Do you want to understand what these “geeks”, these “computer scientists”, all these people who seem to come from another planet to write strange things, are working on? To get away from these clichés, we will try to explain the world of development.
This article deliberately uses simple words to enlighten computer novices. Are you already a web professional? You already know everything 😉 !
What is development?
To understand what web development is and what it does, we need to dissect the history, the environment and the evolution of the IT sector. The word “computer scientist”, for example, is a term that very poorly defines the plurality of the profession.
Historically, IT was the means of automating tasks through a system. An autonomous process in its operation where Man has his part in the design and operation of the automaton. Etymologically, the term “computer science” therefore sweeps very broadly.
If computer science has a multitude of facets and applications, the job of computer scientist is the same since the 2000s and the emergence of the web. This technological boom has extended the technical perimeter and forced professionals to specialize.
The technical plurality of development is therefore expressed by a multitude of professions. Just on the design, in our case at iweb-master website design, we can find :
- The Webdesigner who is in charge of “dressing” a project;
- The Developer who will work on the functionalities of the project;
- The Technical Project Manager is a facilitator between the technical teams and the client;
- The Integrator will take the work of the Webdesigner to transform it into a web format;
- A System Administrator takes care of the good functioning of the “hardware” part of the computer system (server, security,…);
This list is not exhaustive and there are many other equally important jobs: DevOps, Lead Developer, Architect, Webmaster, Traffic Manager…
Finally, to be complete, the so-called “Fullstack” developer has a global knowledge that allows him to intervene in most of the above-mentioned professions. The fullstack developer is a kind of Swiss army knife of the web.
Let’s continue to clear the subject by studying now the main role of the developer: development (or programming).
Development, this Lego game
To create a website, the developer must use code (Lego bricks). These are the famous “undrinkable” lines typed by developers. As each project does not have the same level of difficulty, it is necessary to choose the right tools. A Lego Technique is not built the same way as a Lego Duplo.
A developer does not create a site from A to Z by magic but uses a language to do so (the building blocks) and follows documentation (the assembly instructions).
There are several languages to make websites according to your needs. It’s just like making a model car: in Lego or Meccano, for example. The level of difficulty of assembly between these two previous choices is not the same, and the results will be different.
Once the language has been mastered, it is possible to carry out many projects, but the immateriality of the technology marks the big difference with our famous Lego. Where the number of Lego blocks limits assembly, development is only limited by the capacity of the developer, as well as certain technical constraints.
A computer language is ultimately a means of expressing an idea or operation in a way that can be understood by the computer. In concrete terms, a programming language describes instructions for communicating between the designer and the machine that will execute the commands (the source code).
For example, let’s take the following code (in HTML language):
<a href="https://i-webmasters.com">Iweb-master</a>
The machine that will read this code will understand that is the end of the link. The result will be that your browser will display the link below:
For the web, there is not only HTML, there are many other languages! Here is a selection of commonly used languages: Java, PHP, Javascript, Python, Ruby, C, C++, Golang…
The difficulty of developing a website
The level of difficulty in the realization of a website is not easy to determine. The main gauge of estimation in terms of difficulty (and also often in terms of working time) is the customization of the desired platform. Roughly speaking, **the more a site will be sharp and unique visually & technically, the longer and more difficult it will be to develop”.
For example, there are “turnkey” technical solutions that are easy to install, on the one hand, and “tailor-made” tools to meet specific needs on the other hand.
Through site generators (CMS) such as WordPress, Joomla…, the developer’s job is to set up and modify an existing solution so that it suits the final need. While technos like Symfony or Zend (called “Frameworks”) allow a custom development. This second solution is often preferred for large, very specific projects, which are likely to evolve over time.
Personal opinion: often “turnkey” solutions are faster but surely less exciting than those where you have to get your hands in the dirt ;-). Indeed, for my part, the challenge and the interest lies more often in creating a system from A to Z than in reusing an existing solution. However, one must be careful to remain pragmatic. For each project, the right tool. You’ll never win the Tour de France with a mountain bike, however efficient and practical it may be.
Development: an extremely vast universe
This article aims to roughen up the subject if you’re sailing in the dark. On the other hand, every developer has his own vision of his job. Also, even if the principles are similar, web development is not software development, for example. If you were to retain only one thing from this article, it would be the following sentence:
Development is a means of expressing an idea or operation in a way that can be understood by the computer through lines of code written in a language known to machines.
Finally, to be completely exhaustive on the subject, it should be noted that developers could not work without the use of languages and tools created by and for the community.
