An Overview of Web Developer Skills

The rising demands for websites for both personal and business use have made web developers in demand and aggressive businesses are willing to pay top dollar to retain the services of reputable and established web developers. Alongside these experienced professionals, competition starts to grow as more and more individuals claim to be web developers, some of who offer significantly lower rates to all manner of clients from small retailers to big dedicated hosting companies.

In order to discern those with just a passing interest or superficial knowledge of web development from the true experts, candidate web developer must have above average proficiency in the following skills or programs. This also holds true if you’re planning to throw your hat in the ring.

Defining Web Development

Web development is a process of designing, creating, and publishing websites onto the internet or a private network. This is different from graphic design because the latter is more or less concerned with the aesthetic appeal of the site whereas web development has to look at all aspects of the website from navigability, accessibility, usability, integrated applications, and the like in order to provide the best functional experience to the target end users of the site.  In order to do so, the following skills will be needed.

HTML Code

HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, is the most basic language online that is “read” by your web browser which then interprets it and presents you with the website that displays content according to how it was designed. Luckily, this is relatively easy to learn, more so with the multitude of step by step tutorials available on the web complete with screenshots and even videos that range from introductory lessons to more comprehensive courses. Furthermore, web developers or aspiring web developers must also keep abreast of the times by going the extra mile and familiarizing themselves with more advanced markup languages such as XHTML and XML as well.

CSS

Since a website’s appearance has a lot to do with whether the user will stay longer on your site, web developers are typically well versed in using CSS or cascaded style sheets. This is a programming language that makes it a lot simpler to apply a specified formatting style onto the webpage as a whole, instead of setting formatting requirements for each individual component of the webpage from the header to the tables to the body of content. Not only does this make it a lot simpler to make everything appear uniform and therefore professional, CSS also makes it nearly effortless to make formatting changes and see immediate results. Excellent web developers must know CSS inside and out and be able to integrate it seamlessly into their HTML, XHTML, or XML code.

Javascript

Although there are various more complex scripts that can add functionality to any website Javascript is a simply yet effective way to add more function such as form submission, polls, slideshows, mouse hover on effects without the need to run added scripts that consume bandwidth and memory. Each piece of Javascript code is read by your viewer’s web browser, thus it is also known as a client side script, and automatically translates it to the added functionality they see when they browse your webpages.

Server Side Scripting

Although Javascript provides added functionality and gives your browsers and opportunity to interact with the site, it still has its limits. For clients who want business websites that require the exchange of a lot if information such as e-commerce sites,  membership sites, and email functionality, integrating more complex scripts on the side of the server. This means that the scripts are run by the shared or dedicated server from ServerSpace or similar others hosting providers instead of by the client’s browser.

Common ones include Java, PHP, ASP, NET, Visual Basic, etc. In cases where the web developers will be retained as website administrators after completion of the project, they would need to be familiar with operating systems such as Unix and Linux as well.

Database Management

More advanced websites also make it a point to collect information such as names, email addresses, and other demographic data, which is then stored in databases hosted by the servers located on-site, or remotely at a data centre UK or even on the Cloud. At the very least, web developers have w working knowledge of Simple Query Language (SGL) which is the programming language used in database management systems such as MySQL or Pyrrho. Most advanced web developers are not only adept at integrating database management systems into your website but are skilled in database administration as well.

Certification

Most of the skills mentioned previously can actually be self-taught although it will undeniably take more time and not a little trial and error. One practical way to do so would be to design your own website of choice and build it up gradually until you achieve your ideal site complete with the optimal functionality for the ultimate, hassle-free browser experience. Along the way, you should expect to find bugs and problems which you will have to find your way around to troubleshoot. It will undoubtedly take years for a web developer to rightfully deem themselves as experts and with the rapid fluxes in information technology now, continued education is essential in order to remain current and relevant enough to have a steady flow of work.

However, unless a web developer has been lucky enough to establish a loyal client base who are active in promoting him or her by word of mouth or published recommendations, certification for the more advanced skills are still necessary to substantiate his or her claim.