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Effective Ideas of Web Development.

Quinn Maria

Wed, 18 Sep 2024

Title: Effective Ideas of Web Development.

If you own a business, you need a website. This is your online shop window to sell your products or services to your target audience. We use the net to communicate with people across the globe, find information, do research on products and services, make purchases, and a million other things. Today’s world is driven by technology, Business owners and digital marketers must also strive to gain a deeper understanding of web development.

Web development is the process used to build, create, and maintain a website. It applies to anything from a simple plain-text webpage to a complex web or social network application. It is the creation and maintenance of things we use on the internet. It involves a combination of programming, design, and various technologies to bring content and functionality to the World Wide Web.

Web development is the structure behind building and developing a fantastic and responsive website for your business.

It can start from a single static page to a comprehensive list of applications and social network services. Hence web development can include engineering, design, content development, client liaison, scripting, security and e-commerce development. Which still doesn’t cover everything.

Key Components of Web Development:

Front-end Development: Front-end development primarily focuses on user experience. It tackles the overall look and feel of a website. It involves everything you see on a website from buttons to images, icons, animations, search bar, colour scheme, and more.

  • HTML – The backbone of web development, used for structuring content on the web. It structures the page layouts of a website. An HTML document is divided into two parts: head and body.

v  Head: the <head> element contains the information about the document, such as page title, metadata, etc.

v  Body: the <body> contains all the information seen in a webpage, including headings, paragraphs, images, hyperlinks, tables, lists, and more,

  • JavaScript – A versatile scripting language that enables dynamic and interactive content on the client side. It improves the user experience of the website. This scripting language adds interactive elements to the webpage, including:

v display a dropdown list of options when the mouse hovers on the products or services button

v show or hide more information with the click of a button

v play audio, video, and animations on a web page

v slide through a carousel of images on the homepage

  • CSS – it defines the presentation and formatting of web pages. This language touches important web elements, such as:

v  fonts

v  colors

v  border

v  layouts

v  spacing’s

v  alignments

v  background

Back-end Development: Back-end Development refers to the server-side development. It focuses on databases, scripting, and website architecture. It contains behind-the-scene activities that occur when performing any action on a website. It can be an account login or making a purchase from an online store. 

Below are the common back-end coding languages:

  • JavaScript – this scripting language works for front- and back-end development. Its features for back-end web development, include the following:
    • lightweight scripting
    • dynamic typing
    • object-oriented programming 
  • Python – is a straightforward programming language; it comes with a library of pre-written code, reducing the need to write code from scratch. Here’s why Python is popular among businesses:
    • small learning curve
    • better code readability
    • compatibility with other languages
  • PHP – short for Hypertext Preprocessor, this scripting language goes through an interpreter to create machine-readable code. It’s best used for adding functionality to websites.
    • built-in functions
    • user-defined functions
  • Ruby – is another programming language that supports front-end and back-end development. Developing back-end on Ruby offers the following advantages:
    • high-speed development
    • simple coding process
    • easy-to-understand syntax

Full Stack Development

This refers to both the front-end and back-end aspects of web development. It involves all the steps in creating an application, software, or a website. Full stack developers can handle the different functionalities involved in developing a website, enabling them to optimize the performance of any site.

Since this website development is comprehensive, full-stack developers must keep abreast of emerging technologies. Below are skills needed for full-stack development:

v  basic programming skills to design a website (i.e., HTML, CSS, JavaScript)

v  coding for functionality across multiple languages and platforms

v  working knowledge of back-end technologies

v  managing database storage and servers

What Are the Basics of Web Development?

While most people think that it’s all about coding, it is so much more than that. Web development includes scripting, server configuration, network security, management system development, e-commerce development, and everything else needed to create a website. 

Before we delve deeper, let’s get familiar with the terms you’ll commonly encounter as you learn about web development.

Website

This is a file stored on a server connected to the internet network. This page you’re reading now is a website. Instead of having the file stored in one computer, it is stored on a server to make it accessible to the public.

 

Browser

Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera – you probably used one of these browsers to get to this page. Basically, browsers are computer programs that let you display and navigate through different web pages.

 

Client

This is the end user device. In your case, it is your computer or the gadget you are using to read this page now. The client-side refers to everything the user sees and interacts with, including images, texts, and actions.

 

Server

The server provides all the data, resources, services, and programs other computers or devices use. If the client can merely send requests, the server can receive, respond to, and send requests.

 

Protocol

A protocol is a set of rules or a standard for connecting, communicating, and transferring data among electronic devices. You might already be familiar with some of the common ones, like Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

 

HTTP

This protocol was designed to facilitate communication between browsers and servers. You can think of it as a translator or liaison that enables a client and a server to speak the same language. It connects your website request to the server, allowing you to browse through site pages and websites.

 

FTP

This is a standard network protocol used for transferring files between clients and servers. In web development, changes in a website are typically done using FTP. It allows the transfer of a large number of files from a website to a server.

 

IP Address

Every device we use to connect to the internet or every website we visit has a unique string of numbers that distinguishes it from other devices and sites. This string is an IP address.

 

Programming language

Software is written by one or more coding languages. Each language has its specific vocabulary and grammatical rules that include special commands read and followed by application programs and devices. Java, C++, Python, and SQL are among the commonly used programming languages in web development.

Content management system (CMS)

A CMS is used to create and manage web content in any type of website. It makes website production easier by providing the building blocks needed to create structure in the code. 

Cybersecurity

Any web developer knows how important cybersecurity is when building a site or an application. This is essentially the practice of securing data, computers, and networks from vulnerabilities and threats.

In summary, web development is a multidisciplinary field that requires expertise in various technologies and a holistic understanding of how different components interact to create functional and visually appealing websites and web applications.

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