Easy Tutorial
❮ Float And Double Different Struct Size ❯

A Beginner's Guide to Web Development

Category Programming Techniques

You've clicked on this article, which means you're interested in Web development, or you're considering starting to learn Web development. Here, I will tell you the path to becoming a Web developer, which is a guide for beginners on Web development. This article will not teach you how to write code, but rather what to think about before you actually start writing code. Web development is exciting and passionate, fitting the fast-changing world we live in. To understand Web development, let's first define a few basic concepts.

Frontend VS. Backend

At the beginning, it is essential to distinguish between frontend and backend development, so let's introduce them separately.

Web applications are classified as distributed applications, generally with a client-server structure, so we have some code running on the client side and the other part of the code running on the server. The applications on the client side are the frontend, usually referring to our browsers. The most commonly used technologies for frontend development are HTML+CSS+JavaScript. Advanced frontend developers usually use a combination of these technologies to develop the frontend of applications. Another common frontend technology is using Photoshop for design, in conjunction with other technologies to complete the production of Web pages.

Backend developers write the code that runs on the server. Generally, this part of the work requires dealing with databases, such as reading and writing data, reading and writing files, implementing business logic, etc. Sometimes, business logic is stored on the client side, and the backend is used to provide data from the database in the form of Web services. Backend developers generally need to master a Web programming language and a database management system.

You can master both frontend and backend technologies, but most Web developers still have certain preferences, or even only delve into one aspect. Although there is a distinction between the front and back ends, there are no specific tasks prescribed for them. Sometimes the frontend only completes the display of data, while the other main work is done on the backend. But sometimes, the backend only provides data, and all the calculations and specific functions are completed on the frontend. The distribution of front and back-end work is usually determined by the design and architecture of the project.

Programming Languages

For Web development, there are many programming languages to choose from. When you need to develop on the frontend, the standard development language is JavaScript, and when you need to develop on the backend, we have more options:

This is not a definitive list; these are just the languages that developers usually think of and use. So how should you choose? Your choice should be based on several aspects: job market (job opportunities), hosting services, available learning resources, available learning time, and the surrounding development environment.

If you really want to enter the development industry and find a Web development job, the most important factor in your choice is the job market (job opportunities). You need to analyze the industry situation and choose a programming language to learn. Another important factor is hosting services; for example, PHP hosting is much cheaper than Java hosting. And if you want to develop enterprise applications, Java EE might be a good choice. But if you want to launch your application, Java EE is much more expensive than other languages.

With the popularity of Node.js, JavaScript has also become popular in backend development, but it is still a new and immature technology, not recommended for beginners in Web development to learn and use.

In my opinion, PHP has the simplest learning curve, cheap hosting services, abundant learning resources (PHP100 is a good choice), and a relatively simple development environment, so I recommend that beginner Web developers learn to use PHP. Of course, ASP.NET is also a good choice. Microsoft provides a lot of learning resources and free development tools for ASP.NET. If you like the Microsoft environment, it's worth considering ASP.NET.

Frameworks

If you are still a beginner, you should still lay a solid foundation before you start learning frameworks. Frameworks can help you simplify the development work, with many ready-made code libraries, providing you with the structure of Web applications, making your programming work simpler and faster. If you want to become a professional Web developer, you must master at least one framework to speed up your Web development.

There are many types of frameworks, with general solutions and solutions for specific problems. You need to assess your needs first. If you choose PHP development, I recommend using Laravel as a framework, which is a very popular MVC framework in recent years. If you choose ASP.NET, I recommend learning to use ASP.NET MVC and EntityFramework.

Web development may be too large, and you only want to focus on one type of application, such as a content management system (CMS). If you still choose PHP, then I recommend WordPress, which

❮ Float And Double Different Struct Size ❯