THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEB DESIGN AND WEB DEVELOPMENT

Have you ever asked yourself a question like?what is?Web development??Or?what is the difference between web design and web development?

In this article, we will first try to answer the first question and then focus on the difference between?web design?and?website development.

To begin with, the term web development is as vast as the ocean. There are innumerable programming languages as well?as scores of frameworks?and tools that are the lifeline of technical web development.

Web development is indeed in the same boat as desktop and mobile app development. However, web development forms the basis of it all. Even with the rise of modern app development techniques, it still is undeniable that web development is the king. Therefore, even software developers have to know web development; or at least have a firm grasp of its basics.

Primary Web Development Technology

The commonest technologies that developers work in the development of websites and web applications are HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.

Hypertext Markup Language, HTML

HTML is the heart of web development. It forms the building blocks that developers use to create web applications. In fact, it is possible to code a complete website entirely on HTML.

HTML is a series of tags coded to define a web page’s format, layout, and components. All forms of web development run on HTML. On its own, HTML will nonetheless not accomplish much in rendering a page. It ought to be accompanied by JavaScript and CSS.

Cascading Style Sheets, CSS

HTML was initially used to specify a web page’s format and layout. The problem, however, was that a lot of work had to be done in order to execute a small change in style. For instance, changing the color of buttons in a website, required an alteration of HTML in multiple places.

Nowadays, styling and web content are handled differently during development. HTML handles the content and CSS styles it. This way, one can use a small set of CSS files to style a whole web application. A single file can, for instance, be modified in CSS to change the color of the buttons on an entire site.

JavaScript

This is a programming language that allows the developer to manipulate web pages. By manipulating the model of a webpage using JavaScript, a developer can easily alter the style and structure of a webpage. This makes JavaScript a powerful resource with a critical role in web development.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEB DESIGN AND WEB DEVELOPMENT

It’s common for people in the streets to use the term web designer when they mean web developer and vice versa. However, this is wrong. There is a difference between web design and web development.?A web designer and a web developer are very different professionals; each with a role that’s completely different from the other.

I too once held the misconception that web development and web designs are one and the same. However, if you ever find yourself touring the web industry, either as a client or professional, you’ll need to delineate web design from web development.

Web Design

Web design is all about bringing ideas and web concepts to life. Web designers take your story or vision and create a design that is visually appealing. As such, they are tasked with designing how a website will look and feel. Much like an architect designs the plan before a house is built, so do web designers model a website layout before web developers can begin building the website. It is the layout that web designers create that is used to create the?UX (User Experience)?for the entire site.

The role of a web designer is often taken for granted by folks with little understanding of the job. It’s the designers that develop the entire environment that users find welcoming. They conjure up and create a blueprint for the ultimate user experience. This is no light job given that they have to begin working from a clean slate. All they have is a verbal or written idea of what a client wants. They then tug at this idea and transform it into usable web design. Therefore, it suffices the success of any web project greatly depends on the web designer who broke ground on the project.

Typically, web designers start their work by analyzing the scope of a website; i.e. The purpose and focus of the site. After scrutinizing the scope as well as the features and specifications of the client, the designer will then sketch a model website. Next, they design?wireframes and mock-ups. The final design of a website is usually a layout of the web pages, typography, icons, and buttons among other intricate features.

Features of Excellent Web Designers

• They are able to use tools such as?Sketch, Photoshop,?and Illustrator to design a website.
• They possess impeccable graphics and logo design skills.
• They are always in the know on matters of the latest trends in design technology.
• They are excellent branding masters.

From the roles performed by the web designer, we can understand beforehand that there is a big difference between web design and web development. If still not convinced, let’s move on and have a look at the web developer’s roles.

Web Development

Once a website has been designed, it’s then passed onto the hands of web developers who then turn it into a live website. Developers, relying on a vast array of software, tools, and languages, build the final website that users visit. Web development is as specialized as it is complicated. As such?web developers can specialize in three fields;

1. Front-end development?primarily deals with building the user interface of a website. Front-end developers create the interface of a website by relying on 3 main languages; JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. In their line of work, they insert images, apply different typefaces, add animations and create pages background on top of many other things that enhance a website’s interface.
2. Back-end development?involves more advanced programming that controls various features and interactions on web pages. This facet of development defines how the site works and how a user accomplishes different tasks using the functionality offered by the site. Developers here mainly deal with server requests and data. The developer, therefore, uses server languages such as ASP.NET and PHP as well as data query languages such as MySQL and SQL.
3. Full-stack development?includes aspects of front-end as well as back-end development. Full-stack developers are well-versed in tools and languages that are needed to build a complete, fully-functional website from scratch. They possess adequate knowledge of design as well as user experience.

It is important to know that there is a difference between web design and web development to avoid holding the misconception that a web designer and a web developer are the same.

You can read more about?web development services?(web app development, WordPress development, eCommerce development, websites for startups development, etc.).

Conclusion

In this article, we briefly explained the concept of web development and then highlighted the differences between a web designer and a web developer to make it easier for you to hire the right professional based on your project’s needs.

Nowadays UI/UX design moves a focus of web development. The right?UI/UX design is beneficial for business success, especially for startups.

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