Introduction
Web development is a broad and trending field. You can get a reasonably high paying job or a great freelancing gig if you have the right skills. It is a very practical field, and there’s no need for you to be a programmer. Anyone can learn the tools for development and get started. Now, a lot of people get intimidated to start learning web development because you need to master a lot of different languages, libraries, and frameworks to develop a fully functional website, but with proper guidance, nothing is impossible. Don’t run behind multiple courses from multiple platforms for a particular technology. Choose one tutorial and stick to it.
There are three categories in web development:
- Front end web development – front end web developers design how the client-side of the website looks.
- Back-end web development – back-end web developers design and maintain the server-side of a website. They are responsible for the proper functionality of the website.
- Database – database developers or programmers are responsible for maintaining and storing a website’s data in databases.
You don’t need to be proficient in all three categories to start your journey as a web developer. You can get started as soon as you get enough experience and skill required for anyone.
COMMON/ESSENTIAL LANGUAGES AND TECHNOLOGIES
- Git and Github – Git is a version control system, and GitHub is a website where you can store your code, look at other people’s codes, and contribute to organizations.
- Basic terminal/Linux/command prompt commands – All these are somewhat the same. These commands differ from OS to OS, but you need to memorize only a few that will come into use.
NOW LET'S LOOK AT EACH OF THE THREE CATEGORIES IN DETAIL
- Front-end – The most essential languages for becoming a front end developer are HTML, CSS, and the basics of JavaScript. After you have mastered these three programming languages, you need to start learning a few front-end frameworks like React.js, Vue.js, or Angular.js. Out of the three, React.js and Angular.js are becoming very popular nowadays, so we would recommend learning those. The most important step that you must follow is practice while you study these languages and frameworks. Try cloning a few websites that you like, and keep on increasing the difficulty level of them.
- Back-end – Whenever you open a website that contains a form, you enter the data and get a response back. It is what back end developers are responsible for. They develop the code for how a process will take place whenever a client requests any information. The back end is where all the operations that you can’t see take place. If you want to work as a backend developer, here are three sets of languages/frameworks you can use. 1) Python + Django 2) Node.js 3) Java + Spring. Node.js is the most preferred one currently.
- Database – To become a database developer, you can use MongoDB ( that is a No SQL Database ).
Whenever you talk about web development, you hear a lot about the MERN and MEAN stacks. A stack is a group of technologies that programmers use together to create a fully functional website. MERN stands for MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node.js, whereas MEAN stands for MongoDB, Express.js, Angular.js, and Node.js.
Start from the basics and level up from there. Start with HTML & CSS and spend about 15-20 days learning the concepts and writing codes. You can refer to W3schools for learning these languages. After you are done with that, move to JavaScript and practice its basics for a few days. After you are done with these three, try a challenge called VanillaJS. It is a 30-day challenge to build projects using only JavaScript. It is to make sure that you are thorough with your concepts before you move on to studying JavaScript libraries.
Then take around 50-60 days to practice the front-end frameworks like React.js or Angular.js. Now decide whether you want to become a full-stack developer or just work on the front end. If you choose to work on the front end, then you don’t need any other technologies. Start working on your skills by doing internships or freelance. But if you decide to become a full-stack developer, then spend the next two months learning backend and database technologies.
After you are done practicing all these and have designed your website, deploy it on the web using Docker, AWS, Heroku, etc., so that anyone on the internet can now access it.
: By-Ria Prasad.
Also Read:
