Web development is a complex set of tasks that need to be conducted in order to make a website. Nowadays, websites have become applications on their own, with complex functionalities and astonishing designs.

Front-End vs Back-End Development

The main division of the web development is to front-end development and back-end development.

Front-end development is what the users actually see. For example, the text and photos on the website arranged in a certain order are mainly the works of a front-end developer. On the other hand, back-end development is everything that happens under the surface, which includes the website’s databases, servers, content management, and security.

What Skills Must a Web Developer Have?

Every web developer must know HTML and CSS as the basis. HTML stands for a Hypertext Markup Language and it is the first thing that we define when we define the structure of the website.

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets and it is generally concerned with how the actual objects on the website will look like – they style the objects.

The next must-know thing is JavaScript. In essence, when you see all the cool transitions and animations on the website going on, it is all thanks to JS. But it goes much deeper than that and can actually help you with the basic functionality of the website.

There are other backend languages and the most important one is PHP, which is a language understood by the databases. In other words, if you plan to go and learn backend as well, you should definitely start with PHP

Both JS and PHP have their frameworks. In essence, frameworks are these languages remade to be easier to use and are more purpose-specific. For example, a JS animation will not be coded in pure JS but will use one of the frameworks called jQuery as it is specialized in creating animations.

Also, every web developer needs to understand how Git works. It is the version control where many coders can contribute and collaborate on a project. Platforms such as GitHub are popular and used for git and version control.

A web developer must have a thorough understanding of JSON APIs. It is the way websites communicate with other servers. Say you want to build a weather app and need a constant feed of information regarding the temperature at your place. By using JSON API, you will be able to automate the process with which the server and your weather website communicate and get fresh info every time you enter the site.

Conclusion

The list goes on. Some other skills essential for web development are Caching, Background Tasks, TDD and BDD, DevOps, and Product Management.

What is more important for web development right now is that it is learned when practiced. If you plan to dive deeper into web development, make sure to actively participate in projects on the web, or simply set a project of your own that you will commit to on a daily basis.