What does a web developer do

Web developers are the most in-demand programmers. There are many of these specialists, but finding a job is relatively easy.

The word “web developer” seems quite understandable – it is obvious that he develops something for the web. In fact, everything is not so simple. The modern Internet bears little resemblance to the web of the nineties or zero: there are so many technologies that it is simply unrealistic to keep track of everything at once. Therefore, there are three major specializations in the web developer profession:

Frontend developer is a programmer who creates the interface, the visible part of the application. He takes care of communication with the client, takes orders. When we visit websites, we usually click on buttons or put an item in the shopping cart. The frontend is responsible for all this.

We are not interested in what is inside – the main thing is that everything works well. Well, if the mobile version of the site crawls out of the screen on the sides, the frontend developer is to blame.

Backend developer – responsible for the internals, the server side of the site.
A full stack developer is a multi-station developer who can do both backend and frontend. It makes everything a little slower, and it is difficult to pump skills to the ideal. But in the course of all processes – inside and out. Experienced developers say that it’s easier to come to fullstack from the backend.

Backend developer skills

Be proficient in one of the programming languages (PHP, Java, Go or Python).

Be able to work with package managers (package manager) – these are special utilities that allow you to add third-party libraries to applications in order to create new functions and expand your capabilities. Each language has its own package manager (in Python it’s called pip, in PHP it’s Composer, in Ruby it’s RubyGems, etc.).

Know the SQL query language. Understand how databases are structured and be able to work with them. Know the basics of working with the Git version control system. Be able to work with frameworks – they combine a set of technical tools that simplify the performance of a task. For backend development, the most commonly used frameworks are Laravel, Symfony and Yii.

Frontend developer skills

HTML, CSS and JavaScript. HTML creates the skeleton of the page, CSS helps to customize colors, fonts and internal content. Using JavaScript, you can add sliders, animations, and other dynamic elements to your site. Have basic skills in working in the console and using the NPM package manager, which allows you to quickly and conveniently load JavaScript libraries and applications.

Be familiar with the Git version control system. Be able to work with the project assembler. This is a small code that determines the sequence of actions when the application is automatically launched from the command line. There are several project builders, the most popular being gulp.js.

Be able to layout and adapt the site for different browsers and screens. Know one of the modern frameworks: React, Angular or Vue.js. The framework manages the state of individual page components. Accordingly, the user does not have to reload the entire page for each click, since the framework provides an instant application response.

Full stack developer skills

A fullstack specialist should be equally well versed in both frontend and backend – he performs a full development cycle. He needs to know one or more programming languages. For frontend development: JavaScript, for backend development – Python.

Be able to apply the main frameworks. For frontend development, JavaScript and React, Angular or Vue.js frameworks are used. For backend development – Python with Django, Flask or Sanic frameworks, JavaScript with Express or Fastify frameworks, PHP and Laravel framework. Knowledge of SQL and CSS markup language. Understand Docker and Git containerization systems, know the basics of system administration.

The requirements for developers in terms of soft skills for all professions are the same: they are communication skills, the ability to work in a team and the desire to develop, as technologies are constantly changing and becoming more complex.