Web development is fast-growing and has become a very useful tool in this technology age. If you ever think of becoming a web developer, you should not drag your feet at all. In the United States for instance, a statistic by the Bureau of Labour (BLS) puts it that “The employment of web developers in the U.S. is expected to increase by 13% from 2020 to 2030, well above the national average of 8% across all professions. The world needs web developers, and their demand is increasing “.
As a way to answer the numerous questions of those trying to find their career path, we have put together this post to give you some detailed information about Web Development, the types of Web Development, what they do and how to become a Web Developer.
What is Web Development?
Web Development is the craft of creating, maintaining, and building websites and web applications. The process of web development involves client-side scripting, content management and development, server-side scripting, network security configuration, and the development of e-commerce.
Types of Web Development
There are three main types of web development; frontend, backend, and full stack. The notes below best explain them all.
- Front-end Web Development: Front-end development, also known as client-side web development, involves the use of images, colors, icons, logos, and other visuals to build a web application. They make web contents display correctly so that users can find and read them with ease. In other words, developers in this part of web development focus on the appearance of the website. These developers make use of technologies like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
- Backend Web Development: Back-end web development focuses on servers, databases, APIs, and logic. The responsibilities of these web developers range from writing codes to building and maintaining parts of websites and ensuring that they are functioning and running properly. Back-end web developers, or server-side web developers, make use of PHP, Java, QSO, Phyton, etc.
- Full Stack Development: Full stack development is a combination of backend, and frontend put together. Full stack developers make the web development process faster. They work on problems that may occur in the front end or back end of a website. They also complete and create websites and applications.
You can specialize further by becoming a web engineer, a web security expert, a WordPress developer, a mobile web developer, or a web application developer.
What Do Web Developers Do?
The job of a web developer is to create websites and to make sure they look good and are easy to use. Listed below are some of the major roles of web developers:
- Testing of web applications
- Development and implementation of codes using programming languages like JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and XML.
- Communicating with other team members, including software developers, web designers, project managers, and stakeholders
- Fixing bugs and troubleshooting problems during site creation.
- Creating, updating, and renovating of websites and applications.
Web Developers’ Income
Web development is a fast-growing profession and developers are in high-demand. Big and small companies around the world are continuously in need of developers. “Current projections show faster than average growth of these jobs through 2030,” according to the BLS.
The annual salary for web developers in the US stands at an average of $77,000, according to BLS. However, the salary of web developers is very scalable and can extend up to $249,297, according to Glassdoor salary insights.
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Steps to Become a Web Developer
Web development is a very rewarding and worthwhile career. Here are simple steps to becoming a web developer:
1. Choose a Path of Education
Before beginning your pursuit of Web development mastery and certification, you need to decide on your learning path. It could be through college and earning a degree or through free or paid online courses. Either way, you can get to your destination with good results.
2. Decide on your focus.
Specialization is a very essential factor required to gain mastery of any skill. In the early stages of your web development growth, you will have to choose an area of specialization. This could be full-stack, frontend, or backend development.
3. Learn the required programming languages.
As a web developer, you are only as good as your knowledge of the programming languages required for your area of specialization. The importance of learning the required programming languages cannot be over-emphasized. This part of the growth process is the most challenging of them all.
4. Start a Project to Build Your Web Development Skills
To get further growth in your web development skills, work on a project. For a start, it’s advisable to start with smaller projects to enhance your skills. Embark on lots of projects, as much as possible. Practice brings perfection.
5. Create a Good Portfolio
After working on many projects, you should create a good Web development portfolio to display them. Your portfolio shouldn’t be about your best projects only; it should be a highlight of what makes you stand out and how you have solved problems with your projects.
The steps above can help you get more results in a reasonably short amount of time.
Are web developers in demand right now?
The demand for web developers is on a continuous rise. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that web development has been a massive creator of employment, granting jobs to over 174,300 people in the United States. According to the same source, a massive 8% growth is expected between 2019 and 2029 for web development. This doubles the national average for all occupations.
Can I Become a Web Developer without a Degree
Yes, you can become a web developer without getting a degree. Several online courses and programs can grant you the training and certification(s) needed for your web development career. While it is best to get certified, additional personal practice is what gives the required experience – that should not be neglected.
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How to Become a Web Developer through Free Learning
There are free online web development courses that will teach you the techniques and skills required to create websites with the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and other programming languages. Some of the online web development sites that offer free classes are Khan Academy, Mozilla Developer Network, HTML5 Rocks, Node JS, Express, etc.
The Best Learning Resources for Web Developers
The journey of becoming a qualified and professional web developer is not a very easy and smooth one. You will often need assistance. The resources below will help you achieve your web development goals with ease. The links will lead you to their various websites.
- Managing technical debt blog
- Road Map
- Freecodecamp
- Codecademy
- 30 Seconds of Code
- Scrimba
- CSS Tricks
- Can I use
- Ace Frontend
- Code
- CSS Battle
- Coding Dojo
- Code Mentor
- MDN
- Dev Challenges
- Frontend Mentor
- htmlreference.io and cssreference.io
- The Odin Project
Finally, becoming a web developer can be as easy as it can also be difficult. It requires a very large dose of hard work and consistency If you want to get positive results and grow up the ladder fast. Make the tips in this article your major practice, and the sky will be your starting point.