What is Website Development? The Complete Guide
by Wegic Team
Sep 11, 2024
Have you ever been discouraged by the mere idea of developing websites? I assure you that you are not the only one out there struggling to find a light enough lift that doesn’t cause acne. Website development may sound like a jigsaw puzzle, particularly to anyone who has no idea of where to embark from. Questions like ‘Do I really need to understand website development to have a successful online presence?’ can be answered with ‘Yes’ but it does not necessarily mean you have to be a master in the art of website development.
Web development is not only the process of programming but it is also equally the process of building something creative. No matter whether you are creating a blog or a website with a few pages and links a store for online shopping, or a site that represents you or your team members, talents, and abilities, website development is the groundwork for everything. Without it, you can have a site full of beautiful images but it wouldn’t contain any content.
In this guide, not only I will help you understand what website development is, but also what it is not. What I’m going to do is explain to you what it entails, what you should be able to end up with from a web developer and how it relates to web design. By the end, you will not only know how to develop a website, but you will also be in a good position to make decisions regarding your site. We are ready to create something great and unique, so let us start with the first step towards it.
What is Website Development?
Website development can be described as the process of designing, constructing or implementing Internet sites. Web development includes a wide spectrum of activities and skills such as web designing, creating content for websites, client-side as well as server-side scripting languages, configuring the security of the network, and many others. Consider it as home building — there are designers, who show you the plan and give you the dream (the web design), but there are constructors (web developers) who lay the actual bricks and make sure all the wiring and plumbing is in the right place.
In its simplest form, web development requires markup as well as coding formation on websites. But now web creation has gone through numerous phases and is not restricted to HTML-based web pages. Today developers employ a set of programming languages including HTML, CSS, JavaScript and more/modern technologies such as React. js, Angular, and Node. js to enable one to develop a dynamic web page to offer added complicated features of a website. Such websites are supposed to be easily navigable, functional on different devices, and prepared for search engines.
However, website development is much more than just the code used to implement these sites. It is also about identifying the goal of the user and then developing a design that will in the end satisfy the goal of the user through a website. This requires such aspects as fast loading of the site, its convenience and the possibility of finding necessary information. It also comprises constantly modifying the website to maintain its security and capability. In a nutshell, website development is the infrastructure of the World Wide Web hence taking websites beyond being plain documents of textual information.
Different Types of Web Developers in Website Development?
Web developers are the real-life makers of the internet who bring a designer’s idea to life and make it functional. The term "web developer" has now become popular in every organization but the question being asked most often is what does a web developer do? The role of a web developer can vary depending on the type of project they’re working on, but in general, their responsibilities can be divided into three main categories: There are front-end development, back-end development, and full-stack development.
- Front-end developers: Front-end developers are concerned with the view of a website that is visible, and even clickable, by users of the website. For example, they are responsible for designing the layout, graphics, and other related features of a website employing languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. They make sure that the website is visually appealing, user-friendly and responsive to the usability of touch devices. Consider them as interior designers for the web as they are responsible for how it pleases the senses of the user.
- Back-end developers: Back-end developers, on the other hand, work on the server side of the website. They are charged with the role of design and engineering of features that support a website such as database servers and applications. In PHP, Ruby, Python, and Java, they make sure that the front end of the website is capable of talking to the server to help the user find the data and tools he needs. Front-end developers may be compared to interior designers while back-end developers are compared to builders—they create the framework which sustains everything.
- Full-stack developers: Full-stack developers are the all-rounders in the web development process and are involved in all the activities. Once hired, these individuals have the capability of participating in the front end as well as the technical aspects of a given website’s build, which is quite useful since they don’t need to seek the services of an extra developer during the actual construction of the website. A full-stack developer can work on different stages of development, starting from the defining of the need for the project to the actual building of that project. They’re the project managers of the Internet – they coordinate all construction activities and are personally responsible for the result.
However, web developers should also possess the know-how of the so-called user experience design or shortly design UX process. They have to be able to think about how the user is going to approach this website and design something that, at least, I wouldn’t mind using. This includes factors such as response times, ease of structure and accessibility and, in extension, user satisfaction.
Website Development vs. Web Design: Understanding the Difference
In most cases, you may find it hard to differentiate between website development and web design. Still, both are important procedures for the creation of a website. This may be so, but it doesn’t mean they are the same thing. As you now know, the difference between web design and web development is important in helping you understand the level of work involved in creating a website and the kind of talent needed for each person.
Web design is more or less dealing with the aesthetics of a website. Web designers apply their best web design practices and principles when developing the site’s structure, visual theme, font, and appearance. They build simulations or models that depict how the resultant website will be in terms of its aesthetic value and ease of use. Web designers are the painters of the web—they are more concerned with the UI/UX of the site to make sure that visitors will make sure and click further.
Website development, on the contrary, focuses on taking this design and transforming it into a workable website. Web designers are more concerned with how the site looks concerning the colour schemes and layout while developers work on the back-end and make the site run as it is supposed to. They assume the designs developed by the web designer and translate them to code to bring the designs into existence. This entails matters concerning the implementation of the markup language; this entails the configuration of the server and the database to support its operation. AI web design is the art of creating beauty, whereas website development is all about utility.
To put it simply: while web designers design the structure of the house, the web developers are the ones who erect the house. Both are crucial for making a good website and the best websites are products of good interaction between designers and developers.
The Future of Website Development
Website development is still fledging, and if you believe that it is going to be something different a few years from now, then you may be wrong. The future of website development is teeming with possibilities, with one trend standing out above all others: AI has become a new phenomenon in today’s top AI trends. Although AI is no longer the headline of the decade, it is revolutionizing the basic structure of website development.
AI website builders it is then I must start with. These tools are not merely exotic—the tools are starting to become mainstream in web development. Think about a robot that, after a few minutes, could design your website according to your preferences – from its structure to... It’s like having a web developer in your pocket, without the campaign slowing down and charging an arm and leg for the service. With improving AI technology, these tools will only become smarter enabling them to provide better and faster website development services to the clients.
The beauty of incorporating AI in the design of aesthetic websites is that it is a self-learning technology. Smart builders investigate millions of sites and use what has been accomplished to know what is successful and what is not. This simply means that as time progresses, websites enlightened by these tools will only improve and tend to accord with user preferences. One gets the feeling that AI is on-the-job training and the more websites that it creates, the better it becomes at the task.
However, this is also not limited to faster website development, AI is also playing an important role in democratizing website development. One does not have to be a sharp coder to create engaging, professional-looking, functionally rich websites. People are gradually able to put their ideas out on the internet as the barriers to entry in the use of artificial intelligence have been pulled down. This has brought democratization in website development as most people and small business entities are in a position to compete with large and established competitors.
But while AI is tunnelling into website advancement, human creators are not going to be sent to the dogs anytime soon. Instead, AI is going to complement the work of developers, handling simple and routine tasks while the human mind will be able to work on complex issues existing in web development. That is to say, AI is the secret weapon that every web developer never wanted, to help them do most of the leg work while they sit back and create.
There is one field which is already vigorously experiencing the impact of AI – and that is the field of responsive websites. With more and more clients visiting sites with several devices, it is vital to make sure that a site appears and is used well on any device. Thanks to AI capabilities, layout images and other elements, they can be optimized in real-time to fit different devices, thus increasing the ease of applying the concept of responsive design. This means that website development will remain an important issue, wherein AI will stay at the forefront of improving designs that are more friendly for users.
Also, AI has revolutionized website development in SEO where websites have to be designed to suit the SEO standards. AI is capable of parsing search string behaviour, comprehending trends and adapting content immediately to enhance a website’s position on the search engine results page. This means that in the future website development will not only mean designing a beautiful site but a site that ranks well on search engines. This particular application of AI in the context may expand the very concept of SEO and make it more adaptive to the constantly shifting rules of the algorithms that represent search engines. Another area that is influencing the future of website development is growth of the voice search and voice-activated assistants. With the increased trends in the use of voice commands in devices, web developers will be required to enhance voice search. This means concentration on natural language processing (NLP) and the production of content that relevant voice-assisting devices such as Siri and Alexa can understand freely.
Therefore, what is the implication on the future of website development? In a nutshell, it’s just going to be faster, smarter, and more pervasively available. AI is on track to be the go-to tool in the arsenal of web developers to alter how websites are built, maintained, and further improved. But don’t worry it will not leave out the human aspect of it; it is simply going to make everything much easier.
And over the next years, AI website builders will probably be adopted by the public on a higher level, due to the simplicity and effectiveness of the approach. These tools will probably become the most popular among those who need a website to be developed as soon as possible and without spending much money. But, for those who look for something personal, individual focus or unique, humanity's web developers will always remain popular, especially in the case of the creation of a project, which requires some individual approach and inspiration.
Lastly, website development looks promising and AI has a big part in it. Today, and if you are a developer or programming enthusiast of any level, the topic of AI is something you should not close your eyes on. Not only is it a shift in the way that websites are constructed, but it is a revolution of the fundamental principles of website construction. And who knows? A few years from now, you may be discussing the new concept of your greatest web venture with an AI system, and are lost in wonder of how far the field of website designing has advanced.
Last but not least, it is pertinent to mention that the threat of cyberattacks will play a crucial role in deciding the further direction of work on website development. With these new threats emerging in the future, web developers will have to give extra emphasis on security in the process of creating a website. This in turn entails the use of secure coding standards, application updates and new security trends information.
Website Development is Like Baking the Perfect Cake
Web development is the backbone of the World Wide Web, the behind-scenes work that enables everything internet-related. So whether you fancy yourself as an entrepreneur who wants to build an online presence for your business or a student who enjoys technology, a grasp of website development can unlock so many doors for you.
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