Web development

Definition and basics

Web development is the creation of websites and applications for the internet. A web developer's job is not only to plan the design and architecture but also to take care of the further development, maintenance, subsequent improvement and creation of extensions for existing websites or web apps.

Web developers usually carry out requirements analyses. Internationalisation and localisation processes also have to be carried out when a company's website has a global focus.

Three layers

• Frontend development refers to client-side programming — that is, what the customer sees
• Backend development refers to developing the systems running in the background
• Database technology: a database holds all the files and content required for a website to work successfully

Web programming

There are various options for programming websites. If you have no programming knowledge, you can fall back on all kinds of website builders, such as Wix, Jimdo or Webnode.

If you have a basic prior knowledge of programming languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP, you can program the application yourself with the greatest possible freedom.

HTML

The Hypertext Markup Language (Hypertext Markup Language) lets you define the basic structure of a website. With it, you can build elements such as text sections or hyperlinks using so-called tags. In web development, it serves to provide the rough semantic structure of digital content.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS for short) is used by web developers to define the appearance of a file formatted in HTML.

JavaScript

JavaScript is used to integrate dynamic content, such as input fields or animations, into a website. It is used as an extension of the basic framework of HTML and CSS.

PHP

PHP is a scripting language that is interpreted server-side. The web server passes the file to a PHP interpreter, which generates the requested website and returns it to the web server. From there, the interpreter's output is sent to the browser.

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