Whether you are on a career change from another industry or want to rejoin the workforce over time, there is a good chance you will find the flexibility and pay you are looking for for a technical career. One of the most versatile ways of technology is web development, which leads us to the burning question:
This may sound like a hard-to-reach goal, but the path to becoming a developer is not as difficult as you might think – for example, try a few years versus a few months to figure out the time it takes to learn the skills you need. Meanwhile, there is a whole world of resources to teach you how to build a website, many of which are free. Read below to learn some of the basic steps you can take to become a website developer.
Step 1: Choose the skills you need for web development
Web development jobs are usually skill-based (as opposed to testimonials such as a technology-specific bachelor’s degree or even an associate’s degree), which means you can do the job if you have the skills. The first step on the path to web development: determine what these skills are.
In doing so, it is important to note that web developers have jobs in two areas: front-end development and back-end development.
Front and web development skills
HTML
CSS
JavaScript
HTML and CSS are markup languages used to define parts of a web page and their style (font, color, layout), respectively. Meanwhile, JavaScript is a scripting language used to control dynamic content on web pages, such as scrolling videos, animated graphics, and interactive maps. The work experience in these three languages is enough to start the work given in the field of web development.
Back and web-development skills:
HTML
CSS
JavaScript / NodeJS
PHP / Laravel
Back-end programming deals with the “under the hood” aspects of websites – things like writing code to request and fetch data from databases and then displaying data with HTML, CSS and JavaScript content. Common skills used for backend development include web frameworks (a set of pre-written code that developers can reuse for repetitive tasks) such as Laravel and NodeJS (as well as those frameworks such as languages built into PHP and JavaScript).
While these skills need to be started for front-end or back-end web development, your personal approach and inspiration are just as important as your skills. As with any career, when successful web developers need to take the initiative in learning and embracing new challenges, it is important to really enjoy their work.
Step 2: Start learning web development and put your skills into practice
Once you have a clear idea of what a web development skill needs to be and how to become a web developer, it’s time to start learning those skills. Does that mean going back to school for a new four-year degree in computer science? No! You can choose skills like HTML, CSS and JavaScript in the classroom setting, you can learn them from your own home and at your own pace or you can do various trainings for a complete guide.
Basic 3: Get started with HTML, CSS and JavaScript
There are free HTML, CSS and JavaScript tutorials available through companies like Codeacademy and w3schools. Meanwhile, paid coding classes are available if you sit down for more structure and support. All of these bypass college time and expense or even coding personally bootcamp. As we provide at the Pencilbox Training Institute.
Find a web development community for feedback and advice
In addition to learning the basics of skills through tutorials and online classes, you should also participate in online coding communities like GitHub and Stack Overflow. GitHub is a forum where web developers can post projects they work on, share code with other developers, and get peer-to-peer comments about their work. Stack Overflow is a coding-related discussion board where developers interact through a Q&A format. These two platforms are the ideal place to try out what you have learned and to gain real-world experience and feedback.
Practice with free tools to increase your knowledge
Lastly, take the time to learn about the many free tools available to web developers and look for the best quality providers. Whether it’s text editors, web browser extensions or content management systems, you’ll be amazed at how much resources you need.
Step 3: Find the right web developer job for you
Once you’ve set up a solid web developer skills setup, it’s time to think about what kind of work you want to do – you are the developer of an established organization.