJS: AngularJS is a JavaScript open-source front-end framework mainly used to develop single-page web applications (SPAs).

  2. React.js: React.js is a declarative, efficient, and flexible JavaScript library for building user interfaces, maintained by Facebook.

  3. jQuery: jQuery is an open-source JavaScript library that simplifies interactions between an HTML/CSS document and JavaScript.

  4. SASS: SASS is a CSS extension language used to extend the functionality of existing CSS.

Tools Used for Front-end Development

There are several tools and platforms, such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, available that can be used to develop the front end of a website.

Back-end Developer

Back-end development refers to server-side development, the behind-the-scenes activities that happen when performing any action on a website. Backend developers focus on databases, scripting, and the architecture of websites.

Back-end Languages

  1. PHP: PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development.

  2. MySQL: MySQL is an open-source database management system widely used in web development.

  3. C++: C++ is a general-purpose programming language also used as a backend language.

  4. Java: Java is a popular programming language and platform, highly scalable.

  5. Python: Python is a programming language known for its quick development and system integration capabilities.

  6. JavaScript: JavaScript can be used as both front-end and back-end programming languages.

  7. Node.js: Node.js is an open-source runtime environment for executing JavaScript code outside of a browser, often used for building back-end services like APIs.

Back-end Frameworks

Frameworks like Express, Django, Rails, Laravel, and Spring are commonly used for back-end development.

API (REST & SOAP)

An API is an application programming interface created by developers to allow others to use some of the application's functionality without sharing code.

Roles and Responsibilities of Back-end Developer

  • Understand the goals of the website and come up with effective solutions.
  • Store and display data securely.
  • Manage APIs resources that work across devices.
  • Organize the logic of the system and solve system-related problems.

Frontend vs Backend

Frontend and backend development are two aspects of the same situation. The frontend is what users see and interact with, while the backend is how everything works.