Web development is a large and complex field, and it has many uses at the present time, and if we want to put a definition or description of this field, we will say….
Web development is the whole process of developing a website that works on the Internet or on any private information network. This process includes many tasks such as; Website and interface design, defining a content management system, database management, engineering communication with the server to obtain data efficiently, protecting information and data, and other tasks whose complexity depends on the complexity of the site you are building.
For example, a simple website or blog is different from a large banking application, or a giant social networking site such as Facebook and YouTube.
All of these tasks and complex application development stages can be learned by yourself and very easily, and in order to do that, you must first learn the basics of web development.
And as you saw the title yourself, this guide will provide you with everything you need to learn the basic web development languages HTML - CSS - Javascript.
Here you will find all the information you need such as:
A simplified and practical explanation with examples of HTML - CSS - Javascript languages.
The most important courses - books - YouTube channels that you need on your learning journey.
Examples of projects and practical applications that you need to implement yourself, and how you can benefit from them.
All this you will find presented to you in practical steps arranged ... These are the steps that I would have followed if I wanted to start in the field of web development now.
That is why I want you to first see this complete guide - there is a lot of information and resources that I put between the lines - in order to understand its ideas ... and then start implementing the practical steps.
We agreed? Excellent...let's get started!
An important introduction to web development
In this simple introduction I will ask you a set of important questions, and I will also show you a set of basic information that any web developer needs to know.
What is programming in general?
A few days ago, we published a complete guide entitled “What is Programming”, which explains in a simple and practical way everything you need to know about programming.
Let me show you glimpses of it:
1. Programming is a means by which people can communicate with a computer to give it the instructions it needs to carry out a particular task.
If we want to define programming academically, we will say; Programming is the process of building and designing computer programs that any computer can understand, in order to perform specific tasks – such as arithmetic, drawing, or memorizing and storing information.
2. A programming language is a means of giving the computer instructions in an easy way that humans can deal with.
The computer is a stupid tool that only understands the language of electricity, is it open or closed, and from here scientists have developed a system that enables us to write instructions that we want the computer to implement in a certain way, and then translate them into the language of electricity that the computer understands, or as it is called “Binary Code”
3. All this led to the emergence of many programming languages, each language has a specific way of writing, which is known as “Syntax”
I advise you to read this guide yourself, you will find additional information on terms such as “Algorithms - Programming Patterns - Programmer Function”, and others … explained in a simplified way with practical examples.
After you have completed this guide, you will have a general knowledge about programming, what it is, its specializations, and its various applications... Now let's delve deeper into talking about web development, which is the most prominent programming specialization in our time.
What is web development?
As I mentioned earlier; Web development is the process of building websites or applications on the Internet in all its stages... Each site or application has different requirements.
The more a site or application depends on changing content, or depends on dealing with many users and collecting many data, the more complex it becomes.
Let me give you some examples:
1. The Seo7u website that you are reading these lines on now, if anyone else visits this same page either from their computer or mobile phone... won't they find the same content? Same words and pictures?
This is what we call Static Pages, and it is the easiest to develop.
2. The only thing different or changing between any visitor and another to this page will be in the ads he sees on the site, those ads you saw above change from one user to another.
You yourself, if you visit this article at a later time, you may find advertisements other than the one you are viewing now. These ads are managed by a special system or script… I want you to remember this example well because we will talk about it later.
3. Social networking sites are an example of giant web applications, which depend on (Dynamic Content), every user when he visits Facebook sees different content than other visitors in most cases.
Even static content such as page posts or Facebook groups that any visitor can view depends on a lot of data and variable inputs such as number of likes, comments, etc.
This type of application is perhaps the most difficult in terms of development, because it needs huge capabilities to process this huge amount of data and to constantly update services and protocols.
4. I think that in the recent period you were following the statistics of the global epidemic that spread in all countries... Do you remember the pages that used to display the changing statistics in each country?
Like the maps on the World Health Organization website, whenever you move the mouse over any country on the map, it shows you the numbers of injuries and deaths, and it is also distinctive that this data is constantly updated.
This is an example of a web application based on variable content but it is very simple … In the future you can build applications like it especially after you learn the basics that I will show you in this guide.
5. The websites of banking services and telecommunications companies that show you your account information, your balance and several different services; They are also examples of complex web applications, which depend on changing content, and at the same time on layers of protection and handling of funds.
Each application or website from the previous examples goes through certain stages of development, do not worry, you will learn later the most important of these stages and the functions that the web developer is responsible for and how to perform them.
But before that let me ask you an important question...
Why do you want to learn web development?
I'm not talking about the primary goal you're trying to achieve from learning web development languages...like:
getting a job
Starting a freelance
Change your career
Create your own project
Keep abreast of technological progress and learn the necessary skills to benefit from it
What I'm talking about here is what you want to develop, is it:
Is there a specific problem you are currently facing that you want to solve with different web development skills?
Have you seen a site you like and want to learn how it was developed in order to create a site like it for yourself?
Do you have something important in your work or studies that drives you to learn web development?
Believe me answering this question is very important… There are a lot of people who are interested in learning web development just because it is a trend… because a lot of influencers and online content creators are talking about it.
Determining a specific reason, motivation or passion to learn any new skill is the main pillar that helps you continue to learn and develop yourself... If you start your journey in web development without that, you will stop and will not complete the journey.
I had to ask you this question, the point of this guide on learning basic web development languages is not just to show you a bunch of resources or courses.
Rather, the goal is to really help you overcome any obstacle that stands in the way of learning and developing yourself…
With this, we have finished talking about the general points that help to break into the world of web development while you are standing on solid ground ... Now let's get acquainted with the most important specializations in this field.
Read also: What is the best programming language for beginners?
Web development majors
The field of web development is a large and interconnected field, and contains so many disciplines and tasks that it is difficult to categorize or even categorize.
But in general, there are 3 specializations that contain all the tasks that a web developer performs, no matter how different the site or application they are working on; she:
( Front-end Developer ).
( Back-end Developer ).
( Full-stack Developer ).
Let me explain these disciplines to you in a practical way… I want you to now think of the developers who work on Facebook as follows:
1. Any developer who works on how to display posts, news and comment boxes, and determine where users' data goes to store it from names, passwords, images, etc... is a front-end developer.
2. Any developer working on recording and collecting this data and how to save it so that the same user can find the same data when logging in from any device or place in the world, and how to perform direct calculations (such as what you find in games) … He is a back-end developer.
3. As for the comprehensive developer, he is the one who can use a certain set of programming languages and tools to build an integrated application. Imagine, for example, a developer who can do all the previous tasks together.
An end-to-end developer is often an expert person, with a fairly long experience in the field of web development, and is often the manager or administrator of the development team in any company or organization.
Now that you are familiar with the majors of web development in general… let’s delve into this world and start talking about the main element of this guide.
What are the primary web development languages?
There are a lot of tools and programming languages that are used in web development, but there are key pillars that every web developer can do without.
These columns are the basic web development languages (HTML - CSS - Javascript), which we will talk about in detail through the following elements.
HTML
Almost no web page is based on HTML, the skeleton we rely on to build any website or application.
The word HTML is an acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language, “…this language was developed in 1993 by the famous programmer Tim Berners-Lee, who is considered the godfather of the Internet.
The main objective of developing HTML is to facilitate the process of sharing information and files between different computers on the Internet... At the beginning of the spread of computers and the development of networks, it was difficult to share and exchange information.
Each device has a different system and protocol by which it displays information, hence the need for a unified way to display information that any computer can deal with, and this is the main factor in the development of the Internet as we know it today.
HTML defines the basic components of any web page such as:
Basic links to access the pages.
different titles.
Place various files such as photos and videos.
Defining auxiliary elements such as (Buttons - Forms) and others.
For example, when we specify the title of any page, we write it in the following way “<title> here is the title </title>”.
Do not worry, you will learn how to use this easy and simple language, and you will learn about the most famous tags used in it, the ones we write between parentheses that resemble the “greater than” and “less than” signs that we studied in mathematics?.
CSS
If HTML is the skeleton of web pages, then CSS is the flesh and skin that shapes and defines these pages.
Let me show you the effect of CSS for yourself:
1. Add this tool to the Google Chrome browser. After adding it, a list will appear under any link you visit through Google Chrome.
Click on the CSS menu and then click on Disable Styles
Then choose Disable All Styles
You will see for yourself what the page you are visiting looks like without any CSS...just HTML.
2. If you are using the Firefox browser, the matter is very simple… Press the Alt button, a menu will appear at the top of the page, click on View, then choose Page style, then No style.
As you've seen for yourself, CSS is responsible for splitting pages, displaying information, organizing it and changing the colors of any web page... That's why I told you earlier that it represents the flesh and skin that gives shape to the skeleton written in HTML.
CSS is an acronym for Cascading Style Sheets, ... This language was developed in 1996 by several programmers, and its updates are managed by the World Wide Web Consortium - W3C.
It is worth noting here that HTML is not a real programming language, so you cannot use it to perform any arithmetic or logical operation, so it is called Markup Language.
CSS is also just a tool used to clarify and change the appearance of this markup to clarify different elements, and make browsing the web and highlighting information and elements easier.
Javascript language
Javascript is the third leg of the web development triangle… It is the language that is used to display the changing content that we talked about earlier.
Remember the ad example? There is a small script that is responsible for displaying these ads on sites, but behind this script is powerful software that collects data about users, and displays appropriate ads for each person.
Any variable content on any site like:
Content that appears on the site after a specified time (such as notification boxes - registration application forms).
Interactive maps (eg Google Maps).
animation
Media players (eg soundcloud player).
It is often based on Javascript.
What I want you to know now is “Any programming language used with HTML and CSS in web development is like the brain that thinks logically, displays and stores important and changing information.”
And Javascript is the most popular programming language in this field, as it is said “Javascript is the third layer of the web development cake? Delicious.”
This language was developed by Brandan Eich in late 1995 as a set of simple scripts, which were then developed into what they are today.
JavaScript language has many applications and uses, and there are many libraries and frameworks developed to make this language used in almost all fields.
You can use it in front end development of websites.
Backend development using Node.Js.
Use it in mobile application development by React Native.
And even desktop application development by Ionic.js
Don't worry, you'll get to know all these tools and more in the near future... The most important thing is to learn the basics of web development and JavaScript so that you're on solid ground.
So you can learn any new technology or tool very easily, and this is what I will show you in detail in the following items.
Read also: Types of Programming Paradigms
Best course for learning basic web development languages
There are many free and paid resources to learn web development.
If you want my personal opinion, you should take the course “The Web Developer Bootcamp 2021”, which I put in the list of the best programming courses for beginners that we published a few days ago.
This course is the resource I would have relied on if I wanted to learn the basics of web development today, for a number of reasons:
The course proceeds in practical, orderly steps (such as the steps that I will mention to you later if you want to learn on your own without any paid course).... This will save you time and effort.
The course material is modern and covers the most important new technologies in the world of web development.
This course is very popular on the Udemy platform, and the course presenter is a more than wonderful person, with great experience, and enjoys a fun style and simplifies information.
The cost of the course is very low, about 11 dollars.
You can watch and follow the course any time you want.
The course starts with you from scratch; From how the Internet works to launching your first large and integrated web application.
The course not only covers the basics but also covers important information about Node.Js, Express, and React, which are tools that you will need to learn on your own over time.
The most important thing about the course - and unlike many other courses or YouTube videos - is that it not only teaches you how to write code, but also why you write it... That's why you learn not only how to imitate but also how to think.
The course presenter tries to make you learn the most important skills that a web developer needs, such as how to search for information and learn any new technology easily and quickly.
Personally, I consider this course a complete and unique resource.
Now let's move on to talking about the practical steps that you must follow whether you chose the previous course or not.
In which I will show you many:
How to learn the basics of web development professionally step by step
1. Learn how the internet works
To become a web developer you must know how the Internet works, you must be able to answer the following questions:
What is the Internet?
What is IP
What is DNS
What is HTTPS and the difference between it and http.
What is an API?
You must be able to understand and summarize what happens when you open a browser and type a URL in order to see the contents of this page.
2. Learn the basics of HTML and CSS
At this point all you need to learn is how to place words and images on any web page using HTML, and how to change fonts, colors and locations using CSS.
3. Do 3 Simple Projects Using What You Learned About HTML and CSS
After you have learned the basics of HTML and CSS, do 3 simple projects as a type of training such as:
A simple registration form, so that you coordinate the elements and colors. The method of registration (Sign up – Sign in).
Try to imitate any simple web page, maybe a page from a news site or blog that you like.
This will make you more empowered because you may have forgotten something, or you may encounter a problem or obstacle, this will make you search and ask and thus learn better.
4. Learn (Responsive Design)
At this stage, you should learn how to use advanced CSS principles such as (Flexbox - CSS Grid) and others..
Not to mention The Web Developer Bootcamp 2021, which covers all these topics and more with many practical examples.
5. Run 5 Medium Projects to Build Complete Web Pages Using Advanced CSS Techniques
Now you can build large and responsive web pages, for this I advise you to look for some designs and try to implement them, you will find many of them in YouTube channels.
And if you search for yourself on YouTube with the word “HTML & CSS Projects” you will find many designs and videos that you can try to implement their ideas on your own, and then compare your codes with the explanation until you learn from mistakes.
6. Learn the basics of web hosting, how to upload files and deal with the server initially
This step is simpler than you think, here you will learn how to upload the files in which you wrote the HTML and CSS codes to be placed on a server so that anyone can visit the sites that you developed.
In this step also, you may learn one of the famous File Transfer Protocol - FTP programs such as FileZilla, which are tools that help you upload files on any server and update sites continuously.
You will find many explanations both on the YouTube channels and through the course, and with time you will learn a better tool, which is Git and GIthub.
I don't want you to feel stressed and stressed by the many terms I use... Don't worry all this information is very simple and you will learn it with time on your own.
7. Learn the basics of programming using Javascript language
After all the previous practical training, it's time for you to learn a real programming language and get to know the most important basics such as:
Functions
Data Types
Variables
And other basics that will open your eyes to the possibilities of real programming languages, and how to implement and design different web applications.
I recommend you to follow FreeCodeCamp channel.
There you will find full explanations of the basics of Javascript, as well as some advanced concepts and tools with many practical applications.
Remember that at this point you are only learning the basics, getting familiar with the JavaScript language and how to use it.
Read also: What are the fields of Computer Science
8. Do 5 simple projects using JavaScript
There are many simple projects you can do with JavaScript such as:
Simple Note Taking App.
Make a list (POP Up).
And other simple projects that you can easily find on YouTube, like this video on FreeCodeCamp channel, which contains 15 simple projects that you can choose any five of them to implement, or maybe do all of them.
The most important thing is not to watch the videos of the projects until they imitate the same written codes, but you first try to implement the idea after you get to know it with the information you have, and then compare what you did with the explanation in order to benefit.
9. Learn about advanced topics in JavaScript such as Closures and Async Await
Now is the time to delve into the world of JavaScript and get to know its true capabilities. You will find these topics covered extensively and practically in the course I mentioned, and you will also find them well explained on YouTube channels.
The most important thing in this step is to be very focused and try to absorb all the information well, because these topics are what will make you a real web developer.
10. Do one advanced JavaScript project that uses everything you learned earlier
We have come to the last practical step in this complete guide to learn the basic web development languages HTML - CSS - Javascript which is to build a great practical application.
For example, you can build a site that represents a large library of books or documentaries so that anyone can search and get information in an easy and simple way, like Amazon and Google Books.
There are many ideas that you can implement, and if you have your own project that you want to implement … now is the time to start it.
In this step, you will face a lot of problems and you will find yourself searching and asking, and in many cases the codes you wrote will not work, and this is an excellent thing.
Yes, excellent, because you will only become a web developer when you face such problems and learn how to overcome them, the real learning is to implement it with your own hands.
When you successfully implement this last project I can say congratulations… You have become a web developer who knows the basics you need to work in this amazing field.
Let me now give you a set of practical tips, and tell you the next steps that you need to take in order to develop yourself.
Practical tips on learning basic web development languages
As I told you before, every day in the world of web development there are new tools, libraries, frameworks, and possibly other programming languages that you can learn and put to work.
You will get to know yourself as you learn from the sources I mentioned earlier, the most important of these tools, and if you want my advice, you should learn the React.js framework, because it is somewhat easy and required by many companies.
Now here are some quick tips to Learning Basic Web Development Languages :
1. Take your time to learn. Perhaps you are a student or an employee and your time is limited. Just try to learn and apply every day, even if for an hour.
2. Learning programming in general and web development in particular takes time, so it is never a problem to find some difficult concepts or things that you did not understand well, no problem. Try to find a source or another way to explain this to you, or leave it for a while later.
3. Do not worry if you forgot some code or markup, the most famous and best programmers in the world rely on searching on Google and on official programming languages sites to find the codes they need, it is not important to memorize the codes as much as it is important to understand how they work and why you use them.
4. You have to learn the basics of UI-User Interface Design and UX-User Experience.
Especially if you want to become a professional front-end developer, I recommend this most wonderful course, which will not only make you learn the basics but also how to profit from learning this skill, especially if you love design in general.
5. Do not concern yourself with following a lot of YouTube channels, especially in the beginning, just be satisfied with one or two channels at most so as not to distract yourself.
In the end I want to give you a very important tip; It is that you try to profit from learning programming or web development at the beginning of your career, in order to gain practical experience, and at the same time prepare yourself for the labor market if you want to get a job.
Very soon, we will publish many guides about ways to profit from programming and web development, and other practical guides and explanations, so I advise you to follow us constantly so as not to miss it.
I wish you success in your journey towards learning web development, and see you soon!
