Beginners Guide: Get Started on Web Development

You are probably here to step into the world of web development or have seen or heard people pursuing it as a career or making projects just for fun. You may be confused about the whole field, what to do and where to start ? Don’t Worry!! You are standing exactly at the same spot I stood in some years ago. A little reading and few hours of practicing will kickstart your career as a web developer and we will be there helping you at every step you need us to.

Web Development is a very popular term used in tech fields that deals with programming, designing and building of websites, hosting and publishing of websites etc. So basically everything that is related to a website and web applications is done in this field.

Everything is getting online so, as a result, a web developer’s job has already been entered in the list of hot jobs of 2017. In this article, I will tell you how to become a web developer. These lines express the importance of web developers in a very nice way –

“These masters of the web don’t just write code; they make the digital magic happen. They’re responsible for what you experience every time you open a browser, app or online game—from content to presentation to behavior layer”.

-Mark Zuckerberg

How to step into the world of web development –

Web development is a career that does not necessarily need a formal education or any degree to get started. A degree may help you to get quicker to your destination, but you can start anytime even without having any prior knowledge of programming.

When I started my web development career, I first took a course in “PHP with WordPress”. It was a 20-day course provided by RCPL. Then, after three months, I got an internship on Internshala. By doing that internship, I learned a lot and kept exploring this field. You won’t believe it but when I first got this internship I even didn’t know the basic skills to do the work that I was assigned. But whenever I had to complete a web-development task, I used to learn it first using the web and then I used to complete it. I have done many projects in the same manner throughout my freelancing career.

Read more about freelancing here: What is Freelancing  and Why I Chose it. It is also said that the best way to learn anything is by learning through implementing.

So these are the steps you can follow to get into this career –

There are two stages of development of any website –

1. Front-end Development – Front-end of any application is something that any user sees, touches or experiences. So regarding creation of a website, a front developer’s role is to design the layout of the website as per the requirement. They are generally artistic, creative, holistic, imaginative and optimistic in nature. Everything related to designing of any website is handled by them. Their role is to make a website look attractive and fancy.
2. Back-end Development – This is the part of the application that is not visible to the user. Back end developers handle everything related to functionality of any website. They generally think logically, technically and analytically. Their role is to make the website function in a proper and systematic way. They even take care of the security and privacy of data.

For better understanding, we can take the example of a mobile phone –

How the mobile phone will look, how many buttons will be there, what will be the size of each button, the color of the mobile phone etc.  will be implemented by the front end developers. But when it comes to the functionality part, that is, how the phone will interact with users, what are the functionalities provided to the user, what are the steps involved in setting up anything on phone etc, is done by back-end developers.

Now first you have to choose which path you want to  proceed –

Front-End or Back-End

For the frontend, you have to start with HTML, CSS, Javascript and Jquery.

         Start with just HTML and CSS , then go for javascript.

For the backend, you can start with any one of the following scripting languages like PHP, Java, Python, Ruby on Rails

I had started by learning PHP, so I personally suggest to start with PHP.

Now I presume you have selected your path so Congrats! you have started your journey in web development field.

• Now search for any good tutorial online and start learning and implementing the things you have learned daily. When you will learn and code by yourself, only then will you learn more easily and also remember it. So start practice coding every day. Practice makes a man perfect.

Some of the good tutorials from where you can start –

• FreeCodeCamp
• Codecademy

Start with their HTML and CSS course first. With Codecademy you write code in the browser, run it and watch the result that your program can do. You will thus enjoy and learn.

• Start building real projects – You don’t need to have deep knowledge or be an expert in these languages to get started. Once you get basic fundamentals of these things, start building small projects. Learn more by doing. If you face any problem, search the internet. When you explore things this way, you will learn easily and quickly.

  I suggest you to start building your first project on day one itself. It may be small but it will be effective for your journey and boost your confidence level.

Just imagine a layout in your mind that you want to design and start coding it. You will face difficulties initially but when you will search it online and explore other things, you will learn better.

Believe me, this is the best way to learn anything. I have implemented it myself. Stack overflow and Codepen are some of your friends in need whenever you face any difficulty while coding.

For setting up of environment for building project follow any good tutorial online. For running just HTML and CSS file you don’t need to set up any environment. You can just save your file and run it on any browser. For PHP file you need to install WAMP for Windows, LAMP server for Linux or MAMP for Mac.

• Host your first website – Gain more pace and confidence in your journey by hosting your first website online. There are many free web hosting providers.

   I hosted my first website on Hostinger. You can also go for  000webhost.

• Start using CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress or Drupal.
  Even if you don’t know how to code or You want to concentrate on other work and still get the benefit of web development, You can choose to work with CMS( Content Management System). WordPress is the first choice for 70+ Million people including me for starting a website or a blog.

Keep Reading
Read about What is CMS and Which one to choose?.
Read about Why WordPress should be your first choice for starting a blog.

After doing these things you can figure out more during this journey by exploring more. So stay updated with us and subscribe and follow to get more posts like these in the future.

Hope your journey in web development will be fruitful for you.