One thing most people don’t know is that there is more to web development since there are different types of web developers in the industry. It’s common to see developers use the terms coder, programmer, software developer, and software development engineer interchangeably.
Before we proceed, it’s important to note that a web developer and a web designer, although similar, are two different people. While web designers are mainly into organizing the visual outlook of a website using design software, web developers pay more attention to building websites from scratch to finish by writing codes that influence the functionality of a website on the world wide web using programming languages.
Note that if you’re only trying to create a website for your business, you shouldn’t have to go through the rigors of mastering web development. Check out this simple guide that shows you how to create a responsive website fast.
The Three Major Types Of Web Development
Web development is broadly categorized into front-end developers, back-end developers, and full-stack developers.
Let’s briefly explore the different types of web development one after the other.
1. Front End Web Development
Front-end web development refers to the creation of the graphical interface of a website, using CSS, HTML, and JavaScript, to enable users to view and interact with the website.
A front-end developer (AKA client-side developer) has one responsibility which is to ensure that the visitors or users of a website can easily interact with the web pages or the visuals that run in the user browser.
One way front-end development is executed is by combining design, technology, and programming languages like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to code a website’s appearance, and also take care of debugging.
Most importantly, front-end developers strive to be up to speed with cutting-edge trends in both web design and development to ensure they efficiently optimize websites not only for users but also for search engines. Of course, a front-end developer is strictly guided by design best practices.
2. Back End Web Development
Unlike front-end developers, back-end developers don’t focus on creating the user interface but are mainly interested in building and maintaining the technology needed to power the components of the website. In other words, in back-end development, back-end developers are responsible to provide codes that add utility to everything the front-end developer creates and thus enable the user-facing aspect of the website to be in place.
The three components of a website’s back end include the web applications (web apps), the web server, and the database. The code used by a back-end developer connects the website to the server and ensures that there is uninterrupted data flow to the website and that transactions are processed accurately. That’s why a back-end developer is widely regarded as AKA server-side developer — because they focus more on server-side languages or server-side code.
The following programming languages are typically used by a backend developer: Java (not JavaScript), MySQL, and PHP. They also use conventional tools like Python and Golang. Back-end web developers are known to keep up with the never-ending changes in website development by participating in networking communities that share coding tips and support for a typical back-end developer.
3. Full-stack development
This category of web development is typically charged with the functions of both a front-end and back-end developer, hence, the term “full-stack.” This, in other words, means that a full-stack web developer should be knowledgeable enough to handle everything about the web development process — ranging from the server-side to the client-side, to even the database.
A full-stack developer is proficient in writing code with many programming languages and their industry knowledge and experience tend to be wide. However, it’s worthy to note that while a full-stack developer is experienced in both front-end and back-end aspects of creating websites, they are typically masters of none exactly — unless, of course, on a rare occasion.
Mastering all these crafts just to design a website for your business comes at too huge a cost than paying an expert to get it done in a few weeks for you. Save yourself and your business the money, time, and effort by hiring an expert website design and development team in Cleveland, Ohio.
Other Aspects Of Web Developer Or Web Designer Roles
Apart from the front end, back end, and full-stack developers, other types of web development that can fall within any of the three categories discussed above include the following:
- Middle Tier Developer
- Desktop Developer
- Mobile Developer (mobile development for mobile devices or mobile operating systems)
- Graphics Developer (with enormous graphic design skills)
- Game Developer (game developers for both mobile and TV games)
- Big Data Developer
- DevOps Developer
- Software Developers
- Data Scientist (who writes software programs)
- Software Engineer (development engineers)
- Embedded Developer (embedded development)
- WordPress Developer (Also for open-source content management system)
- Security Developer
- High-Level Developer (and low-level developer).
Essential Tools For Web Development
As you should expect, every web developer works with certain tools — whether front-end, back-end or full-stack developer.
Let’s briefly explain how each tool can help a web developer create and develop sites:
1. Sublime Text
Sublime Text is the best and most popular, basic, first-rate code editor with a well-designed, ultra-speedy, super-efficient user interface.
As a one-man development team (for instance, a full-stack developer), Sublime Text can be really helpful since you can rely on the program’s wide range of keyboard shortcuts. This can help you edit simultaneously, making similar interactive changes to multiple selected areas) and also navigate to files, symbols, and lines as quickly as possible.
2. Twitter Bootstrap
As a front-end app builder, if you are already tired of typing in the same styling for a container, one of the best UI Frameworks you can rely on to abstract the common elements into reusable modules is Twitter Bootstrap.
Bootstrap is an all-around UI package created by the Twitter team. With this tool, developers can significantly cut down on the time and amount of code needed to complete a project.
3. jQuery
Javascript has always been a very important front-end language for developers. But despite the relevance of JavaScript in the entire process of web development, one shortcoming it has is the inconsistent web browsers, coupled with the tricky syntax which affects functionality.
But since jQuery came on board in 2006, a lot has changed for the better. Today, it is safe to say that jQuery is the fastest, small, cross-platform JavaScript library that simplifies the entire frontend process. It abstracts differences in browser implementations (which developers should normally solve on their own) so developers just have to write one simple bit of code. This allows for a wider scope for developing animations, navigating documents, or adding plug-ins.
4. Sass
Whether you are a front-end, back-end, or full-stack developer, one thing you surely need is a tool that promotes DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself). Sadly, CSS is not exactly that tool. That’s why most developers still rely on preprocessors like Sass.
Sass provides a less complicated but more elegant syntax for CSS and comes with various characteristics that are helpful in creating manageable stylesheets.
5. Chrome Developer Tools
Google’s built-in Chrome Developer Tools allow you to edit your CSS and HTML in real-time.
It’s a tool with which you can also debug your JavaScript, and access the internals of your web application.
Interestingly, you can achieve all this while viewing a thorough performance analysis of your website.
6. Angular.JS
HTML, although a very important front-end development tool, isn’t designed to manage dynamic views.
That’s why you will always need Angular.JS — an open-source web framework — that allows you to extend your application’s HTML syntax to arrive at a more readable, expressive, and quick-to-build setting that ordinarily can not be achieved with HTML alone
7. GitHub
GitHub is another crucial tool that reduces your chances of screwing up on a new project.
By executing your project with a Version Control System (VCS) like GitHub, you can sight any modifications you’ve made or even get back to your previous state. Hence, it’s virtually impossible to make painful mistakes.
How Milia Marketing can help you reach your goal with matchless web design and development:
Now, if you are looking for a web design or development agency that can create or improve your website functionality to boost traffic, branding, online sales, and overall productivity, Milia Marketing is the right plug to trust.
At Milia, we understand the importance of custom web designs for each of our clients. This is because while some web designs are already generating the desired traffic, they might not be yielding the corresponding level of sales, and vice versa. Well, this is where Milia Marketing comes in to optimize your website either for more traffic or sales — depending on your peculiar needs.
Here are some valid reasons you want to work with Milia Marketing:
Full Content Management Services
Milia Marketing evaluates your current web content (if any) and optimizes it to drag your potential customers down the funnel and satisfy them.
Our website design team also analyses your competition to make sure your brand stands above those in your competitive digital space.
A Focus on Conversion Services with SEO
Our team of SEO experts is always there to optimize your website for search engines like Google by capturing all the keywords and phrases that match what people are searching for online.
Responsive Web Development Services
Another reason you want to work with Milia Marketing is that we don’t just create or design websites, but we go as far as ensuring the site is user-friendly.
This is especially in the wake of the advanced Google algorithm that ranks websites based on their user-friendliness.
Custom Web Design Services
Most importantly, you want to work with Milia Marketing to guarantee a customized website unique to your business to attract visitors who want your services and convert sales.
Schedule a meeting with us or give us a call today and let’s help you get your business up to speed with the world of online marketing.
