Do you want to build a career in web development? Well, you have probably chosen a skill set that is very easy to develop just within a few months of time requiring no prior experience or educational background. Since websites and web apps still make the digital footprints of most companies and organisations, it is ways a sought-after skill in the market.
Do you want to make a career in web development and learn how to build a website from scratch? Do you want to get hired by a leading web application development company? Let’s provide a step by step guide to help you become a web developer.
Get versed with web fundamentals
The most basic step you should start with is learning the fundamental skills required by a web developer. These fundamentals involve having an in-depth knowledge of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), JavaScript, and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
- HTML basically controls the way website contents appear on the screen and is considered a key language for shaping the look and feel of the web project.
- JavaScript is the most dynamic language used for incorporating interactive features into a website.
- The CSS looks after the style elements that control the appearance of the website pages to a great extent.
Select a web development specialisation
Now, after learning the basic development skills, you should focus on learning the specialised skills. A web developer can only specialise in frontend or backend or in both. Accordingly, there are three main specifications that we need to look into.
- Frontend developer: The frontend developer specialises in creating the representational or “client-side” layer of a web project. Since the front is responsible for the user interactions, every web project needs to hire front end developers.
- Back-End Developer: Backend developers mainly work on the “server-side” or with the aspects controlling server configuration, performance and responses orchestrated through database, server, hosting, network and APIs.
- Full-Stack Developer: The Full-Stack developers are capable to handle both front-and back-end development tasks and they can build a website from start to finish by taking care of everything in between.
Learn WordPress and a few CMS solutions
WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) used by the vast majority of websites all over the world. Empowering more than 65% of all websites, WordPress has become a key skill for anyone trying to sharpen his skill in web development. WordPress offers a theme and plug-in based, dashboard controlled modular approach to web development that anyone can get used to quickly.
Apart from WordPress, there are several other leading CMS solutions that continue to gain popularity. Magento us widely popular for e-commerce web development and Drupal is used by multitudes of government agencies, big companies and administrative websites. Instead of or besides WordPress, you can also learn these CMS solutions to shape your career with Content Management Systems (CMS).
Learning the basics of UI/UX design
UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) representing the look and feel and ease of use are key aspects of website design and development. Though web design is not web development, having UI/UX design knowledge is necessary for building powerful websites.
Having a thorough knowledge of user experience (UX) design, one can easily create a website that is user-optimised. Thanks to excellent UI/UX design, a website can engage and retain users for longer and generate more leads or make more business conversions. Have some training with Adobe Creative Suite and for more serious design outputs, you can also use Adobe Photoshop.
Create some web development projects
Now, when you have a solid command of basic web design and development skills, it is important to create some web development projects. Building a small website with basic features and design elements will boost your confidence to progress further and try new skills.
Over time, as a developer, you will progress well beyond the trinity of key web development skills such as JavaScript, HTML and CSS and learn more sophisticated skills such as Python or Ruby. For becoming a web developer it is important to work a lot on dammy web projects and try new things and learn from the output. To have frequently updated knowledge on web development, it is advisable to get versed with version control systems such as GitHub and developer forums such as StackOverflow.
Create a Portfolio of web projects
As an aspiring web developer, you should create a portfolio of successful web projects that you have created. The portfolio apart from your experience will also showcase your strengths as a developer. Let’s provide some useful tips for creating a web development portfolio.
- Make sure the portfolio includes a wide variety of web development projects. It should show not just the skills that you are versed with but all the varieties of web development you can handle. While you select the best development jobs for showcasing, always give attention to representing a variety as well.
- Explain the ways the website offers a unique experience to the users and highlight them in the portfolio. For the front, user experience should be highlighted and for the backend, the smooth and seamless performance and faster loading should be highlighted in the portfolio.
- Lastly, the portfolio should also mention the development process and methodology you follow. Create case study write-ups for every portfolio item and mention the value offerings and process excellence that make you a developer of high calibre.
Parting Words
To become a successful web developer from scratch, you have several ways to acquire and nourish your skills. Most of these ways and measures have been tested and tried by thousands of successful web developers working either as freelancers or as a developer of a reputed development firm.
