The Internet has become an extensive part of our daily lives, websites serving their inherent purposes to this end; have you ever wondered what it takes to build that website? You may have come across the terms web coding or web development; people think they are the same, but technically carry different meanings in some aspects. In this blog, we will highlight the key differences and similarities between web coding and web development in simple terms.
Web Coding Explained
Web coding is the way of writing codes that would make a site function. It is like stipulating instructions that are to be followed by a machine. These instructions direct how information will be shown by the site, what happens when a button is clicked, and how the different elements come together with each other.
Some of the common coding languages applied in web development include:
HTML (HyperText Markup Language): This is like the foundation of the inner architecture of any website. It decides the structure of content, which includes text, images, and links.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): This language is in charge of the actual colors of the website, fonts, and so forth in web design.
JavaScript: This is a language that allows interactivity within a website, from animations to pop-ups and validating user input.
Coding is a primary aspect of website creation, whether it is for the Web, and forming this foundation is usually the first step to creating a functional web page.
What is Web Development?
Web development is a very broad term in which web coding is only a tiny part. A web developer codes, designs, tests, and maintains a website. There are three major branches of web development.
- Front-End Development: This deals with what a user sees on a website. These involve the use of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to present visually appealing and interactive web pages.
- Back-End Development: The services and applications that run a website without the user knowing about them, databases, servers, and programming languages like Python, PHP, and Ruby, are integrated to make the functioning of a website sound.
The focus of Full-Stack is on both front-end and back-end development, whether you design it or manage its servers.
The Key Differences
What Are the Relationships That They Share?
Web coding and web development sound different, but there is a strong connection between the two. Code brings all the pages into existence on a website, while development works for the whole concept. Hence, without coding, there could not exist web development. That means web developers should possess coding skills to construct and maintain sites.
If you want to start with web development, coding first is the paramount thing to learn. Many enter into the coding world with basics like HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, then proceed to higher lessons like frameworks, databases, and security.
What to Learn?
- If you are thinking about learning web technologies, you may want to consider whether to specialize in coding or web development. Here are some points to keep in mind:
- It is suggested that beginners start with web coding such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, since this is a very good foundation.
- If creating full-featured websites or web applications interests you, consider implementing web development.
- If you like working in design and customer experience, then front-end development may be the one for you.
- You would be more inclined towards back-end development if data manipulation and working with the logic side of the server-side excite you.
- A full-stack developer does both.
Web coding and web development aren't the same; in fact, there's much overlap. Coding forms a very important part of web development, but much more is involved in designing databases and security too. If you're new, start coding, it's a first step. As you explore your experience in it, you'll find more of that web development layered over it. Be it coding or web development, the internet is always short of skills to create and maintain websites.
