Web Development for Web Designers

The difference between Mobile Web Development and mobile apps development is often discussed online: on the IT forums and in articles like this one. They all describe the peculiarities of each notion and how their paths go different ways yet overlap at some point. The question is, can one person really be the jack-of-all-trades and in particular play two roles at once by being both a web developer and a web designer? What are the challenges in terms of web development if you are already a web designer? Let’s see.

According to Wikipedia, web development is a rather broad term for the work involved in developing a website for the Internet or an intranet. Web development often refers to web design, web content development, client-side and/or server-side scripting, client liaison, web server and network security configuration as well as eCommerce development. Generally web professionals call the main non-design part of creating websites with “coding” or “writing markup” words. Big companies employ large web development teams with hundreds of web developers on board. Meanwhile, smaller firms often require a single full-time or contracting webmaster, or even secondary assignment to related positions such as graphic designer and/or information systems technician. Often web development can be a combined effort of a few departments rather than an area of one designated division.

Basically web development stands for programming/application/code building or alteration. In order to create a web system to login into, post articles, images etc., add users, save the information into a DB, one needs a web developer. The process of development does not cover the front page design but it normally describes the programming needed to build the actual backend of a site.

All across the web on IT forums there are hot debates about the actual differences between web developers and web designers. Many developers claim that this is all very simple: web development is what you do to obtain what you see. It is a more general area that comprises web design along with many other areas.

In its turn web design is what you see; it is the actual front end – a page the website surfers will see with everything there is to show: from dynamic menus and flash banners to many other types of bells and whistles. Basically web design is a visual data presentation, a process of planning, modeling, conceptualization and implementation of e-media content delivery through Internet.

There’s a very common opinion that web developers make websites work, and web designers make them look pretty.  Then again, being a web designer doesn’t suggest having less important skills, or an easier job. After all a great deal of web developers do admit that they are lack of that special creativity which allows for designing eye-catching skins and interesting interfaces worth a surf. And what’s web development for a web designer? Do they even get it? To be honest, there are many issues on a daily basis that both web developers and web designers face in their team work: different approaches, different ways of thinking. There is only one constant - common goal to reach the best possible solution for the customer. And even though most sources choose to state that web development and web design are basically two different things, we tend to lean toward the fact that they are two stages in software development life cycle, and therefore can be combined by one person, when required.

So what it takes to be a web developer, if you are already a web designer? It definitely takes a lot of hard work and courage. And if you decide to do some web development as a web designer, good luck and have fun!