A Brief Walk-Through

Website development is the umbrella term for all the work that goes into building a website. This includes everything from markup and coding to scripting, network configuration, and CMS development.

Website development Brisbane usually refers to web markup and coding, and includes all the related development tasks. The list includes client-side scripting, server and network securityconfiguration, server-side scripting, eCommerce development, and content management system (CMS) development.

With the Internet users now numbering close to half of the world’s population (4.66 Billion), it is clear that web development is a rapidly expanding industry

Basics

To have some kind of understanding how a website works and the role of website development in its growth, it is necessary to get some bits of information of what it is composed of, who makes it, how it is used and other pertinent data. Here’s a short run-through.

Websites are actually files stored on servers, the computers that host (fancy term for “storing files”) for websites. These servers are connected to a giant network called the Internet.

Browsers 

Browsers (Google/Internet Explorer/Firefox/others) are programs that load websites through the Internet connection to your computers. These computers (including yours) accessing the websites are called clients.

In accessing sites, you need to know its IP (Internet Protocol) address. Every device has an IP address to distinguish it from the billions of websites and devices (all the computers and the phones) connected to the Internet.

IP address

To access a website, you need to know its Internet Protocol (IP) address. An IP address is a unique string of numbers. Each device has an IP address to distinguish itself from the billions of websites and devices connected via the Internet.

In accessing a websites using its IP address, most Internet users prefer to use domain names or by going through search engines.

HTTP

The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) connects you and your website request to the remote server that houses all website data. It’s a set of rules (a protocol) that defines how messages should be sent over the Internet. It allows one to jump between site pages and websites.

This provides the framework so that the client (computer) can talk to the server in the same language. Essentially, it is the translator between you and the Internet — it reads your website request, reads the code sent back from the server, and translates it for you in the form of a website.

Coding 

The writing code for servers and applications is referred to as “coding” using the same programming languages.They’re called “languages” because they include vocabulary and its own grammatical rules for communicating with computers. 

Likewise, they also include special commands, abbreviations, and punctuation that can only be read by devices and programs.All software is written by at least one coding language.

However, languages vary according to the platform, operating system, and style. All the languages fall into one of two categories: front-end and back-end.

Front-end

This is the side of a website (or software) that the visitors, customers and users see and how they will use your website. 

When website information is transferred from a server to a browser, front-end coding languages allow the website to function without having to continually “talk” with the Internet.

Client side development

The front-end code lets users interact with a website and play videos, expand or minimize images, highlight text, and more. The website developers who work on front-end coding are working on client-side development.

The front-end development includes a combination of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. It controls several components like the topography and fonts, navigation, positioning, and browser compatibility and responsiveness.

Back-end

Back-end (or server-side) is the side that you don’t see when you use the Internet. It’s the digital infrastructure. To non-developers and other regular people, it simply looks like a bunch of numbers, letters, and symbols.

As it is, there are more back-end coding languages than front-end languages. The reason is that browsers (at the front-end) only understand HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. 

All languages

A server (at the back-end) can be configured to understand pretty much any language. The back-end handles the data that enables the functionality on the front-end. 

For example, the back-end of Facebookstores my photos, so that the front-end can see them as well and then allow others to look at them. 

Databases 

It’s made up of two key components: (1) the databases, which are responsible for storing, organizing, and processing data so that it’s retrievable by server requests, and (2) servers that are the hardware and software that make up your computer. 

The servers are responsible for sending, processing, and receiving data requests. They’re the intermediary between the database and the client/browser. 

The browser will, in effect, tell the server “I need this information”, and the server will know how to get that particular information from the database and send it to the client.

Other components

The following components work together to build the foundation for each website. 

First is the logic code (1) which is a set of rules on how your website will respond to certain requests and how objects of your website will interact. The second one is the database management (2) which is how your website will organize, manage, and retrieve its data.

Also included is the (3) infrastructure, which is how your site will be hosted. Hosting your own site will give you greater control. With these components, your website will be ready for front-end development.

User-entered information

The back-end is slightly tangential to web development because you don’t always need a back-end if you’re not storing any data. “Data” in this context means any user-entered information that you need to save and persist. 

When logging in to a website, the back-end is used to remember the information. Back-ends are also used for remembering profile settings.

Facebook, for instance, needs to know what people are in your Friends list, what events you have joined, what posts you have created, and more. All these live in a database. If they didn’t have a back-end with a database, none of that data would be accessible to them.

CMS

Content management system (CMS) is a web application or a series of programs that are used in creating and managing web content. (This is different from Squarespace or Wix which are site builders.)

CMS makes things easier. It provides the building blocks (plug-ins or add-ons) and lets one create the structure of your code. They are used frequently for e-commerce and blogging and are useful for all types of websites.

Cybersecurity

At present, there are always malicious individuals who are looking for vulnerabilities in websites to steal data, expose private information, and crash the servers. Cybersecurity is the practice of securing data, networks, and computers from these threats.

Today, there is critical need to understand cybersecurity best practices for effective web development. (Sites usually carry out security audits regularly.) 


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