If you’re an academic wiz still deciding your path in computing, you’ve come to the right place. In fact, it’s normal to see computer science students contemplating if they want to be a developer and then what type of developer they want to be once they enter the job force.
In this article, we’ll show you the 2021 roadmap of the common tools and languages you will need to learn if you are considering a career in web development.
There are a few tools that you need to know before getting into programming.
- The Command-Line. The Command-Line is essentially learning basic commands such as:
- Creating directories
- Moving directories, AND
- Creating new files
- Git And GitHub. Git is a Version Control system used for tracking changes in your project. GitHub is a code hosting platform for Git, meaning that it offers open-source coding for developers. As a result, it makes a wonderful collaboration tool for developers and digital marketers.
- Design Tools (I.e., Figma). Figma is a free online design tool that lets you inspect the code of the elements, and then measure the layout. When learning Figma, you’ll know how to:
-
- Read Figma design
- Get colors and typography, AND
- Use spaces correctly
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Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
HTML is essentially the “skeleton” for your website. HTML is how you structure your website. It’s a simple coding language to learn, if you’re new to web development. W3Techs suggests that 88.4% of all websites are using the newest version of HTML – HTML5.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
A markup language, CSS is responsible for giving HTML documents and webpages a face. In other words, it describes how an HTML page should look. Another analysis from W3Techs suggests that 96.4% of all websites use CSS.
What’s Expected of Front-End Developers
Front-end developers work on user interface (UI) — what user interacts with. These developers are expected to work with JavaScript, libraries and frameworks, and various projects.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a popular programming language that you’ll mainly work with in web development. Its popularity derives from the biggest names in technology using the programming language. According to Iron Hack, companies like Microsoft, Paypal, and Netflix use JavaScript for their services and apps.
Now, with JavaScript, you’ll need to know:
- Debugging (finding and fixing errors)
- Functions (the “building blocks” in your program)
- Document Object Model (DOM)
- User Interface events (i.e., mouse over, mouse down, click, etc.)
- Fetch API, and so on.
Libraries And Frameworks
- Sass is a preprocessor scripting language that makes the CSS look nicer and develop faster.
- NPM is a package manager for JavaScript, letting you install various packages quickly on a machine.
- React is a front-end framework that’s useful for starting web developers.
- js helps you in server-side rendering or generating static websites.
Project Building
There are many tutorials teaching the basics of web development, but there is no greater teacher than real-time experience building projects. It is important to keep your ideal role and company in mind as you determine which projects will help you build a robust portfolio with the skills needed to land your dream job.
A great first project is your portfolio. As a frontend developer you will be able to put your knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to the test as you build a site that is interactive and reflects your talent.
What’s Expected of Backend Developers
Backend developing is when you work on the logic part of an application, which communicates with the database and front-end.
Servers
Servers for backend developing are written in languages like JavaScript, Python, Ruby, etc. As a result, you’ll get the following backend frameworks to work with:
- Django (Python) is a framework that helps you develop an application faster, since much of its assets are pre-built.
- Express/ Node (JS) is a JavaScript framework that’s easy to learn and implement, and it can be used by any web developer.
- Flask (Python) is an easy, lightweight framework that’s for more advanced web developers; but it’s still important to learn down the road.
- Ruby on Rails (Ruby) is another common framework to consider learning. According to BuiltWith, 970,711 live websites use Ruby, including 667,522 sites in the U.S.
Databases
While there are many Databases to learn about, the most common to learn are:
Backend Language To Use
Languages to learn include the following:
- Deno.js
- Node.js
- The complete MERN Stack (MongoDB, Express, React and Node)
Deployment
“Deployment involves various processes to make it work in your favor,” says Arthur Wallace, a tech blogger at Origin Writings. “The entire process takes load balancing, various actions from GitHub, SSH, monitoring, and SSL certificates.”
- Load balancing is when workloads are distributed across multiple servers. This process prevents any single server from getting overloaded with things to do.
- GitHub actions let you create custom automated software development cycle workflows in your repository, consisting of varying tasks.
- Secure Socket Shell (SSH) is a secure way to access computer over unsecured servers by encrypting data.
- Monitoring is essential to web applications, because with many users on said applications, things like performance and vulnerability will come up.
- SSL Certificates allows websites to move from HTTP to more secure HTTPS. These certificates also contain website public key and other info.
- Serverless FaaS is used to deploy a function or a piece of logic, and then process individual requests.
Conclusion
This roadmap is essential to look through in 2021 when it comes to web development. As you read through this quick guide, you’ll be able to work towards become a web developer, and entering one of the most lucrative industries to date!
About the Author
Regina Wheeler is a writer and editor at Write my case study and Dissertation writing service. She is also a contributing writer for Next Coursework. As an eLearning consultant, she specializes in coding, mathematics, and digital marketing.
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