A Career in Web Coding

Coders and developers are the behind-the-scenes people who make it possible for us to upload pictures on Facebook, shop on Amazon, and keep up with our friends on Instagram. Their work has helped shape and expand the web in ways that most of us can’t even imagine. And while many people think that computer programming is only for super-smart, technical types, anyone can learn to code. Just like learning a foreign language, coding has its own unique set of rules and syntax that must be learned step by step.

A career in web coding can be a very rewarding one. There are a number of different ways to get into the field, including completing comprehensive online courses, self-guided tutorials, and coding bootcamps. Independent certifications are also available for many popular coding languages. Depending on their skill level, individuals may be able to start as entry-level web developers or, with experience and education, advance into senior roles in back-end, front-end, and full-stack development.

To begin developing a website, a developer starts with a plain text document and applies HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) tags to it. These tags tell the browser how to interpret the document. The html> tag establishes the document’s type, and within that lies the head> and body> elements. The head> tag sets the document’s character encoding and the body> tag identifies the document title, its heading, and a paragraph of text to be displayed on the web page.

After establishing the structure of a webpage, a developer can add more complex features with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript (a scripting language). This allows them to control how a webpage looks and behaves. For example, a website can be programmed to automatically resize its content and images to fit different screen sizes.

A website’s security, performance, and accessibility are other important concerns for a web developer to address. This includes ensuring that the site is compatible with a variety of browsers and devices, and that it can handle high loads. In addition, a developer should ensure that the site’s code and infrastructure are secure against hackers and other cyber threats.

In some cases, a web developer will have to communicate with clients directly, but it’s common for them to work alone on projects and assignments. Depending on the size of their company, they may also have to meet project milestones and deadlines.

Throughout their careers, web developers will need to continuously learn new skills to stay current with the industry. Some will find themselves adapting to new technology quickly, while others may take a more methodical approach and be skeptical of the latest coding frameworks. For these reasons, it’s important for prospective coders to assess their own strengths and weaknesses to determine the right path forward.