You may have noticed that the internet is kind of important, I mean without it where would we be as a species?
The internet has grown tremendously in terms of users over the past 20 years and is set to gain even more users in the near future. Where better to build a career than a booming industry full of endless possibilities that the whole world relies on.
Thanks to this endless void of information, it is now easier than ever to learn online. Any profession or skill has countless videos and courses for those studying online. In a time when going to university is so expensive, and the same material is available online, more people than ever are choosing to forgo traditional schooling to learn their trade online.
With the growth of the internet and improvement of technology, website development courses have been popping up all over the place. However, this has also introduced more competition with everyone wanting to work in the exciting internet industry. But in a world where every business and person has a website, becoming a web developer is a smart move.
Whether you are unhappy in your current profession or are just coming out of school and want to become a website developer, there are plenty of resources that will let you become a professional website developer by studying online.
But how do you become a website developer and where do you begin?
What is a website developer?
Before we jump into the strategy of how to actually become a website developer, it’s important to understand what the job entails. Even though you can learn the necessary skills by studying online, it is not an easy undertaking and should be sure that this is a career path you want to follow before beginning.
Essentially, a website developer builds and maintains websites. A slightly cooler answer is that they are the lifeblood of the internet and without them, the whole world would collapse. All jokes aside, they are one of the most crucial and sought after groups of professionals today, and with that comes a lot of responsibility and tasks.
Daily duties of a website developer include:
- Writing code – building the website using a variety of coding languages
- Optimising the user experience (UX) for different audiences and devices
- Building websites from scratch – creating fully functional websites and prototypes using a combination of online tools and coding languages.
- Maintaining websites – updating plugins, fixing errors or generally polishing the design and efficiency.
- Keeping up to date with the developments of the ever-evolving coding languages by studying online.
How To Become a Website Developer
The first thing to decide before you embark on your online journey, is what type of website developer do you want to be? Are you creative or analytical?
Website developers are essentially split up into three categories, front end, back end and full-stack.
Front End Developers – These developers deal with everything you see as a user of the website, the menus, images, transitions and buttons.
Back End Developers – You guessed it, they deal with everything you don’t see. These are the people writing the code that build the actual website while maintaining servers and databases.
Full-Stack Developers – They do it all. However, it is common for someone to start out in a speciality and work their way up to becoming a full-stack developer. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can definitely learn to become a full-stack developer right out the gate by studying online.
Now you have decided what sort of website developer you want to be, it’s time to start studying online.
Becoming a website developer requires a developed knowledge of multiple programming languages, whether you are a front or back end developer. Luckily for you, these basic languages are not nearly as difficult to learn as classic programming languages such as C++.
The main languages you will need to learn are HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL and PHP. You will also need to learn about search engine optimisation (SEO) and user experience (UX). There is an abundance of online resources for studying online.
Some of the best websites for learning these languages include BitDegree, Coursera, Code Academy and edX.
Looking back a couple of years it is amazing to think that you could become a professional website developer by studying online. There is an abundance of great online content and courses that allow you to study online in your own time. Learning to become a website developer is not a walk in the park, however, and if you want to learn on your own outside of school or university, you need to have motivation.
