Let’s Learn the Basics of Website Development

Learning about web development is very challenging and can be time-consuming. Try searching for ‘coding’ on Google and you will get a taste of it. This article serves as a small introduction to the world of website development and gives you a glimpse of the nuances of the industry. It is by no means an extensive manual on the subject. In this guide, we will be covering the bare basics of web development and the main terminologies involved in the creation of a website. So, let’s begin!

What is a website?

Websites are files stored on servers, which is a kind of computer that hosts websites. And by ‘host’, it simply means ‘store files for’. These servers are connected to a network called the internet or the World Wide Web.

Browsers are the computer programs that load these websites through an internet connection, like the Internet Explorer or Google Chrome. The computer through which a website is accessed is also known as the client.

What is website development?

The term refers to the work that goes into creating a website. This could apply to anything from developing a single text webpage to creating a complex web application.

On the other hand, web development refers to coding and web markup and includes every other development task that is related to the process. This includes server-side scripting, client-side scripting, server, and network security configuration, CMS development, and ecommerce development.

What is an IP address?

IP address, or the Internet Protocol, is a set of standards that govern and manage the interaction on the internet.

In order to access a website, you need to know its IP address, which is usually a unique string of numbers. Additionally, each device also has an IP address that distinguishes it from the billions of other devices and websites that are connected through the internet.

What does HTTP mean?

HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol connects a user and their website request to the remote server that houses the website data. It is a set of web development rules (or protocols) that define how messages should be sent across the internet. It lets you jump between web pages and websites.

When you search for a website on your web browser or look for something else through a search engine, HTTP provides a framework so that the device and the server can communicate in the same language when they make requests over the internet. It is technically the translator between the internet and you.

What is coding?

The term refers to writing code for applications and servers using programming languages. They are called web development languages because they include grammatical rules and vocabulary for communicating with computers. They also include special abbreviations, commands, and punctuations that can only be read by programs and devices. While there are different types of coding languages, they majorly fall into two categories – front-end and back-end.

What does front-end mean?

Front-end, or client-side is the side of a software or website that you interact with as an internet user. When the information is transferred from a server to a browser, front-end language enables the website and its web design to function without having to constantly communicate with the internet.

This code lets users interact with a website’s web designs and play videos, highlight texts, expand or minimize images, and more. Web developers that work on front-end coding work on the client-side development.

What is the back-end?

Back-end, also known as the server-side is the side that you do not see when you use the internet. It is the digital infrastructure. Therefore, to non-developers, it will look like a bunch of letters, numbers, and symbols. There are several back-end web development coding languages since a server at the back-end can be configured to understand pretty much any language. Before hiring a web development company to build your business website, find out their technical competence by understanding their frontend and backend expertise.

What is a CMS?

A CMS, or a content management system (CMS) is a web application or a series of programs that are used to build and manage web content. Although not mandatory to create a website, using a CMS will certainly make things easier. It gives the building blocks (like add-ons and plugins) and allows you to develop the structure with your code. CMSs are usually used for ecommerce solutions and CRM solutions, but they are useful for all types of websites.

What is cybersecurity?

As long as the internet exists, there will be people looking for vulnerabilities in web designs to steal data, expose private information, and crash servers. Cybersecurity refers to the practice of securing our data, networks, and computers from such threats.

The technologies and methods used by hackers are constantly changing, as are the security measures taken to stay secure from them. Failing to comprehend how your website could be targeted might result in danger. Therefore, it is important to have a basic understanding of cybersecurity while learning web development.

Conclusion

The internet is constantly evolving. It is getting better every day, and web developers are on the front lines of these improvements and innovations. From this article to the apps you use on your phone and your favorite social media platforms, web development touches almost every part of your daily life – and your business.

Before diving into your business website development, take the time to understand programming and coding to improve not your web presence, but the experiences of your customers too.