Web development is a behind-the-scenes process that makes a website look elegant, work superfast, and perform exceptionally well. If you get excited when you see many beautiful websites and want to try your hand at designing them, then it can be your forte.
Creating a website that attracts many visitors requires knowledge of different programming languages and expertise in DevTools, data formats, testing, APIs, authentication, and other related concepts. Listed below are a few essentials you must know on your journey to becoming a professional web developer:
1. HTML/CSS/JS
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are the three most important building blocks that every web developer should learn. A majority of the frontend interfaces are built with HTML and CSS. When you select the display page source from the context menu of your web browser, you'll note a lot of HTML tags used for various purposes in the structure of your website.
CSS is often used to specify the type, design, layout, and display of HTML elements on the page. JavaScript has been adopted by many web development companies these days, and it's put to use for making HTML pages dynamic and interactive. JavaScript comes with several languages such as PHP, Python, and ASP.Net to make the website more responsive.
2. Browser DevTools
Debugging, editing HTML elements, testing systems, editing CSS properties, and tracking JavaScript errors are all possible with Browser DevTools. Every developer should master the implementation of various tabs in DevTools (elements, console, network, and more) to make their work easier and faster.
You can use any DevTools, such as Chrome DevTools, Firefox DevTools, or whatever browser you're using, depending on your web development requirements. Developers typically use Chrome DevTools to create, test and debug web applications, but the developers have complete control over which browser they use.
3. API (Application Programming Interface)
You'll be working with APIs a lot in web development for essentially dealing with third-party info. It empowers developers to use some of the features without having to share the code. Therefore, you’re able to maintain data integrity, compliance, and web security while also meeting the technical requirements.
You should have hands-on practice on Rest APIs, HTTP request methods, Rest API creation, and CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete). Different status codes, data formats used in the request (JSON, HTML, or XML), and many more can then be picked up down the line.
4. Programming Languages
Since computers don’t understand human languages, you must communicate with your system using machine languages. It’s imperative to learn the basics of programming languages in web development as all are logics that can be implemented using these structured codes.
Web developers use several languages, including PHP, Python, Java, Ruby, and, most recently, Javascript, to manage the website's backend functionality. To create your web application as a web developer, it’s recommended that you should be comfortable with at least one programming language.
5. MVC (Model, View, Controller)
MVC is a design pattern that saves developers a lot of time by splitting the framework into three parts. Working with the MVC pattern speeds up the development process and simplifies growth. Many higher-level frameworks, such as Laravel, Django (based on MVT, which is similar to MVC), and Angular, are based on MVC patterns.
The “Model” in MVC is responsible for database interaction. The “View” is in charge of what the user sees on the computer and the “Controller” dawns the role of a mutual interface between Model and View to implement all the business logic. Learning MVC will make it easier for you to comprehend frameworks for any programming language.
To Conclude
Creating a successful website is a collective effort where the efforts are put in by the entire web development team. Understanding the intent of the website is one of the primary goals of a web developer. Various websites are built differently based on their intended use.
While shopping websites need an informal presentation of data and a catchy web style, business websites are more structured and restrict themselves to details about the business. Learning is a never-ending process, and so is the development where you continue to optimize your efforts to improve performance by making use of robust web development tools.
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