What Does a Web Developer Do and How Do I Become One?

WGU is an accredited online university offering online bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. As the world turns increasingly toward technology, the outlook for web developer careers is a positive one. The field is expected to expand by 8% from 2019 to 2029, a growth rate that outpaces forecasts for a majority of other industries worldwide. Earning certs on the path to your degree gives you credentials that will boost your résumé right away, even before you complete your online degree program. CompTIA, CIW, ITIL, and other top industry certifications can be ideal in helping you earn the credentials and skills that you need in order to thrive as a web developer.

web developer

A web developer who services a local or service-based client often enforces regularly updating website content to reflect new client discounts, operating hours, and other details. Web developers are responsible for a wide array of daily tasks, largely dependent on the clients they manage. After studying HTML and CSS, you should learn JavaScript to create dynamic and interactive web pages for your users. On average, professionals who earn a master of computer science in web development earn around $92,000 per year.

Web Development Related Careers and Degrees

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals. If you’re interested in becoming a web developer, here are some steps you can take. If this sparks your interest, consider taking an online PHP course. Note that it is very important to take an up to date course, like the on Coursera, as older versions of the language are quite different from the modern version (PHP7). It tells the website what content to display and to some extent, how to display it.

UX designers are primarily concerned with a website or application’s end-users, whether they’re members of the general public or employees using a product designed specifically for their company. UX designers fine-tune the design, functionality, and even the marketing of a product to ensure the target users get what they need. Web development encapsulates several different roles, and all of them involve coding, using predesigned development tools, or a combination of both.

Improve technical skills

The applications typically use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the client, and any general-purpose programming language in the server. A web developer may specialize in client-side applications (Front-end web development), server-side applications (back-end development), or both (full-stack development). This set of articles aims to guide complete beginners to web development with all that they need to start coding websites. Front end is responsible for how a website looks, while back end for the server, it’s applications and databases to ensure the best user experience.

web developer

Consider a document written in HTML and styled using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), a style sheet language. The HTML is responsible for the content and structure of the web page, while CSS determines how this content should be presented visually. However, while HTML was designed to display data with a focus on how it looks, XML was designed purely to store and transport data. Unlike HTML, XML tags are not predefined; rather, they are created by the author of the document.

Why Should You Become a Web Developer?

Learn more about becoming a web developer and how to take the next steps. This is one of the key differences between web development and web design. While web designers focus on a page’s layout and aesthetic, web developers are more concerned with structure, functionality, and efficiency and ensuring everything stays within budget. This organization advocates for web developers by supporting industry growth and collaboration with public policymakers.

This is very important to make sure that they can come up with the most efficient method of creating the required program while making sure that it is secure, scalable, and easy to maintain. If you want to become a front-end developer, though, head to our article, which can tell you the secrets of becoming an entry-level front-end developer. As noted above, there are some different types of web developers, each of which focuses on a different aspect of the creation of a website. Sign up and learn how you could get your transcripts sent to WGU absolutely free. These responsibilities represent many of the tasks that a website developer is expected to fulfill daily.

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Some of these bootcamps even provide free introductory courses in coding to give you an idea of whether you would enjoy web development before you write a hefty tuition check. Multiple educational pathways can lead to a career in web development. To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. On these two platforms alone you should find tons of relevant events. Just because you have the skill doesn’t mean people will just fork over money to you.

  • When a new language pops up and gains popularity among potential clients and other developers, you won’t have to waste time playing catch up.
  • Though conceived in the 1980s, the public Internet only took off in 1993 after the introduction of the Mosaic web browser.
  • A career in web development is challenging, financially rewarding, and has a lot to offer in terms of job security, as we discussed earlier.
  • Web application developers use various programming languages, frameworks, and tools to create applications that can perform tasks, process data, and respond to user inputs in real-time.

It is the creation of an application that works over the internet i.e. websites. You may have thought about learning a programming language or two and becoming a web developer. Responsible for programming many web applications, web developers help to create websites that users can interact with and enjoy.

What/Who is a Web Developer

Though conceived in the 1980s, the public Internet only took off in 1993 after the introduction of the Mosaic web browser. With this common language, websites could communicate over interconnected networks. Integrity Network members typically work full time in their industry profession and review content for ComputerScience.org as a side project. All Integrity Network members are paid members of the Red Ventures Education Integrity Network. Web performance is the art of making sure web applications download fast and are responsive to user interaction, regardless of a user’s bandwidth, screen size, network, or device capabilities. The following is a list of all the topics we cover in the MDN learning area.

web developer

They need to understand how colors interact with each other and trigger emotions and how fonts communicate brand-central messages. UI designers make their clients’ wishes come true by providing an effective and attractive site that meets their users’ needs. Yes — web developers need to know coding to develop and design websites.

What is needed to become a web developer?

Once an aspiring developer completes their educational background, they may need to create a professional portfolio to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. Learn more about the steps to becoming a web developer with the links below. Web development includes building technical front-end and/or back-end code that informs site functionality. Web developers may work exclusively on front-end code, back-end code, or both, and many modern jobs also require overlap in web design. These professionals may work independently on a freelance basis or with marketing or IT departments. While you don’t always need a degree to get a job in web development, it can certainly help.

The great part is- you don’t need a fancy expensive degree to get into the field. Simply by following the steps we’ve listed out here, you can start out the path of becoming a how to hire a web developer. Okay, so once you go through these 6 steps, you’ll have a basic understanding of web development. But you should learn the basics of SEO, and keep SEO in mind while you’re creating each website. In doing so, you’ll give the website a much greater chance of success, and make your web development client that much happier. She spent over a decade in tech startups, immersed in the world of UX and design thinking.

Certifications demonstrate that you are competent in a particular skill within web development and that you can meet industry standards. Consider pursuing a certification that would help you move forward in your preferred area of web development. Below we list a few examples of web developer certifications, but keep in mind that there are many more options available. But like we said, it’s not a bad option to get started and gain experience. Most freelancers hit job boards to find their first web development gigs.

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