Web Development is basically developing websites. And I’m pretty sure most of your think you need a 4-year long bachelor’s degree to even begin to learn web development. How to learn web development is a question all aspiring web developers have at the beginning of their careers. Well don’t worry if you just follow this article towards the end you’ll know all your need to know about, “How to learn Web Development?” and that too without paying hefty college fees and going through several rounds of entrance exams. Firstly, let’s see what Web Development is and What a web developer does?
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What is Web Development?
Web Development is just as the name suggests the process of developing and maintaining websites and sometimes applications. And to learn it all your need to do is learn the language of the Computer. Web development largely involves giving commands to the computer. Everything you experience while you’re on a website is created and commanded by the web developer.
However, there are different functions when it comes to web development that you can specialize in or you can just learn the whole and soul of it. Regardless I’m going to let your know about them.
Frontend Development: Frontend development as the name suggests everything that the user comes directly in contact with. This involves the layout, buttons, menus, et cetera.
Backend Development: Backend refers to the stuff you don’t see. This is what happens in the “back-office” of the website every time you give a command or select something on the website. It is the functional development of the website. It involves the databases where the information is stored.
Full-stack Development: Well this just means everything. The frontend, backend, and all that goes with it.
How to learn Web Development?
In this section, we are going to discuss everything from the basics that you need to learn to start your journey in web development. In the end, you will be able to practice on a few Web Development Projects for beginners.
1. HTML, CSS and JavaScript
The entire operation of web development begins with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. To learn the basics of Web development these are the first languages you need to learn. Believe it or not, my computers application tried to teach us HTML in the 6th Grade. However back then I had no idea why we were doing that, now I do.
HTML
HTML is HyperText Markup Language. It helps create a skeleton for the website. However, The language works with HTML Tags. You give HTML tags to words and sentences to make them appear the way you want them to. For example coding the heading, sub-headings, body, et cetera of the website.
JavaScript
JavaScript is all about functions. Without JavaScript, the website will just be static. Everything from the function, interaction, commands, et cetera is done via Javascript. JavaScript is the most basic programing language once you learn the basics of it, you can go into detail and become an expert in it.
CSS
CSS refers to Cascading Style Sheet. Yeah, I know doesn’t really explain it. That’s fine. All you need to know is that CSS is what makes the website look like it does and is important for an effective web development process. Now the thing is the website would totally function with just HTML and JavaScript but would look absolutely bland and boring. CSS is what determines styles, colors, and the look of the website.
Once you are done with these you are good to go. You can enhance your expertise in these and grow your knowledge. Keep in mind that web development is a process of constant learning. However, these are the basics and create a ground to begin web development. Now let’s move on to the next step after learning the basic languages. You can also learn these from several free courses available on the internet. Read this blog I wrote about the best Web Development courses for beginners.
2. Learning PHP
PHP (Hypertext PreProcessor) is a server-side scripting language that helps give commands to the server from the frontend to the backend. Consequently, it is integrated with a number of databases like MySQL. However, in laymen’s terms you can say through PHP you give commands to the server to process data. All of this is happening on the backend while you ask the website to do something. PHP is a language through which you give a set of instructions to the server to execute and function or pull data from the database.
3. MySQL
Now that you have learned about the languages, let me tell you about Databases. MySQL is one of the most commonly used databases in the IT Industry. In web development, there is a huge amount of data that is processed on the website. And therefore, all that data needs a secure place to be stored, which is the database. With the help of PHP, you can easily connect with MySQL Database. You can see it this way, MySQL is where the data is stored, and with the help of PHP, you get to access that data.
4. Frameworks
Frameworks are basically a predefined set of code that you can customize as per your requirements. In web development, some of the functionalities and the coding is common in all websites, and doing it over and over again every time a new website was built seemed unnecessary. That’s when frameworks came into the picture. There are different frameworks that are built using different languages which you can use while developing a website based on what suits your website the best. Frameworks are again divided in Here are a few examples of the most common frameworks.
- MEAN Stack is a full-stack framework built using JavaScript. MEAN Stack includes MongoDB which is the database, Express.js which is the back-end framework, Angular.js which is a front-end framework, and Node.js for executing the javascript code outside of a browser.
- Django is a full-stack framework that is built using the programming language Python. Now, this is preferred when you have a good knowledge of Python.
- Laravel is a PHP-based full-stack framework that is commonly used for backend development. Although it can be used fir both frontend and backend people usually prefer to override it with react.js or any other frontend framework with better visuals in comparison to Laravel.
5. Libraries
Libraries are a pre-defined set of codes that are used in programming to fulfill a particular task. Some functions in websites are pretty similar and writing a new code every time is well tiring. And that is why there are libraries that help you enable huge functions with much lesser work.
6. API
API refers to the Application Programming Interface. This is important when you want to share specific sets of information from the database with a third party but do not want to give them access to the entire database. Just like how an airline company would share come of their database with a travel agent only enough to let them be able to book tickets without giving them access to complete database. This access is given through API keys.
7. WordPress for Web Development
As a web developer, it is imperative that you learn everything you can about WordPress. WordPress is a free, open-source content management system where more than 20% of the website are built. Learning all your can about WordPress will come in handy every step of your web development career. Once you have built the website on WordPress, you can easily explain to the client to add or change the content even if they don’t know much about web development.
8. Understanding UI and UX
UI and UX refer to User Interface and User Experience. Although this is a part of Web Design, it is a must for all web developers to at least know the basics. The user interface is what builds the user experience. Therefore, the user interface refers to the positioning and the way a website will look to the user. The graphics, layouts, and designs on the website create a good user experience. Building a good-looking website is absolutely essential in web development because that is what would get the user to stay for longer. For instance, Would you want to stay on a boring and complicated-looking website? I don’t think so. Well, that is why it is so important to learn at least the basics of UI and UX.
9. Responsive Web Development with BootStrap
Bootstrap is a front-end framework that works with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to build a responsive website. Hmm, what is a responsive website? A responsive website is one that adapts to the device it is being accessed on. With the help of Bootstrap, you can create a responsive website that is compatible with all devices and browsers.
10. Basics of SEO
In web development, it is always a good idea to learn the basics of SEO. Well, SEO refers to search engine optimization. This helps you code your website in such a way the search engines find it relevant and easy to crawl, which in turn would result in increasing its ranking. This includes a few tips like eliminating broken links, make sure there are no HTML and CSS errors, and enhance the mobile responsiveness and page speed of the website.
Phew, that was some really informative stuff huh? I know. But I’m pretty sure this gives you a pretty good idea of web development and everything that goes with it. However, there are several online courses that you can refer to learn everything we just spoke about today. And once you are done with the basics you can practice your skills on these amazing web development project ideas for beginners.
