How to Become a Web Developer

The web page you see in front of your eyes is an example of the kind of work web developers engage in. Creating, publishing and maintaining aesthetically appealing web pages which provide desired functionality and interactive ability for the users worldwide, through client and server side coding, is the developer's job.

It's a field where the newest developments become part of history within a few months as better options are brought in. To be a developer is to constantly learn new things and try out new things to create web pages that achieve the desired functionality.

Web developers are classified into 2 groups - client side and server side. A web page resides on a 'server' computer, where it is hosted and can be viewed 24x7. When you type a web page address in your browser, a request is sent to server, which serves it to the client computer. The browser reads the code from server and renders it to display the web page.

A client side programmer works on the client side rendering of the page on the web browser, while a server side programmer works on providing the server side functionality that makes availability and functionality of web pages possible. Here are the most important steps.

The Hypertext Markup Language is the most basic thing you need to learn to create a web page. It is the language which is understood by the web browser to display web content in a specific manner. You need to be fluent in writing HTML code to be able to create basic web pages.

It's an extremely simple language to learn and you will surely enjoy working with it. There are plenty of online HTML tutorials and books to help you out. Later you may also dabble into XHTML and XML which are more advanced markup languages.

Cascaded style sheets (CSS) is a more specialized language used in rendering the formatting of the web page to create web pages with aesthetic beauty. CSS mastery is an essential part of the training course to become a web developer. CSS works with HTML, XHTML and XML to create elegant web pages.

All the functionality you see on web pages like handling of forms, online calculators, etc., is made possible by the use of Javascript, a scripting language exclusively developed to provide functionality in web pages. Learning Javascript is essential as it can be used to directly interact with the user.

Client side scripting can provide very limited functionality and to deliver special functionality like the one required for hosting a site offering email facility, you require server side scripting. To be able to do that, you have to master PHP, ASP.NET, and JavaEE or at least acquire expertise in any one of the four.

A mastery of Java and Java based server side technologies is essential. You will need to learn basic VBscript too, if you plan to do any serious server side scripting on the .NET platform.

Learning to handle server software like Apache and server operating systems like Unix and Linux is also necessary, if you want to double up as a web administrator for the pages you create.

If you want to have a thorough mastery over web development, you need to learn SQL (Simple Query Language) and database management systems like MySQL that are used in web designing. You may also need to learn Oracle database administration in context of web technologies and need to master advanced technologies like AJAX later as your preparation advances.

As you must have realized by now, there is a lot that you need to learn, to even get the basics of web development. A degree in computer science, followed by certification in one of the advanced web technologies like ASP .Net or PHP will provide you with credentials that may help you gain a job in businesses specializing in web development.

Start right now with the learning process and take your first step in learning HTML, then get a hang of Javascript, play around with both for a while before you go into serious server side scripting in PHP.

Keep coding to create elegant web pages, that provide sublime functionality. Keep browsing the web and check out new experiments of master web developers, ponder upon the way in which they must have achieved the desired functionality and try to learn from them.

Keep updating your skill base with the newest developments like AJAX which can provide extreme power to create even better web pages. Keep experimenting, learning coding and spinning your new 'web' pages, to get better at it. Sooner or later as you get better at what you do, with experience, opportunities for employment and projects will walk towards you.