What is Web Development?

Rebecca Pearson

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Jun 5, 2021

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3 Min Read

Software Development

Salary Range
- Median 2019: $73,760
- Range: $39,550 – $142,080
Industry outlook from BLS
- The anticipated growth of web development jobs is projected to be around 8% in the next 10 years which is way above average across other fields. There is still a lot of room for innovation to take certain industries online and as that happens, web developers will be in high demand. Additionally, with the wave of mobile devices that took over the world in the past couple of decades, there is still a major need to make certain online platforms mobile friendly.
- Outside of full time employment, there are also many opportunities for individuals to offer their web development skills as freelancers or contractors to firms who need external consulting.
Description of what the role means
- As you read through the helpful content on StackCache, this website was built with web development skills. How the structure is laid out, which buttons change the look and feel of the page, and many other aspects of maintaining websites all fall within what web developers do. Web applications are getting more sophisticated and widespread so it’s understandable that web developers will remain in very high demand across many industries.
- Within web development, there are three tracks that most people follow: front end, back end, and full stack. So what do these mean?
- Front end focuses on creating the client-side of websites. This is what users interact with like menus, search bars, and buttons. Languages suited for front end development include HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
- Back end deals with the server side of websites which includes the logic behind how different processes speak with one another. This is essentially the structure behind what users see which is why it is called back end. Languages for back end web development are usually Python, Ruby, Java, and PHP.
- Finally, if you want to tackle both front and back end, you would be a full stack developer. These programmers learn what is necessary to do both in order to build what users see and how to link them all together.
Skillsets or interests that are a good fit: Analytical? Creative? Extrovert? Etc.
- Although web development is not the same as graphic design, there is sometimes overlap between responsibilities of the two. If you have a knack for creativity and visual aesthetics, you can use that in web development. In other cases, web developers work with website designers and creative departments to collaborate on the final product.
- Web development requires some collaboration with others as they make updates to website and web applications. However, for the most part, web developers work individually to get their jobs done. Patience is also a good characteristic to have as some time may be spent on problem solving or fixing bugs.
Languages, tools needed for the job
- Front End:
  - CSS
  - HTML
  - JavaScript
- Back End:
  - Python
  - Ruby
  - Java
  - PHP
What types of courses help get you this job
- If you are about to enter university or have a newfound interest in web development, here are some of the classes you should take to hone your skills.
  - Cloud development with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS
  - Web programming
  - Python
  - Object Oriented Programming
Common day in the life of this role
- Web developers usually spend their days deep in code in order to implement updates or new features that have been requested by their team. This also includes fixing bugs if something doesn’t work as it should and maintaining the code to ensure updates don’t break anything. As new updates are added in, web developers may need to reference frameworks, or existing code from past programmers, in order to build upon a structure on something he or she has not done before. By exposing themselves to additional problems or frameworks, experience is gained and that is how you keep improving as a web developer.
- As you gain more experience and solve sets of more complex problems, you may start to tap into more of the strategy of web development. This can include architecting how different pieces of data speak to one another or collaborating more closely with product design teams, site optimization teams, and creative departments.