Getting Started with Web Development: Where Should I Start?

Posted on September 27th, 2011 | HTML/CSS, Web Development | 5 Comments »

In part one of this series, we discussed exactly what web developers do, and debunked a few web development myths. We also briefly discussed all of the various niches that are a part of the profession. A web developer can choose to focus on anything from static websites (HTML/CSS), WordPress development, to mobile apps and website, and entire web applications. Many web developers try to be the “Jack of All Trades”, and others try to focus on one specialty only.

In this post, part two of the Getting Started with Web Development Series, we’ll look into how to decide on a particular niche, or niches, if you choose more than one. We’ll also look into the core of learning web development: the technologies you should start learning, no matter which direction you plan on going in.

Where Should I Start?

If you’re still interested in web development and want to begin learning from scratch, you’ll have to know where to start. Because web development covers such a broad spectrum, knowing what niche in web development you want to get into will help you determine where to begin. Do you want to create WordPress themes or plugins? How about custom development for Drupal? Do you want to do themes, plugins, and customizations for a wide range of platforms? Or, do you want to create web applications from scratch, work with mobile development, or simply do front-end development, fully understanding the workings behind HTML5, CSS3, semantics, JavaScript libraries, with limited use of other languages?

For each and every niche within this industry, there is a path to follow to becoming that type of a web developer. Simply jumping into one technology and hoping for the best won’t be too beneficial — you must try out a few different specialties, learn what technologies and skill sets they comprise of, and then work on your own skills in those areas.

Let’s say you want to be a WordPress developer. If that’s the case then you’ll want to understand how to build a basic theme, and also begin learning at least the basics of PHP since that is what the platform is built on. If you decide on going for WordPress development, do you want to build themes, plugins, or both? Do you want to do customization for clients to bend the platform exactly to their needs? If so, read tutorials on a variety of subjects within the niche, and start building your own WordPress related products. By simply deciding on the WordPress niche, you now know what you should be learning; you now know what your focus is.

Try Out Several Different Things

I think it’s important to decide on a main specialty (or a couple of specialties) and focus on that, but I also believe in trying out different things to know for sure what you like to do best. It’s also important to try out several things within web development so you can get a base for a variety of niches. For example, even if you never want to fully pursue mobile development, having a basic understanding of the technologies involved can help you in future projects. Many times different technologies and web development niches clash and overlap. With a variety of skill sets (at least the basics), you can take on more projects, get them done to higher quality, and get them done quicker. Even if you end up outsourcing a portion of a project to someone with a more suited specialty, communication with that developer will be easier if you know something about the topic!

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

No matter what niche you research and decide to try out, there are three basic languages you should learn. If you have a any sort of a basis in web development, you know these three are used universally for the most part: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These are the building blocks of front-end development.

All other languages are either based off of these, or otherwise work with them. For example, you’ll probably want to learn AJAX eventually, and you’ll need to understand Javascript beforehand. If you ever want to (or need to) work with XML files or any other markup language for that matter, having a good understanding of HTML and it’s correct semantics will help provide a basis. Then, CSS of course, is the styling behind all web pages, and you’ll often need it not only to style your pages, but also make many JavaScript plugins work.

Beginner Tutorials

HTML5 Tutorials: HTML5 is the newest version of HTML and it’s best to just start here. If you’ve learned HTML in the past, refresh your memory and begin learning semantic HTML5 today.

CSS Tutorials: CSS is how you style a web page. Everything from how your fonts look, to your layout structure, and how your lists, content, images, and everything else is formatted is a result of CSS. CSS3 is the newest version of CSS, but it is mostly important to understand how to use overall CSS efficiently, as CSS3 is mostly additional affects and features, but not the core of CSS in general.

JavaScript Tutorials: Javascript is a client side scripting language that runs on the browser. There is a difference between client side and server side scripting, and server side scripting is often times more advanced as well. However, Javascript is an entire programming language in itself and can get pretty advanced. In the very least, though, all web developers must learn the basics of the language. There’s no need to learn complicated concepts at this point, just learn the basics on how to use it, such as simply inserting content into a <div>, basic mathematical operations, or adding external JavaScript files to a page.

While there are HTML and CSS frameworks out there, it’s really up to the developer’s preference on whether to use them or not. When it comes to Javascript, I recommend for everyone to familiarize themselves with at least Javascript framework, such as Mootools or jQuery. It’s important to know the basics of Javascript in it’s plain form, as well as the basics of using a framework in order to save time, and efficiency.

Start Reading, Participating, and Keep Learning

Ultimately, it’s important to realize that web development is an ever-changing field. The technologies are constantly changing, software is always being upgraded, and trends are always altering. After getting to know the basics of web development, you must also begin to get involved in the web development community. Find a few blogs you like, collect your favorite resources, and get involved in forums and social media in order to keep up to date with the changing times.

How did you get started in web development?

Next: The Top Tools, Websites, Apps, and Resources

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5 Responses

  1. Getting Started with Web Development: What Do Web Developers Do? » Kayla Knight | Freelance Web Design & Development | Ames, IA, USA  on September 27th, 2011 at 10:38 pm

    [...] Part 2: Where Do I Start? [...]


  2. Ali Rowan  on September 27th, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    Thanks for the tips, Kayla! I’ve been working on my coding skills basically since the age of Neopets customization, but I’ve never really felt that my abilities are developed enough to take on a client. I can usually get the bulk of it coded, but it’s in troubleshooting that I tend to get stuck. How did you determine when your skills were at a sufficient level to start taking on clients, because I’m sure even the most experienced developers get stumped from time to time?


  3. Tom  on September 28th, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    I think your advice is great however I think you should reconsider recommending w3schools. I myself learned HTML there however places such as Opera Web Standards Curriculum, Google’s HTML, CSS, and Javascript from the Ground Up, SitePoint, The MDC (Mozilla’s Doc Center), and W3C’s HTML/Training are more reliable and accurate resources.

    The links above are recommended by  members of the Front-end Dev Community via http://w3fools.com/
    Also really diggin’ your sites design, cheers!
    ~Tom 


  4. Kayla Knight  on September 28th, 2011 at 6:46 pm

    @Ali I believe I took on my first “coding” client back in high school, but I really didn’t know if I was good enough yet. At any rate, I was underpaid and under appreciated, and found the client on Craigslist. Ultimately, this client that was trying to save money paying for a new developer still in high school got what they paid for. Remembering back, I got the job done, but I’m sure there were plenty of errors in my code and it was definitely not to quality that I would do now. From then on, I improved just through experience, and gradually “upped” my client base as my skills improved. Now I feel sufficient, but I’m still learning new technologies and I try to charge appropriately to make up for it.

    @Tom I realize W3Schools has had some bad rep in the past, but in my opinion it’s organized in a great way and explained perfectly for beginners. Plus, I love the section where you can try things out. I always go there first if I want to start learning a new technology, just to get a base knowledge and understanding of the topic. For the most beginner tutorials, there’s not much they can mess up on, and as any beginner will soon find out, it goes beyond the basics where they’ll learn absolutely proper techniques, semantics, and etc from other resources. (It’s definitely not like W3Schools is the only place they’ll learn.) Thanks for linking to these resources though, it’ll hopefully help out a lot of beginners to get set out on the right path. :)


  5. Ryan Nelson  on November 15th, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    Thank you for the help Kayla. I found one of your older tutorials (2009) on a different site and decided to check your site out and have found you have plenty more tutorials! Love the site. Thank you again.