Web Development Vs Web Design

Web development is basically the work involved to create a Web site, generally for the Internet or some other intranet. There are many types of web development as there are many niches on the Internet. Web development can range widely from creating a very simple single static web page of just plain text up to highly complex Web-based computer applications, web-based social network applications, and e-commerce websites. Basically the purpose behind all of this is that Web sites are created for profit and to promote a product or service in one way or another. Creating a Web site can be both simple and complex.

User experience design is where things like navigation and the layout are worked out so that the end user does not have any problems. Sometimes web development is used exclusively and sometimes web design is used as well. A good example of this would be a shopping cart website. The designer of the web design will put together the entire Web site with the shopping cart program, while the user experience designer will do most of the text editing and overall visual layout. Often the two jobs will be done by different people, but they coordinate and work well together.

Then there's the coding part of the web development project. This is where things like XHTML, PHP, and Java will be used. The programmer creates the HTML or the cascading style sheet (CSS) that is needed so that the Web browser can read the Web site. Then the developer uses these codes within the program/code of the Web site. They also create the "style sheet" that all future changes will use so that there is consistency throughout the site.

In addition to the above there's also a lot of "html" coding. This stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, and this is what the designer uses to add interactive features like drop down menus and pop up boxes. Then there's also JavaScript coding, which is just what it sounds like - codes that run on the actual web page. Most web development projects will have both types of coding involved.

Many people don't realize it, but web development projects aren't all about building the site - the graphic designer is just as important. It's the text, pictures, logos, videos - anything that goes on your site has to be created using a text editor. Even then, web developers must use a variety of software - things like Dreamweaver and Microsoft Office.

Even though web development and web design are completely different things, they often go hand in hand. A good web designer will usually write the web development code, while the web development team will implement the text/image/video. Usually web designers have a specific company they work for, but web programmers usually find work for themselves. Regardless of who does what, they both have to keep quality in mind.