Posted on Friday 2nd of March 2007 at 13:57 in Web Development

What to know to become a web developer

It's something I'm asked quite a lot and I know it's a question a lot of people have - what does it take to be a web developer? I hope to try and answer a few of your questions and express some reality along the way.

Technologies
The technologies and languages that you decide to specialise in are entirely your decision because the job market shifts from time to time, the high paying jobs of today won't necessarily be the high paying jobs of the day you're employed. Learning Ruby now may seem like a good idea but will it pay off later? These are the gambles you take when specialising. In my eyes it's best to be a jack-of-all-trades. Learn some PHP, some ASP.net and Java and you should be in very good stead.

Fundamentals
You need to be doing table-less XHTML/CSS layouts with your eyes shut with an eye for usability and accessibility (both have guidelines readily available on the internet - with recommended standards to adhere to). You can't really be a web developer in this day and age without being confident in table-less layouts. You should also have a practical understanding of SQL of any variety because it will be necessary.

Interests and other knowledge

It's useful to have certain interests, places where you digest information and other skills to draw upon.

JavaScript frameworks
Something I'm notoriously poor at but important non-the-less is the use and understanding of JavaScript frameworks like Script.aculo.us and Moo.fx. These enable you to do a lot of very cool 'flash-like' effects that the majority of your non-developer friends will assume is AJAX. Web2.0 seems to be represented by a lot of 'slidey' JavaScript and is a desirable for clients - albeit if they don't ask for it they are impressed by it.

Content Management Systems
Having a working knowledge of various content management systems is a very useful thing to have because there may be clients who would benefit from a current CMS than a bespoke system you make. You can find a nice selection at OpenSourceCMS who allow you to play with demo copies of most. I recommend having a good look at Joomla and Drupal if you're going to look at anything at all.


 
Search Engine Optimisation
There are dozens of thorough guides on the internet to help explain the basic principles of SEO to you and reading any of them can be classed as time well spent. SEO from a web development point of view is ensuring that the site is constructed in a way that search engines can index the pages and content efficiently. There's a lot more to SEO than the development of a site is concerned (the shady practice of link building etc) but it's good to have a knowledge of how search engine spiders work and how to best structure a site for their indexing.

Flash
Knowing how to use it (in it's traditional sense) is a valuably ability (that I lack) but having a more rounded and educated understanding of the technology is advised. Thinking of it as purely presentation tier stuff is rather dated now, with some amazing functionality available. How about having a direct connection to a virtual whiteboard where you and a few others are able to free-draw on it - and it instantly gets updated on each other's machines? How about low-resource video streaming? Read up on the power of flash and find a new-found admiration for the people who use it to the full.

Above all else...

Learn restraint. Suddenly finding the ability to make layers fade in and out through JavaScript doesn't mean that the entire site should do it. Remember, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Content

Whether working as a freelance/contractual developer or being permanently employed - content implementation can be a big part of the job so it's important to evaluate how you feel about that. If you're working freelance then it's important to leave zero space for interpretation in your agreement with the client. It's best to agree a price for the implementation of the supplied content - any revisions to that copy (however small) come at extra cost.

Masses of content implementation is data entry and that's not what you want to be doing - if you did then that's where you'd be working. Unfortunately it's often part of the job (especially in freelance/small company situations) so you need to be comfortable with your copy and paste abilities.

Conclusion
It can be a painfully dull, repetitive job. But it can also be exciting and creative in dozens of ways and I think it's just a case of finding that balance - whether freelance or in full employment. Ultimately I'm a fan of personal happiness and there are certainly swings and roundabouts with being a web developer - as I'm sure there is with any profession.

Hope I was of some help...

 

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