This article is designed for people especially beginners who are planning to enter into web development. It gonna explain all aspects of web development as a matter - how to start, what to use as well as the language to learn first.
As you dig deeper into this article, you will find answers to the following questions:
What is web development?
Who is a web developer?
How to become a web developer?
What are the steps to learning web development?
Different areas in web development
How to get a job as a web developer?
Web developments are divided into two major parts. Which are:
- Frontend development. - it is the process of building the user interface.
- Backend development. - it involves the development of server-side software, which focuses on everything you can't see on a website
But before we go into more details let us first know what is web development and how to become a developer.
what is a web development
According to the Wikipedia forum - Web development is the work
involved in developing a website for the Internet.
Another popular website forum popular known as
geeksforgeeks says Web development refers to the creating,
building, and maintaining of websites.
Web development is the process of structuring, designing, and programming the World Wide Web (WWE) by using different languages such as HTML, CSS,
JavaScript, PHP, Python, etc
Web development is not concerned with the design of a website; rather,
it’s all about the coding and programming that powers the website’s
functionality.
Hint: Although web development is not concerned with designing the
web, most web developers understand some fundamental aspects of web design.
Who is a web developer?
You may already know who is a web developer. In case you don't know, this is
what it means.
A web developer is a person who specializes in building, structuring,
designing, and programming the World Wide Web (WWE) by using different
languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python
How to become a web developer?
1. Start coding
The first thing you need to do is start learning how to code. Learn how to
write code by yourself.
One important reason to practice is that in the beginning, you may not know
what to choose. But after some practice with different web languages, you will
have to decide what is best for you
You should not be too nervous about how to start to write your first line of
code or think that you will mess up.
There are thousands of tutorials online both videos and writing that will help
you to get started.
You can start by testing yourself with some basic code principles. W3school is
a popular website that will help you with some fundamental steps to take.
You may check them out here - Top website to learn how to code for free. You
need to scroll down to know the language you need to learn first.
2. Choose your stack
Web development has two major categories - frontend and
backend development. So you will need to choose whether you will stick to
one or learn both.
Frontend development: As mentioned before, frontend is the process of
building the user interface.
Front-end development refers to the client side (how a web page
looks). Front-end code is used to create static websites, where the
purpose is to display the web page
Backend development: Back-end development means working on
server-side software, which focuses on everything you can't see on a website.
Back-end developers ensure the website performs correctly, focusing on
databases, back-end logic, application programming interface (APIs),
architecture, and servers.
Full stack: in website development full stack is when a person learns
both the Backend and the Frontend together. Full stack developer is capable of
working on both the user interface and the server-side logic and the
manipulation of the database.
Recommended Reading: Frontend vs. Backend - which is best for you
3. Develop your project
You don't have to become a coding guru/expert before you start to build your
project.
Once you have chosen the stack you like and you also have basic coding
knowledge about some programming language that is used in building it, the
next you need to do is to look for something to build with the knowledge you
have accumulated from the little you have learned.
You can think of something and build it. If you do not yet know what to
build, you can mimic what people have already built and try to work on it.
As the case may be, you can collaborate with people who are in the same coding
space as you and build something nice with them.
The more you work on different projects the more your hands get stronger in
the web development spaces and the more master different coding skills.
Personal projects are very important because nowadays before you get employed
by any company or person you will be asked to showcase what you have used your
coding knowledge to build. If you don't have anything to show you could lose
the job. Just try to build something by yourself or join people even if it is
only 3 to 5 projects, at least you will have something to show if the need
arises.
Experience is the best teacher
Don't forget to host your project with a Content Management System like Github, Bitbucket, or Gitlab.
4. Build your portfolio
Coding portfolios are online resumes for coding professionals that also contain examples of coding proceedings
Coding portfolios are often interactive websites that detail your previous projects (including their code), express who you are as a programmer, and provide contact information. A coding portfolio is a must-have for landing a programming job, whether you specialize in user experience (UX), full-stack development, game design, or any other field.
As you’re going through your learning, it’s vital that you also have projects to show for all of your codings.
With these projects, you can start to create your web developer portfolio—a great way of attracting attention among potential employers and future clients.
5. Hunt for a developer job
There is nothing sweeter than you to hear people call you a web developer.
It’s time to focus on an important customer journey - that of the organization that will be hiring you.
You should look for companies that are looking for developers, especially the ones you are in.
You can visit Google to search for job opportunities. Other platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, Upwork, etc are also good places to look for a developer job.
Before you proceed with a job, make sure you are familiar with the basic interview questions.
Congratulations!
steps to learning web development
Below are the steps you can take to learn either Frontend, Backend, or Full-stack development.
Steps to learn Frontend development
To become a frontend developer, start with the subjects below, in the following order.
Step one - Learn HTML: The first thing you have to learn is HTML, which is the standard markup language for creating web pages.
Step two - Learn CSS: Style your web page
The next step is to learn CSS, to set the layout of your web page with beautiful colors, fonts, and much more.
Step three - Learn JavaScript: Make your web page interactive. After studying HTML and CSS, you should learn JavaScript to create dynamic and interactive web pages for your users.
The next step is to publish your website
so that the rest of the world can see your work.
Apart from getting to know CSS and JavaScript, you are also recommended to learn about some of their framework like Bootstrap for CSS and React for JavaScript. It will help you in the future.
Steps to learn Back-end development
To become a back-end developer you need to learn a back-end programming language, like PHP or Python, and use SQL to communicate with databases.
Although there is no order of learning back-end development, I will recommend you learn the server-side and the logic part of it before you move on to learn how to handle databases.
Step one - Learn PHP, Python, or any other server-side language you prefer.
Step two - learn SQL: When you are done learning the server-side parts, use SQL to communicate with databases
Thanks for reading and hope to see you soon.