Thread

Hi,

I do not want to admit this, but I cannot figure out what web development is.

I thought I do web development, but I keep being informed that I am mistaken. 

For the last 10 years, I have made a living by programming websites using all the basic technologies, managed Windows and Linux servers, integrated email, database websites, styling, CSS, flash, navigation of sites, graphics for sites, and generally have made websites.  Here is a link to a website I built: route66mc.com/publicStart.php

Now that I am learning about ExpressionEngine, I am discovering that none of what I did is web development. 

How is web development different from what I have been doing? 

My perception is that if I use EE to make attractive and functional websites, then I will be able to say I am a web developer, and no one will say I am not, unless I ask questions that make people think I do not know what I am talking about, even though I have websites to prove I do.  Makes me think part of web development is snake oil.

The part I do not understand is that if I build two identical sites, one using a framework, the other without a framework, then I am not a web developer for one of the sites (the one without a framework), but I am for the other. 

I guess there must be a body of knowledge shared by web developers, but when I review the literature, I find such a range of uses of the term, I find it hard to believe that the real, correct, official, technical standard definition is the one that says I have not been doing web development. Maybe I am just hard headed.

Can anyone help me out with this?

Any/all assistance will be extremely much appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

Corrected link: route66mc.com/publicStart.php.  Sorry if you hit the bad link I had up previously.

Thank you for this post…it was the only one that actually answered my question directly and in a way I could understand. I am considering persuing a degree in the computers field (info sys) and trying to figure out the difference between web developement and web design.

My (probably wrong) definition of these website terms has been that programming involves writing stateful code. Design is the creation of the website and its flow. Development is an over-arching term that encompasses both.

I do not know of any official definition to back this up apart from my own logic and what I have seen the words mean.

Thanks for all the replies.

I found an example of a web developer in a different league from me (as in he is major, I am not).  He is an EE guy, too.  Link to his website.  I love his project guidelines. 

I would love being able to tell my potential clients I can start for them if they can wait 6-8 weeks, and oh by the way, here are the kinds of projects most interesting to ME.. lol…

All the clients I ever met, the last thing they want to know is any of my preferences.  I gotta learn.

All the clients I ever met, the last thing they want to know is any of my preferences.  I gotta learn.

When you are good, the client knows you are good, and you aren’t a jerk about it… 😉

Michael Boyink is one of my heros.

Can you tell me something about his screencasts? Are they good for beginners?

Can you tell me something about his screencasts? Are they good for beginners?

If you look around his website, and follow the links to the http://train-ee.com/, you can find free samples. 

Regarding relevance for beginners, I am sure he has screencasts designed for all backgrounds.  What you can count on is that all his stuff is super high quality.  Michael is good that way.

You can email Michael directly with questions.  He is great about responding.

http://boyink.com/contact/

Thanks for you fast answer, ill check the free Tutorials

I see Web Development and Web Design as two entirely different fields.

One deals with color theory, color harmony, color palettes, typography, kerning, spacing, etc. Essentially everything that makes a website LOOK nice, I call that Web Design.
A Web Designer is someone who works primarily with Adobe Photoshop, Fireworks, or even GIMP. Any graphic or visual design.

The source code, whether is be PHP or ASP. HTML5 or HTML4 Transitional. CSS2 or CSS3.
All of the scripting, coding, programming, etc. that BUILDS the website, I call Web Development.
A Web Developer is someone who might install MAMP/WAMP/LAMP on their machine to duplicate a server environment. They use Notepad, Notepad++, Sublime, Coda, TextMate, or some other fancy IDE like Netbeans, Komodo, or even Eclipse to build ‘the back end’.

Thanks for the kind comments.

For the moment, the screencasts I have are for EE 1x yet.  That content will be updated and offered for EE 2x at some point but I’m not exactly sure of the format yet.  The screencasts aren’t necessarily where I’d start if I was new to EE.  If that’s the case and you really want screencasts then check out Ryan Irelan’s Mijingo.com.  Otherwise my book is updated for EE 2x - but I know not everyone likes books.

On clients & projects - I’m extremely blessed and take none of it for granted. 

I been in business for 10 years this month and longevity is a bit of a snowball - the more history you have and more clients you have the easier it is to get return work and referrals.  I’m also blessed to have been in a position to start using EE right from the get-go (my 10 year anniversary here in the forums is coming up also this year), was a charter member of the EE Pro Net, and between that and the Train-ee side I get many project inquiries.  When you have more than you can take on you can be choosy.  More importantly I’ve done this work long enough to know what feeds me and what drains me, and that when I do work that drains me it’s not good for me or the client.  When it’s work that feeds me then it’s a win for both. 

I’ve had periods where I’ve taken on projects that felt wrong, but the checking account was low and the family needed to eat.  Without exception I regretted those decisions every time, I hated getting up to work on them and invariably a few days later a better project came along that I now couldn’t commit to.

Overall I’d say if that if your marketing efforts aren’t trying to bring you the kind of work you love then it’s time to revisit them…ideally clients wouldn’t need to ask because they already know…;)

It is confusing. I refer to myself as a Wed Designer. I do all the wireframing, mockups, etc. for sites. But I also do the front-end markup and I build the sites out in ExpressionEngine. Some might call me a web developer, but I don’t like calling myself one because I still don’t know a lot of things I feel “developers” should know, like PHP, javascript, etc. There is definite overlap, and if you are wondering for school, take a look at the curriculum to see what description interests you the most.

IMHO you’re a designer if you create the look and feel of a site, and a developer if you build it out and make it functional.  Don’t get too hung up on the words unless you’re applying for jobs.  Most clients or people outside the industry won’t know the difference anyway.

Web development:

“The art of presenting text and media content in a format that’s easy to understand and use on any device”