Are You Looking For A Career Change? Then Why Not Consider Web Development As An Option?

Aravinth Jayaraman
7 min readJul 28, 2022

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Before planning to change a career, you must know the opportunities available in the web development niche.

Websites are the go-to place for brands to establish an online presence because technology has taken over the world and each brand must showcase its online presence in order to maintain credibility with customers.

Web development is not only about building and designing websites, it also refers to maintaining websites in order to make flawless smooth functioning. Also, web development is not only about creating a website, web development is a part of software development.

Software development never ends. The same condition applies to web development too. As a result, there is always a high demand for web developers in the web development industry.

If you are the one who is planning to change your career as a web developer or trying to earn passive income by performing freelancing as a web developer, then you’re in the right place.

In this article, you will learn a lot from the basics to understand what is web development and what languages and tools you need to learn to perform web development in your own convenient space.

What Is A Website?

A website is a collection of web pages that people can access using a web browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc. from their smartphones or laptops.

Individuals, groups, or organizations can create and maintain websites to display information about their brand or organization to educate people about what they do and the services or products they provide.

For example, Google.com site is a website that is also the most visited website in the world.

Websites are of three types, such as

1.Static

A static website contains Web pages with fixed information. Every time when people access them, they display the same information as they are built with the HTML code.

on a static website, the information won’t change until and unless the developer changes it manually.

Read-only websites such as resume websites, brochure websites, and portfolio websites are some examples of static websites.

2.Dynamic

Unlike a static website, a dynamic website displays different types of content every time a user views it. In the dynamic website, every webpage has information generated in real time and altered on the basis of the viewer, the time zone, the time of the day, and other aspects.

The websites which need regular changes such as Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and E-commerce websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, etc.

PHP, Python, Ruby, and JavaScript are used to building dynamic websites. Dynamic websites display different content as it is done with a combination of client-side scripting and server-side scripting.

  • Client-side scripting

Client-side scripting is a source code that is executed on the client’s browser instead of the web server. Usually, JavaScript is used as a scripting language.

The primary goal of client-side scripting is to develop engaging and interactive web pages while minimizing server load by executing some scripts only on the client-side. This is done by making use of temporary storage, such as local storage and session storage.

  • Server-side scripting

Server-side scripting is a source code that is executed on the server side before sending the content to the viewer’s browser. This affects the webpage when it is loaded or visited, like with login pages, submission forms, and shopping carts.

What Is Front End Development?

A front-end developer is the one who creates the portion of the website that you see and interact with. Basically, the front-end developer creates the user interface (UI). The design and structure built by front-end developers need constant change as the user opens the site from various devices in order to technology development.

Languages to learn for front-end developer

Front-end developers need knowledge of web programs such as HTML, CSS, and JS in order to create websites.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is used to create the basic structure and design of a website. HTML program is very easy to learn. You don’t need to have any programming language before. Just a notepad is enough to perform simple HTML code.

Open the notepad on your computer, type some simple HTML program and save the file using .html file format, then open the file so you have created your first ever web page.

HTML is the oldest form of programming language but still ruling the web development industry by providing the core structure of the website.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is used to design the website to change the way the website looks. CSS is combined with HTML to create an impressive layout and design for the web page.

With the help of CSS, we can change everything such as the font, color, layout, and effects of the page. HTML codes provide the website’s structure, which resembles a skeleton, while CSS works with HTML to give it skin.

JS (JavaScript) will help you to create dynamic and interactive web content, which can’t be done with HTML and CSS. Also, JavaScript runs on browsers only.

With the help of the above three languages, we can create a static website and there are a lot of opportunities out there in the industry for front-end developers.

In addition to this, if you want to become a pro in front-end development, then you should put your hands on some TOOLS.

What is Back End Development?

Back end developer is a total contrast to a front-end developer, whereas a front-end developer works on the user interface, but the back-end developer works on the server side, which the user can’t see.

Back-end developers used to manage databases, data analytics, and security on the server side.

Languages to learn for a back-end developer

A back-end developer needs basic knowledge of programs such as PHP, PYTHON, Java, and Node.js in order to work as a back-end developer.

PHP is a server-side scripting language. Used to manage dynamic content, databases, session tracking, and even build entire e-commerce sites. PHP is a language that is embedded within HTML.

PYTHON is also a popular and widely used programming language. The flexibility and simplicity of PYTHON makes it a great language for beginners to learn. The back-end development uses PYTHON for data analysis and data science.

JAVA is a program that is used in both client-side and server-side applications. Java is a popular language that is essential for a back-end developer. If you have good knowledge of Java, then you can create a mobile app as well as a POC terminal for payment systems.

Java brings more power to the programming world. Learning Java is useful in as many ways.

Node.js is also a server-side scripting language. If you are aware of JavaScript, then learning Node.js may be easier for you to grasp. Learning Node.js greatly helps you become professional.

Apart from the above programs, there are many other programs that play a major role in back-end development. Anyway, these are some languages as a beginner, you can give it a shot.

Database for back-end development

A back-end database is one that users indirectly access through an external application as opposed to using application programming stored inside the database itself.

When developing the back end, databases are essential. In order to advance as a back-end developer, you’ll need to understand how to handle and access data.

SQL (Structured Query language) is a query language that helps you build databases, add new data into existing databases and modify data within databases.

WordPress

WordPress is an open-source platform that allows you to build your own website for free. Also, WordPress has N number of blogs in it.

WordPress is the most popular blogging and website builder in the current generation. Gaining knowledge of WordPress will help you in many ways as you enter the web development industry.

Don’t get confused by seeing these many coding languages. Many of these programming languages are easy to pick up even without any previous coding knowledge. Start from HTML and take your own time. Put your hands into front-end development.

Front-end development is an easy space to start and grabbing knowledge on the overall web development process will take you to places.

There are a lot of online courses available to grab the coding knowledge at your own convenient space. Check the links provided to deep dive into the programming languages.

Hope this article helped you.

Meet you in the next one.

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