Since its inception at the end of the 20th century, the Internet has continued to grow at an incredible pace. In the modern world, almost every person has access to the Internet and most of them use it almost every day. Web creation is quickly becoming the most attractive and highly paid field of activity in our world.
But what does a web developer really do?
If you have been thinking about learning a programming language and becoming a web developer, then you most likely asked yourself the following questions:
- What is a web developer and what is web development?
- What does a web developer do?
- How to become a web developer?
- What are the types of web development?
Lucky for you, we understand that aspiring developers will have a lot of questions about their future profession. For this reason, we have collected all the necessary information in this detailed guide, which is designed to answer all your questions and even more.
We will answer the question of who is a web developer, what are the types of web development, and also touch on the topic of website design and web programming.
What Does a Web Developer Do?
To answer the question “Who is a web developer?”, we need to know what he does and how he does it.
Basically, a web developer is a person who takes a web design – created by a client or a team – and turns it into a finished website. They do this by writing many lines of complex code using various languages. Web developers do a rather difficult job, as they actually have to translate a visual and textual idea into the form of code in a language that a computer can understand, like Python or HTML.
As you can imagine, this can take a lot of time and effort, and it also requires a good understanding of various programming languages and how to use them. Different types of developers specialize in different areas. Which means that web projects are usually a collaborative effort between multiple developers.
What Types of Web Developers Are There?
Unfortunately, the answer to the question “What does a web developer do?” doesn’t have a simple answer. As you understood from the section above, there are many types of developers, and each of them specializes in a certain aspect of creating a site.
The three main types of developers are: front-end, back-end, and full-stack developers. Front-end developers are responsible for the parts of the site that people see and interact with. Backend developers are responsible for the processes taking place outside the user’s field of vision that control the operation and functioning of the site. Full stack developers do a little bit of everything.
Below you will find a more detailed explanation of each of the three types of web developers:
Frontend Developer.
A front-end developer is someone who takes the design of a website and writes the code to put that design into practice. High-quality front-end web development requires the developer to know at least three programming languages – HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
HTML allows them to add content to the site by dividing it into headings, paragraphs, and tables. CSS allows you to style content and change things like font, colors, size, borders, and more. JavaScript allows you to add interactive elements to your site, like clickable buttons.
Backend Developer.
Although the work of a front-end developer may seem complicated and time-consuming, back-end developers perform much more complex work. While some are responsible for the client side, others need to have something to do with the server side.
This means that they need to create code and a program that will be able to run the server, the database, and any application it contains. Back-end web programming has one important aspect. This is the ability to create clean and efficient code that will be able to quickly complete the tasks assigned to it. Since the speed of loading and running a site is of great importance for search engine optimization (SEO). This factor of back-end development should not be underestimated.
Full stack developer.
If you are looking for a simple and quick answer to the question “What is a web developer?”, then a full-stack developer is most suitable for his definition. Full stack developers understand both front-end and back-end processes. This means they are aware of all aspects of the entire process.
In the case of smaller sites that do not have a large budget, full stack developers usually do all the work to build the site. In this case, it is very important for them to have a complete understanding of what web development is all about.
Web Design and Web Development.
I think it will be useful for us to spend a little time on one controversial topic. How web design differs from web development. Are they similar? Do they have differences?
In fact, the answer is quite obvious, they are not the same thing, but it all depends on how you define the words ‘design’ and ‘development’. Especially for our guide, we decided to clearly define the different roles of the designer and developer:
Web Designer:
This is the person or group of people who are responsible for creating the concept of the site. They can decide on colors, content type and pages. They do things like creating infographics, logos, and videos, and they are the ones who tell the developer where these things should be on the page. However, they are not directly involved in coding or building the site.
Web developer:
A web programmer or developer takes a designer’s concept as a basis and writes code that allows you to turn this concept into a website. It is important to understand this, although a web programmer and a designer can be the same person. There are some overlaps between design and front-end development – but their roles are different.
