Best Web Development Courses

Web Development Overview

Now, let’s see first what web development refers to. Put shortly, web development refers to the activities involved in creating, building, and maintaining a website. In other words, the actions that take place behind the scenes of a well-organized and nice-looking website.

Best Way to Learn Web Development

According to a Stack Overflow survey of nearly 83,000 people, almost 60% of respondents said they learned to code from online resources. Precisely speaking, younger respondents preferred online courses, forums, blogs, videos, etc., whereas older respondents preferred more traditional learning methods like books and schools.

There’s no doubt that online learning is on the rise. The reasons for this trend are numerous. To begin with, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your home to attend a course and learn web development. Plus, since it is one of the most in-demand industries, web development courses are available on almost every online learning platform. Also, many allow you to learn at your own pace, so you don’t have to worry about your schedule and other obligations.

Why Learn Web Development

Web development is such an exciting field to explore, and developers are without any doubt always in demand. In fact, did you know that the market for web developers is expected to increase by 13% by 2030? Much faster than average, but certainly not surprising since digital literacy grows and everything moves online.

If you are not convinced yet, here are some of the main reasons why you should take some of the best web development courses and learn the skill:

• Job Security: there are always available vacancies for web developers.
• Money: being a web developer is a lucrative profession with competitive salaries.
• Flexibility: as you only need a laptop and wi-fi, you can also work from home or from wherever you prefer.
• Entrepreneurship: you can use your skills and work for yourself as a web developer.
• Creativity: being an innovative and exciting topic, web development is excellent for creatives.
• Accessibility: as most online learning providers offer courses on the topic, you should only search for the best web development courses and learn online.

We’ve listed money as one of the reasons why to learn web development. But, how much exactly are we talking about? The average web developer’s salary is between $78,000 (indeed.com) and $88,000 (glassdoor.com) a year. It is indeed fairly generous. However, there’s also a difference between the salaries of a frontend, backend, and full-stack web developer:

• Frontend developer salary – $70,000 to $75,000
• Backend developer salary – about $100,000
• Full-stack developer salary – $90,500

Perks of Being a Web Developer

According to another worldwide Stack survey of web developers, nearly 73% of respondents reported positive job satisfaction, 19% said they were dissatisfied, while the rest felt neutral. So, we can agree that being a web developer comes with many advantages, some of which include:

Always Learning

Being a web developer means constantly learning new things as the industry is changing a lot. In fact, it seems like there’s a new tool to discover every month. However, the web development field is never dull and provides excellent opportunities for those who want to improve continually.

Don’t Need a Degree

Another perk of being a web developer is that you don’t have to have a degree and spend a fortune on academic education. As already mentioned, you can learn to code online quite successfully and effectively. Moreover, you don’t even have to pay on some platforms offering the best web development courses.

Remote Work

As a web developer, you would spend your working time in front of a computer or a laptop, meaning that you don’t have to commute to work and go to the office. Indeed, you can work from home or wherever you are. All you need is your laptop, internet connection, and a good working environment.

Numerous Opportunities

Once you learn the skill, you can make money in multiple ways. Working for a single company is an option, but not the limit. In other words, you can work as a freelancer, create digital products, create SaaS products, or even start a YouTube channel, a podcast, or a blog and earn extra cash from them.

Great Community

Finally, there’s a fantastic developer community that helps each other regardless of the levels of expertise. No matter where you are, you will undoubtedly find web developers willing to share helpful information and tips. You can look for and share knowledge on Stack Overflow, Medium, Dev, YouTube, Twitter, etc.

Web Development Industry Trends for 2022

Web development has significantly evolved and changed over the last couple of decades. And it is continuing to change at a fast pace. Hence, you should also be familiar with the latest trends and keep up with them. Here’s a brief list of the top ongoing web development industry trends for 2022:

Progressive Web Applications (PWAs)

In 2022, PWAs are expected to replace web apps. These applications reduce load time and development costs and can also work offline, for instance, in apps like Google Maps, thus providing an unmatched user experience.

Dark Mode Standardization

According to studies, 80% of users prefer using dark mode whenever possible. So, this year, webs and apps offering dark mode user interfaces (UIs) will continue to grow their popularity. In addition, implementing a built-in feature for switching between light and dark modes will become standard.

Serverless Architecture

Experts have finally found a way to reduce system overloading, development costs, and data loss – serverless architecture. The new technology runs on the cloud, allowing users to run code for any application or backend service without any administration.

Single-Page Applications

As online consumers are always looking for faster and simpler experiences, single-page applications (SPA) are one of the most significant industry trends for 2022. These are JavaScript-based apps that load a single HTML page and update content as needed without refreshing.

Mobile-Friendly Development

Finally, since mobile accounts for more than half of web traffic worldwide, it’s more than evident that taking a mobile-first approach is one of the most significant trends for 2022. Thus, web developers are trying to offer personalized user experiences, one-click ordering on e-commerce apps, fingerprint scanning or voice recognition authentication, etc.

Web Development Jobs

Becoming a web developer is an excellent career. It is both rewarding and lucrative. Luckily, web developers are needed in just about every industry, not only the IT sector. So if you plan to or have already enrolled in the best web development courses, let’s have a look at what exactly you can do and what jobs are available out there. Read on to find out more.

Frontend Development

The frontend of a website refers to the part that users interact with. In other words, everything users see while navigating around, from colors and fonts to sliders and dropdown menus. To be able to get a job as a frontend developer, you should master markup languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and programming languages and frontend frameworks such as React, Angular, etc.

Backend Development

On the other hand, backend development refers to the codes built, allowing a database and an application to interact and communicate with each other. That said, backend web developers are in charge of databases, servers, apps, and control of everything ‘behind the scene’ not visible to users. Therefore, a backend web developer should use popular DBMS (Database Management Systems), including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, etc., as well as programming languages and frameworks.

Full-Stack Development

As the name already suggests, a full-stack developer covers both frontend (the client-side) and backend (the server-side) development. Hence, as both types of development are combined, a great variety of skills in numerous coding niches, from UI/UX management to graphic design and databases, is needed to perform the job successfully.

Web Development Roles

Junior Developers

Junior developers assist with the creation of websites and updating web applications using scripting languages. In addition, they have senior developers as their supervisors who assist with coding, design adjustment, testing, and client reviews.

Mid-level Developers

Once a developer gains a couple of years of experience, we may say that they become a mid-level developer who is relatively experienced in programming. A mid-level developer should be able to write codes and come up with solutions without help from senior members.

Senior Developers

Senior web developers not only monitor junior developers but also build, design, and optimize websites and applications. They have experience with programming languages and SEO (search engine optimization) best practices.

Technical Lead / Software Architect

Even though both technical lead and software architect requires superb technical, leadership, and management skills, the tech lead is a more practical role, whereas the architect is more strategically focused. Yet, since the roles are commonly interchangeable, they are typically merged into one job position.

Popular Web Development Tools

Here’s a list of the web development tools that you would probably come across in the web development industry:

Code Editors/IDEs

• Visual Studio Code – an open-source code editor designed by Microsoft for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It is entirely free of charge.
• JetBrains – IntelliJ is an integrated development environment for web and enterprise development; WebStorm is an integrated development environment for JavaScript and related technologies; and PhpStorm is a proprietary, cross-platform IDE for PHP. All offer a 30-day free trial.
• Sublime Text – a commercial source code editor for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It may be downloaded and evaluated for free. However, a license (USD 99) must be purchased for continued use.
• Atom – a desktop application built with HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and Node.js integration. It is a free and open-source text and source code editor for macOS, Linux, and Microsoft Windows with support for plug-ins written in JavaScript and embedded Git Control.

Database Management Tools

• DBeaver – a free SQL client software application and a database administration tool. Supports all popular databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, Sybase, MS Access, Teradata, Firebird, Apache Hive, Phoenix, Presto, etc.
• TablePlus – a modern, native, and friendly GUI tool for Mac and Windows for relational databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite & more. Pricing plans go from $49 to $99.
• Sequel Pro – a fast, easy-to-use Mac database management application for working with MySQL databases. Plus, it is free.
• phpMyAdmin – a cross-platform and open-source administration tool for MySQL and MariaDB. Also, it is free to download.

Git Clients

• GitHub Desktop – an application for macOS and Windows that enables user interaction with GitHub using a GUI instead of the command line or a web browser.
• SourceThree – a free graphical user interface (GUI) desktop client for Windows and Mac that simplifies how you interact with Git repositories to concentrate on coding fully.
• GitKraken – a GUI Git client for Windows, Mac, and Linux that facilitates efficient and reliable usage of Git on a desktop and offers most of the command line operations. Pricing starts at $4.95.
• Sublime Merge – includes a command-line tool, smerge, which can be used to open repositories, search, and merge files. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Starting price is $99.

Terminal Emulators

• iTerm2 – a terminal emulator for macOS, licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later. It brings the terminal into the modern age with features you never knew you always wanted. No pricing is available.
• Hyper – an Electron-based terminal built on HTML/CSS/JS for Linux, macOS, and Windows. No pricing available
• Tabby (formerly Terminus) – a highly configurable terminal emulator, SSH, and serial client for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is free and open-source.

Web Development Frameworks

Web development frameworks are separated into frontend (building user interfaces and UX) and backend technologies (servers and databases communication and storing or managing data).

Frontend Frameworks

• React.js – a free and open-source frontend JavaScript library for building user interfaces based on UI components.
• Vue.js – a free and open-source model–view–ViewModel frontend JavaScript framework for building user interfaces and single-page applications.
• AngularJS – a JavaScript-based open-source frontend web framework for developing single-page applications.
• jQuery – a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library. It makes things like HTML document traversal and manipulation, event handling, animation, and Ajax much simpler with an easy-to-use API that works across many browsers.
• Svelte – is a free and open-source frontend compiler created by Rich Harris and maintained by the Svelte core team members.

Backend Frameworks

• Laravel (PHP) – a free, open-source PHP web framework intended for the development of web applications following the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern and based on Symfony.
• Ruby on Rails (Ruby) – a server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License. Rails is a model–view controller framework providing default structures for a database, web service, and web pages.
• Express (Node.js) – a web application framework for Node.js, released as free and open-source software under MIT. It is created for building web applications and APIs.
• Django (Python) – a Python-based free and open-source web framework that follows the model–template–views architectural pattern.

CSS Preprocessors

• Sass – a preprocessor scripting language interpreted or compiled into Cascading Style Sheets.
• Less – a dynamic preprocessor style sheet language that can be compiled into Cascading Style Sheets and run on the client-side or server-side.
• PostCSS – a software development tool using JavaScript-based plug-ins to automate routine CSS operations.

UI Frameworks

• Bootstrap – a free and open-source CSS framework directed at responsive, mobile-first frontend web development. It contains HTML, CSS, and JavaScript-based design templates for typography, forms, buttons, navigation, and other interface components.
• Foundation – a free and open-source responsive frontend framework that provides a responsive grid and HTML and CSS UI templates, features, and code snippets, including typography, forms, buttons, navigation, and other interface elements.
• Tailwind – a utility-first CSS framework packed with classes that can be composed to build any design directly in your markup. It features classes such as flex, pt-4, text-center, and rotate-90.

Web Development Career Opportunities

Before you jump into a new career, you’d better consider the path ahead. Can the industry offer you enough opportunities and stability? What are your job prospects after completing several best web development courses? Let’s find out.

It goes without saying that technology is omnipresent in our lives. And, as already noted, web development is an excellent career as ‘web developer’ is the most in-demand job title and one of the top-paying jobs out there.

Web designers and developers are sought both in and out of the IT sector. So, once you learn the skill, you can work as a web developer at a company, as a freelancer, or create a website for your startup. Other job options include UX/UI Designers, Software Developers, Data Analysts, IT support specialists, etc. So, the career opportunities are actually limitless.

Looking at the job market and forecasted employment growth now is the perfect time to pursue a career in the web development industry. So, please don’t wait and go for it!

Web Development Prerequisite

The first step towards achieving a career in web development is getting familiar with common terminology and learning the critical languages, libraries, and frameworks.

Prospective web developers should be proficient in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You should also learn about Backbone, Bootstrap, and Foundation frameworks and have expertise in backend languages like Ruby, Java, and PHP.

Then, learn the common and valuable tools developers use to make their work straightforward. In essence, you could start with the above-listed web development tools. But don’t forget to expand your knowledge and explore others like Oracle, SQL Server, etc.

Luckily, you can choose some of the best web development courses on most online learning platforms based on your prior knowledge and experience. You can find courses created for beginners, as well as for professionals. You should only find the best that suits your needs.

Where to Learn Web Development

In the end, you may have the motivation and energy to learn web development but lack the time or resources for a traditional bachelor’s degree or boot camps. Fortunately, the internet has the right solution for you as it abounds with online learning platforms offering courses on website development. But, the tricky thing is choosing where and what exactly to study.

To help you make an intelligent decision, we have done extensive and detailed research on all the courses available and analyzed which online learning platforms offer the best web development courses for 2022. So just take a look at them and make a choice.

Briefly put, the most suitable platforms for learning web development are Codecademy, Coursera, Treehouse, Udemy, Pluralsight, edX, and Udacity. The reason why these platforms stand out from the rest is that they specialize in providing courses on the topic and have the best instructors with years and years of experience. In addition, some of them offer accredited certificates too, which can be pretty helpful for landing a job.