With the revolution in the web industry, the job opportunity and career growth have promptly bumped up. As the web industry is offering numerous job roles and responsibilities, it’s no wonder that the industry would be full of different job titles. Some titles would convey the exact activity of the individual or at least offer an overall picture of the person’s primary job role. If you take the example of ‘Project Manager’, this common designation in every web development team will tell you exactly what the person does.
But the other terms will not be too specific or obvious like our above example. You can always find people who would describe themselves as a web designer or web developer which ultimately will give you no clue what the person’s exact job role is. These terms can be considered as a catch-all phrase which basically portrays someone who fits in various characters in website creation process. While they can give you an overall idea of what the person does, it will be ineffective to tell you the individual’s specific job role. Seeing a job posting for hiring just a ‘web developer’ would not tell you much about the exact expertise required for the post. Using the term correctly will involve some precise skills and task to perform.
Specifics of Web Developer
It may sound quite straight and obvious but in easy words, a web developer is a person responsible for programming web pages. Web developer’s area of expertise is to develop the functionality of a website. The designing, look and feel will be managed by the web designer. A web developer basically makes use of the HTML text editors and works with programming languages and databases along with the HTML.
Following are the skills required by a web developer:
- HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): HTML is the fundament of web pages. So, in order to develop a web page, the developer needs to have the right conception of HTML.
- CSS: Cascading Style Sheets control the look and feel of a web page. The front-end web developer does the work of coding the CSS to create the best possible formatting and look of a website.
- JavaScript
- Ajax
- PHP
- Perl
- MySQL from SQL database
- Java
- ASP
- C++
- Client dealing
- Project management
- Creating documentation for technical notions and developing codes
The conclusion is that the companies which are opting for hiring a web developer are finding individuals who possess good programming skills and would be able to create and upkeep websites with a great functionality. However, being just a good developer would not be good enough to enter into a web development firm. You also need to be a great team player which means you have to work with a group of people to taste success. A teamwork may mean anything from working with other developers to working with designers, project stakeholders or clients. In the field of web design and development, your personal skills will also be judged alongside the technical skills. If you are good enough, success would be no problem.
Front-End vs Backend Developer
Most of the people make use of the term ‘Web Developer’ to indicate the programmers. The programmers are called backend developers. The backend developers work with the custom code or database which actually power the website to run smoothly with all its functionality. While saying ‘Backend’, it denotes the functionality which stays in the background of a website. The images, texts, videos, colors, formatting and every styling people get to see are the parts of front-end development which is done by the front-end developers.
Front-end developers create web pages with the help of CSS, HTML and sometimes JavaScript. The developers work and coordinate with the designing team to build the websites by turning the visuals into a working website keeping the look of the website as it is. The front-end developers also share their workspace with the backend developers ensuring that each and every custom functionality is embedded appropriately.
Based on the skill sets of each individual, they may come to a conclusion whether they want to stick to the front-end development or they want to explore their talent and skill in the backend. It may also happen for many developers that they discover their job duties and expertise to cross over and cover a little from each of the development parts: both backend and front-end and occasionally the visual designing as well. More comfortable you become to cross over from one development part to another, the more you will be considered as an asset to the company and will be valuable for the clients.
So, the above is the overall idea of being a web developer. As you have read the above insight, now, you can come to the conclusion which way you want to see yourself leading to. Always think about your interests and consider your skills before jumping into any job in the web industry.
