Web Development is one of the most sought after technology skills in the IT industry today. The reason is the popularity of the internet and the ever-increasing number of people using the internet for their daily tasks and entertainment.
Being a lucrative business, ‘how to become a web developer’ is a sought after question among the youth. Almost every business or organization today has a website which forms their face to the world - customers, and patterns alike. Consequently web developers are tasked with the highly business-important task of building and maintaining these websites. So without further ado, let’s dive into this “How to Become a Web Developer?” article and answer the question once and for all.
Introduction to Web Development
Web development is the process of building internet-based websites and applications. Web development doesn’t necessarily involve designing a website; but comprises the the coding and programming that powers its functionality.
Web Development can be broadly divided into three layers:
- Frontend - Client-side coding
- Backend - Server-side coding
- Storage - Database technology
Who Is a Web Developer?
Now that we’ve understood what is Web Development, let’s learn who a web developer is. The role of the web developer is to build and maintain websites.
Fig: Web Development Software Stack
These are some of the technologies used by a web developer:
- HTML for web layout
- CSS for web styling
- ReactJS is a JavaScript framework used for frontend development
- NodeJS is a JavaScript framework used for server-side development
- MongoDB is a database technology for storing data for web applications
- Angular is another frontend development framework based on TypeScript
There are many other technologies like PHP, Java, Ruby, etc. used by web developers.
A web developer is one who:
- Builds and maintains websites and other web applications.
- Takes a web design created by either a client or a design team, and turns it into a website.
- Collaborates with clients, stakeholders, and designers to understand the vision.
- Specializes in either frontend or backend, or even both if he or she is a full-stack developer.
Types of Web Developers
There are mainly three types of web developers:
- Frontend developers who build and maintain the client-side of a web application.
- Backend developers who work behind the scenes and manage the services of a web application.
- Full Stack developers manage the project workflow and work on the required features of a web application.
Web Developer Skillset
Web developers have a wide range of skills to learn, but it all depends on their roles. Let’s go through some of the essential skills of a web developer.
Here are some of the skills that a frontend developer must have:
- HTML - A markup language for building web page layouts
- CSS - Stylesheet for styling HTML elements in a website
- JavaScript - Scripting language for bringing web applications to life by making them more interactive and responsive
- Frontend Frameworks - Frameworks like React, Angular, Vue help in making the client-side of applications look better and speed up the development
The skills that a backend developer must have:
- PHP - Backend language that helps in maintaining all the work that happens behind the scenes in a web application
- Python - Python is a prevalent language used in various software development fields. It is used to handle server-side tasks in web development.
- Java - Java is one of the most used languages for software development, and therefore, it is also used in back-end development by developers.
- Database Management - Database languages like MySQL and MongoDB are used for storing data for web applications.
Full Stack developers have skills that cover both frontend and backend development of a web application. Therefore, they manage the entire workflow of a web application development environment.
Web Developer Salary Trends
Web Developers are always in demand since new web applications are launched and managed continually. They are generally offered generous salaries across the globe.
Salaries also depend on the types of Web Developers. For instance, Full Stack Developers are paid more than Frontend or Backend developers.
The average salary of a Web Developer in India is ₹3,86,000 per annum.
Fig: Web Developer Salary in India
The average salary of a Web Developer in the United States is $68,524 per annum.
Fig: Web Developer Salary in the US
Web Developer Resume
Let’s go ahead and understand what a web developer resume should have in order to catch the interviewer’s attention. Just make sure you keep the following things in mind when preparing your resume:
- The resume should be very clear, updated, and concise.
- Prioritize the skills according to the job role you are applying for.
- Do not write anything extra. That’s a big NO. The recruiters are smart enough to know that.
You may go through the resume below to understand it better. That should help in the resume-building process. All the relevant sections are marked that should be present in the resume, especially for a fresher or anyone having less than two years of experience.
Fig: Fresher Resume
There you go! You must have got your answer to how to become a web developer. Are you ready to dive into the software development field by now? If yes, we also have Youtube Playlists that cover everything from the very basics to advanced web development frameworks. Don’t forget to check those out if you are interested in Web Development.
5 Steps to Become a Web Developer
1. Start with Web Development Basics
If you’ve ever wondered how to become a web development professional, first remember that even the greatest in the field were once novices. Web development itself is a very demanding and sophisticated field, which is why you need to first learn the basic skills. CSS and HTML are two programming languages that are considered to be the backbone of the internet. Before moving on to other web development tools, it is important to first master these two languages—they will serve as your core skills and help you make practical, intuitive, user-friendly, highly functional websites.
In addition to CSS and HTML, you must also become familiar with the concept of “dynamic websites” and “responsive web design,” the latter being particularly important these days. In order for that to happen, you must gain deep insights into SQL, MySQL, and PHP. JavaScript can also be helpful for adding and managing media applications on a website.
2. Learn Web Development Software
One of the most important parts of being a complete and professional web developer is becoming familiar with the various software programs that are commonly used in this field. While it is true that learning programming languages certainly are critical for a beginner, it is important to also learn how to work with the latest and greatest web tools, as well as graphics software. Some examples of these include Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, as well as with Dreamweaver and Fireworks—these four will undoubtedly prove important for your web development career.
3. Master SEO
As mentioned above, one of the many duties and responsibilities of a web development professional involves managing the website content, which means that you will need to become familiar with the concept of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
SEO stands for a set of practices, techniques, and methods that are widely used to make a website’s content more easily searchable—as well as more beneficial for a website’s readers. Ideally, good content should be keyword-rich, 100% original, well-written, and filled with useful information. SEO services often go hand in hand with web development and web design, and a complete web development professional usually offers a wide array of web-related services. Many regard web development as a multidisciplinary field—with good reason, since it does not cover only one area of expertise.
Every good web development professional should possess a set of varied skills and qualities—and being highly attentive to detail or having an eye for aesthetics are only two of them. While it is true that most of the skills are acquired, some of them are innate—but fortunately, there is software available for almost everything these days.
4. Emphasize Practice Rather Than Theory
One of the most common mistakes web development professionals tend to make is by focusing too much on theory, forgetting that ultimately their practical skills will set them apart from the crowd. That being said, a very important part of pursuing your career as a web developer involves creating dynamic websites that do not require individual HTML pages, but multiple pages using the same design—these are driven by MySQL and PHP.
After having created a dynamic website, you should make the best of it and use it for improving the UX, by developing a new website that uses AJAX. By doing so, you can experiment with a plethora of flash or other interactive online applications that will add to the aesthetics, value, function, and rating of the website. Lastly, you must exercise your coding skills with the help of various programs and systems, such as Joomla or Drupal.
5. Take Your Software Skills to the Next Level
The final step you should take in order to become a professional web developer is to enroll in one of the many high-end web development programs that will help you take your software skills even further. These programs often include both technical and non-technical information, along with the most popular programming languages, the latest features, and functions that are used in web development at the moment, in-depth training in jQuery, HTML5, CSS3, XHTML, other programming languages, and more.
Moreover, these courses also include a final project where you need to build a functional login system, to build a basic static website or a test site with MySQL. At the end of the training program, you will be awarded a certificate that will undoubtedly add to your professional portfolio and increase your chances of getting a top job.
Get Ahead of the Curve and Become a Web Developer Today
If you are wondering how you can obtain the skills necessary to enter this immensely popular field of web development, We’d suggest you can enroll in a comprehensive Java Full Stack Developer Masters’ Program. To gain all the practical, work-ready skills you need to become employable in the field immediately upon completion. If you need more information before you enroll for a program, check out our Youtube video that provides a quick introduction to HTML and explains how to write a simple ‘Hello World’ program in HTML.
If you aspire to become a web and/or mobile developer, HTML training is ideal to get a strong foundation, and broaden your skills. If you have any specific questions for us, do mention them in this article’s comments section. We'll have our experts answer it for you at the earliest!
