Web Development Technology

What is web development technology?

If you want a website to look and function the way you want, getting familiar with web technologies is the first step.

Web development technology refers to the multitude of different programming languages and multimedia packages used by web developers to create dynamic and feature-rich web applications. There are tons of web development technologies out there, and we will go through the most common ones. To start, there are two sides to web development — the front end and the back end.

Front end

Front-end technologies are often referred to as the “client-side” of a website. These web development technologies are used to develop a website’s interactive elements so that website users can see and interact with them. These elements include images, buttons, and even the styling and colors of the text throughout a website.

Back end

Back-end technologies are the technical foundation of any website or application. The “server-side” stores and arranges data to make sure that the front-end works appropriately. For example, if your website requires a user to log in, the back-end web development technologies ensure the user credentials are accurate.

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10 website development technologies to know

Browsers

Browsers are essentially the interpreters of the web. When we search for something on the internet, your browser requests the information and then shows us a page in a way we can visually see and understand. Some common browsers are Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

HTML

The abbreviation stands for hypertext markup language. This is the standard markup language used for creating pages. HTML describes the structure of a website so that our web browsers know what to show us.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets, abbreviated as CSS, defines the style of a page. HTML provides a page’s structure, while CSS specifies the appearance. This web development technology lets web designers change colors, fonts, and even animations on the web. CSS helps make what we see on the page visually appealing. You can think of HTML as the bones of a page and CSS as the skin.

Programming languages

There are many different programming languages, like there are many human languages. Since computers don’t use human language, they need a different way to communicate. We communicate with computers through programming languages. This is how we tell them what to do. This website development technology provides a set of grammatical rules that we can use to instruct our computers to perform specific functions.

Below are just a few common examples:

JavaScript

JavaScript is one of the most commonly used languages in web development. It is presented on most pages on the client-side but can also be used on the back end. Compared to other programming languages, JavaScript is one of the easiest to learn and is one of the most popular web development technologies.

PHP

PHP is another common language used in web development. In fact, the content management system (CMS) WordPress is built on PHP. There are many tutorials and troubleshooting tips, as well as extensive documentation online for PHP, so the support is out there if you ever run into issues.

Java

Java is a language often used by enterprise companies. Android, eBay, Google, and many other desktop applications use Java for its fast performance, enormous community, and continual updates.

Frameworks

Frameworks are web development technologies that are used to make working with programming languages easier and more efficient. These frameworks have a pool of code resources, basically giving developers a headstart when working on a project. This provides an easy starting point for developers. Having frameworks on hand lowers development risks since they are tried and true. This is often the way to go compared to writing code from scratch.

One example of a framework is:

Angular

Angular is one of the latest and most popular frameworks maintained by Google. Despite being complex software, it is one of the most common frameworks used by developers. When compared to other frameworks, Angular is a preferred choice because it has the most bundled functionality. Some popular websites that use Angular are IMB, Forbes, Netflix, and PayPal.

Libraries

Libraries are a collection of files that work by grouping snippets of code together. This enables a large amount of functionality, so you don’t have to worry about writing the code yourself. Similar to frameworks, they lower the risk of improper coding and make the development process more efficient.

Databases

Databases store all of your data. You can think of them as a bunch of filing cabinets with different folders filled with files. They provide an organized structure for storing and retrieving large amounts of data. The two main types of databases are SQL and NoSQL.

Protocols

You can think of protocols as standardized instructions for how to pass information back and forth from computers and devices. HTTP is a standard protocol that allows websites to reach your browser. For example, whenever you type in a website, the protocol requests the website, so then your browser receives the response, which includes the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript of the website.

APIs

API stands for application programming interface. APIs allow applications to communicate with each other and share data and functionality. Developers create APIs to allow other developers to use the functionality of an application without sharing any actual code.

Data formats

Data is stored in a structure called a data format. Examples of data formats include:

• JSON: This is a syntax for storing and exchanging data. JSON is quickly becoming the most popular data format.
• XML: This is predominately used by Microsoft systems and used to be the most popular data format before the rise of JSON.
• CSV: This data format is formatted by commas. A typical example of this is Excel data.

Learn more about web development technologies

Hopefully, you found this to be helpful, and you learned the website development technology basics, but there is more to learn!

To stay up to date with the latest web development technology, you have to stay on your toes and be open to learning new things all the time. Web development technologies are being improved and updated constantly, and being aware of these changes is essential.

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