Website development covers a wide range of topics, so in this blog we will attempt to answer and cover most of the questions surrounding the larger question of "What is website development?"
Website development is the use of a wide range of programming languages such as HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript, often integrating more than one language together in a single project, to construct a front-end and a back-end of a website.
A programming language is a vocabulary and set of rules for instructing a computer to perform a specific task.
There are many different types of programming languages, all of which have their own roles in website development.
It is easy to think of programming languages as tools for website developers to build with. Choosing which programming language is often about choosing the correct tool for the job. However, most programming languages can be integrated to work together, providing even more options for web developers to choose from.
The front-end of a website is the visible content of the website, what the user sees. The most common front-end programming languages are HTML and CSS.
The back-end of a website often requires a login and is an admin area that the user does not see. The back-end is often used to make content changes, carry out updates and development work. The most common back-end programming languages are PHP and JavaScript.
Many people often get confused about the differences between website design and website development.
Essentially website design is creating a design or "blueprints" for a website, before the website has been created. And website development is carrying out or executing the plan of the "blueprints" in order to construct a website.
Here is an analogy that we came up with that might help clear the confusion:
"If website design is like property architecture then website development is like property construction."
Website developers are like apples and like apples, website developers come in many different varieties.
There are front-end developers that specialise on building the front-end of a website. Back-end developers that specialise on building the back-end of a website. And full-stack developers that build both the front-end and the back-end of a website.
This is why web developers often work in teams so that work can be delegated to each individual type of web developer in order to have the best web developer for the job.
Hopefully answering these questions have helped make it clearer what website development is about. If not and you feel that we can answer more questions or answer some questions differently, please feel free to tweet as us!
