As a student in computer science, I have had the opportunity to delve deep into web development concepts. However, I remember how overwhelming it felt when I first started out. That’s why I’ve put together this list of 20 things that every web developer should know, in a way that’s easy to understand for junior engineers.
- HTML: Hypertext Markup Language is the foundation of web development. It’s what gives structure to your website and allows you to add content.
- CSS: Cascading Style Sheets are what makes your website look beautiful. It’s responsible for your web pages’ layout, colour, and font.
- JavaScript: The most popular programming language for web development. It enables interactivity on your website and allows you to create dynamic and responsive web pages.
- Responsive Design: With the increasing use of mobile devices, it’s essential to ensure your website looks great on any screen size.
- Web Accessibility: Ensuring your website can be accessed by everyone, including those with disabilities, is not only good practice but also a legal requirement.
- SEO: Search Engine Optimization helps improve the visibility of your website on search engines like Google, which is crucial for driving traffic to your website.
- HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol is the foundation of communication on the web. It’s what allows web browsers to communicate with web servers.
- REST: Representational State Transfer is a web architecture that enables the communication between web services.
- API: The Application Programming Interface is a set of protocols and tools for building software applications.
- JSON: JavaScript Object Notation is a lightweight data-interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and easy for machines to parse and generate.
- AJAX: Asynchronous JavaScript and XML is a technique that allows web pages to be updated asynchronously by exchanging data with a web server behind the scenes.
- Node.js: A runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript on the server side.
- Express.js: A web application framework for Node.js that simplifies the process of building web applications.
- SQL: Structured Query Language is a programming language for managing relational databases.
- MongoDB: A NoSQL database that stores data in flexible, JSON-like documents.
- Git: A version control system that allows developers to collaborate on code and track changes over time.
- DevOps: The practice of combining development and operations to improve the quality and efficiency of software development.
- Agile: A project management methodology that emphasizes collaboration, flexibility, and rapid iteration.
- Testing: Ensuring that your code is error-free and functions, as intended, is critical for a successful web development project.
- Deployment: Finally, once your web application is complete, you’ll need to deploy it to a web server so that it’s accessible to the public.
These are just a few essential concepts every web developer should know. While it may seem daunting at first, with practice and dedication, you’ll soon become proficient in web development and be able to build amazing websites and web applications.