What is web development and who is a web developer?
Web development is an important part of every website that wants to reach its potential customers in today's world. It is actually about website development, thanks to which online projects are created such as internet sites or applications. To give you an idea of what a web developer deals with before a finished website sees the light of day, or if you are considering this profession, read on. You will learn:
What is web development?
Web development is actually a technical process behind the creation of websites and last but not least applications. Web development, which actually means web development in translation, includes various steps and parts. Examples include web design, programming, database management, and also security from the perspective of the server, network, and the users themselves.
From the perspective of individual types or industries, web development is divided into front-end, back-end, and full-stack web development. While the front-end includes what the user sees on the computer or smartphone screen, the back-end is what stands in the background. The structure, data, connections, and communication with other necessary elements such as the server and the like. A full-stack developer manages both.
Web development is a constantly evolving field that must adapt to increasingly demanding trends and users. This naturally creates a higher emphasis on a positive user experience. On the other hand, in a large amount of competition, it is necessary for the website to meet technical and content requirements from the perspective of search engine optimization - SEO. This is also the reason why web development includes a whole team of specialists or an agency that covers them.
While simple websites often work based on a boxed solution or template, custom websites with various interactive features and elements tailored to the needs of the website require more complex web development. However, in both cases, it is true that a web developer is behind their creation.
Who is a web developer?
A web developer is a developer of a website or application. A person responsible for a certain part or comprehensive web development. However, their role does not end even after the website development is completed. Since every online project tends to grow, requirements for its modification and the incorporation of new applications or connections to third parties come throughout the life of the website.
Web developers are essentially responsible for coding (programming), design, implementation, and as we have already mentioned, also regular or ad-hoc maintenance of websites and their functions. What exactly falls into their job description?
What is the job description of a web developer?
The equivalent of a web developer is to some extent a programmer. From this it follows that a web developer creates and modifies the code behind the website. There are several programming languages that they use for their work. The result should be efficient and optimized code that in the background serves the user's interactions with the website or application. For this reason, it is important that the web developer is able to read the assignment and analyze the client's requirements or the assignment and reflect on them by creating functional solutions.
After completing the development, the developer checks the functionality of the website in various phases of testing to identify all possible problems and eliminate them before the final launch of the website. For an online project to be successful, developers constantly collaborate with a team of specialists, who propose adjustments within better usability of the website, optimization for better placement in organic search, deploy new plugins, refine functionality or solve website maintenance.
ui42 TIP: The usability of the website is an important dimension that stands behind its success. Even the most modern web design can be useless if it is not usable. That is why many websites and applications use usability testing. You can read more about it in the article Usability Testing and Its Importance.
Do you want to join our development team? Check out the job vacancies and definitely contact us.
What are the basic principles of web development?
Functionality and modern design of the website are an important foundation. However, the goal of professional web development is efficient, secure, and accessible websites and applications for all users. What are the most basic principles to achieve this?
User in the center of interest
In today's web development, the user is at the center. Therefore, it should always take into account his needs and the most comfortable path across the individual subpages. The basis is intuitive navigation, fast and brisk responses, and eye-pleasing design.
ui42 TIP: The speed of the website is not only one of the most important SEO rating factors that affect the placement of the website in search results. Speed is the reason why websites that load in one second convert 2.5 times more users than those that load in 5 seconds. In the case study How we sped up Feedo you will learn how we managed to increase the conversion ratio by 5.2% and reduce the bounce rate by almost 70% with a faster website.
Responsive design is the foundation and accessibility is already knocking on the door
While a few years ago it was rare to come across pages that automatically adjusted to the size of the device's screen (computer, tablet, smartphone), today it is really necessary. According to a study as many as 72% of users prefer navigation that is adapted to mobile devices. Read more about why responsive design is the most important element on the web. The second, soon mandatory ride for some websites, will be improving web accessibility for visually, hearing, or physically disadvantaged users.
ui42 TIP: From June 25, 2025, the so-called European Accessibility Act (EAA) applies to digital products and services. It is a directive of the European Union that stipulates that some everyday products and services must be accessible to people with disabilities.
Security is an indispensable part of web development
And that from several points of view. While the basic level of protection against common attacks in the online space is the implementation of the HTTPS protocol, new and new challenges keep coming on how to push the security of websites to a new level. Especially for projects with sensitive data. Just those need to be protected also from the point of view of user privacy. Legislation in terms of adopted measures at the international level clearly speaks about what all needs to be included in the information on data processing (GDPR) and what options the user should have when choosing to deal with them (cookie bar and the like).
Sustainable and scalable web thinks into the future
Even web developers, especially the professionals, think about keeping order in the code. Clear scalability and structure guarantee that they can easily get to the part of the code they need to modify for any reason, whether it's them or even someone else. The website or application should also withstand the onslaught of user growth without affecting its speed or functionality.
What languages and technologies are used in web development?
Imagine a programming language as a special language that web developers use to write commands for computers. Based on them, they create software, applications, operating systems, and programs. Simply put, a programming language allows people to communicate with a computer in such a way that they formulate processes and data based on code that the computer can process and turn into reality.
The most basic are:
- HTML – the most used and basic language, which serves to create and structure websites and applications,
- CSS – a programming language developed for styling elements and the visual side of the web,
- JavaScript – thanks to JavaScript, it is possible to add interactive elements to the web,
- PHP – a scripting language used on the server side, most often in combination with MySQL databases (PHP MySQL).
In addition, web developers use various technologies and tools that allow them to work in more detail and engage interactive and dynamic elements in interaction with databases and more consistent engagement of the programming language. As an example, we mention Node.js, React, Vue.js, and the aforementioned MySQL for databases.
What are the main steps in website development?
Web development cannot be resolved overnight. To begin with, it is necessary to realize that the more specific the requirements, the longer the web development takes. In the case of extensive projects, months or even a year are not excluded. What is most important in the individual steps within web development?
Step one: Requirements analysis and planning
In the first step, it is necessary to listen carefully to the client's requirements. It is important to create a detailed project plan, which includes the scope of individual actions, a timetable, and also a budget. This is where there is room for a complete explanation of all details and expectations because later changes can significantly increase the cost and slow down the project.
Step two: Web design and design
It is essentially about creating a wireframe (design) that displays the arrangement of content and interactive elements. Quality web design cares about UX - user friendliness and the brand or design manual of the brand.
Step three: Web development (frontend and backend web development)
It comes to realization. Front-end and back-end developers create clear and structured code in the chosen language and technologies. With regard to the above-mentioned security guidelines and factors that positively influence the optimization of the site (website speed, responsive design, etc.).
Step four: Testing and deployment
Testing a new, migrated, or modified site includes verifying the functionality of individual elements, UX testing, browser and device compatibility, and security. Deploying the live version requires setting up the server environment, transferring data, and configuring all necessary services. This, of course, assumes the existence of a domain, web hosting, and other important elements without which the website simply will not work.
UIČKOVSKÝ TIP: In reality, we often encounter a request for testing websites and applications that have been functional for some time, but for some reason do not convert. With professional testing in a UX lab, just five real testers can reveal up to 80% of errors on your website. Read about how UX testing works.
What is front-end and back-end development?
We have already mentioned the terms frontend and backend development or developer several times. What exactly is it?
The main difference between front-end and backend development is based on what the user sees and can interact with. That is the frontend. The mechanisms in the background that ensure the realization of his interaction and output are actually the backend. Web developers on both sides, however, must cooperate to ultimately create a functional website or application.
Frontend web development
Front-end developers use a combination of programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create visually interesting and user-tuned pages. They are responsible for responsive design, implementing various interactive parts of the web, and also optimization within its accessibility.
Backend web development
Back-end development focuses on the server dimension of the website, where data processing, database management, and communication between the server and the website user take place. Back-end developers work with server languages such as PHP, Ruby, Python, Java, or Node.js and their goal is to ensure the creation, processing, and storage of functions and data that stand behind the website.
