In the rapidly evolving world of web development, knowing the fundamental terms and technologies is crucial for beginners and professionals alike. Whether diving into developing your first web application, hiring an outside firm, or looking to refresh your knowledge, understanding the core concepts and tools can ensure you are asking the right questions. By demystifying these terms, we aim to provide a clear and concise overview that enlightens and empowers you to harness these technologies effectively. However, if you want to go deeper, a great resource is the Mozilla Developer Network (MDN), which you can view here.
Let’s start with some basic terms that will be helpful when we dive into more specifics.
- Front-End Development: The part of web development that involves creating the visual components of a website that users interact with (client-side).
- Back-End Development: The server-side development focuses on database interactions, user authentication, server, network, and hosting configuration.
- Responsive Design: An approach to web design aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices. Responsive Design makes your website look good on a computer, tablet, and phone.
- Content Management System (CMS): A software application or set of related programs to create and manage digital content. The most widely used CMS is WordPress.
- Minimum Viable Product (MVC): This is the simplest product version that can be released to the market with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development.
Next, let’s review some of the terms you’ll find when discussing the Front End. On the front end, only three languages can run in your browser, with only one of them being a programming language.
- HTML (HyperText Markup Language): This is the markup language that powers the web pages you view (including this one).
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A stylesheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in HTML or XML.
- JavaScript: A programming language that allows you to implement complex features on web pages, making them interactive and dynamic. Fun fact: JavaScript can also run on the back-end language inside Node.js.
While the front end is essential, you wouldn’t have much of a web application without a back end. Let’s look at some of the terms we’ll bump into there.
- Server Side Language: These are programming languages that can only run on a server. You won’t find these languages running in your browser like JavaScript. Some of these languages are Ruby, Python, PHP, Java (not to be confused with JavaScript), and C#.
- API (Application Programming Interface): A mechanism that allows two software applications to communicate. It will enable the front end (client) to talk with the back end (server).
- Authentication: Verifying a user’s identity to control access to an application. Without this, anyone could view any data in your web application.
- Database: This is like a digital filing cabinet where you can store, organize, and retrieve information. Just as a filing cabinet contains folders to keep papers organized, a database holds data in a structured format so you can find and use it when needed.
- SQL (Structured Query Language): This language helps organize a database. Some common implementations are MySQL and PostgreSQL.
Now that we’ve covered the front and back end, let’s look at some terms for ensuring your web application has a place to live.
- Web Hosting: A place where your website or web application can be hosted.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): A platform that covers all the bases for hosting your web application.
Lastly, let’s look at a few terms related to the development process.
- Version Control: This is like a time machine for your work. It’s a system that records changes to a file or set of files over time so you can recall specific versions later. The most widely used implementation of Version Control is Git and the web application Github.com.
- Agile Methodology: An iterative approach to project management and software development that helps teams deliver value to their customers faster and with fewer headaches.
And that’s a wrap on our brief tour through the wild world of web development terms. From the magic of making websites look pretty with CSS to building interactive wonders with JavaScript, we’ve covered the essentials that’ll help you the next time you have a conversation about your idea.
Remember, this isn’t just about memorizing definitions—it’s about sparking your curiosity and embarking on an adventure through code, design, and beyond. The web development path is ever-changing and full of surprises and challenges, but armed with some vocabulary, you’re ready to dive in and make some internet magic happen!
