WEB DEVELOPMENT

Web development is a broad term that incorporates all areas of creating a Web site for the World Wide Web. This includes Web design (graphic design, XHTML, CSS, usability and semantics), programming, server administration, content management, marketing, testing and deployment. However, among web professionals, web development usually refers only to the non-design aspects of building web sites, e.g. writing markup and coding.

For larger businesses and organizations, web development teams can consist of hundreds of people, each specializing in his or her own field. Whereas, smaller organizations may only require a single webmaster.

A major factor that has been an immense contributor to web development efforts, is easy to use software such as Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver, and many more alike. Web developers who do Web Development work usually offer HTML and programming services and create interactive or database driven e-commerce web sites. The difference between a designer and a developer is that a developer usually has more back-end programming skills for building shopping carts and member databases while a designer is more focused on the look and feel of a site. A good web developer will help you organize the information for your web site and develop navigation and layout. Many developers also offer basic design services, but a firm will usually have developers and graphics people. Web developers are programmers and work with web based code like ASP, .NET, Cold Fusion, Java, DHTML, Javascript, PHP, SQL and more. If you are looking for database work for e-commerce or membership sites, you should contact a developer.

Developers usually charge based on experience, less experienced programmers may save you money but more experience developers will almost always deliver a higher quality product with less problems and maintenance issues. Before you choose a developer you should review other web projects they have worked on, and contact past clients if possible. Make sure you have defined the requirements for your web project and both of you have an understanding in writing of what is expected.