At first let’s have a basic understanding of how web works. When a user request a website in the browser, the browser looks for the computer/machine where the files are hosted and then brings the information to the requested computer/device. Here, the browser that performs the request is called client and the machine that is designed to accept client’s request and responds accordingly is called server.
So, to become a web developer, you need to know the languages that are used on both sides-
- Client side languages
- Server side languages
CLIENT SIDE LANGUAGES:
Client side languages are executed on the web browsers and provide output to the visitor’s browser. For this, it doesn’t need to communicate with server. Here are the client-side languages that you need to learn at the beginning.
1. HTML:You can think HTML (Abbreviation for HyperText Markup Language) as a set of directions that tell browser how to display the web page in the browser. It is the foundation of the web pages. HTML5 is the current version of HTML.
2. CSS:If HTML is used to define the content and the structure of the web pages, then CSS is used to define the look/appearance of the web pages. CSS3 is the latest version of CSS.
3. JavaScript:If there were no JavaScript, the web pages would become boring and lifeless. JavaScript helps browser to interact with users and it can response to the action taken by the users without loading the page. Those visual effects, animations, cool drop-down menus, and similar that you see in various websites are created with JavaScript.
4. jQuery:Many times programmers have to deal with same kind of tasks again and again that becomes time consuming. Instead of wtiting same type of coding multiple times, programmers create library to store those repeating tasks and use only a reference of a task when they they need it in their current project. jQuery is the most popular JavaScript library that is being used by millions of websites(Reference: http://trends.builtwith.com/javascript/JQuery ).
SERVER SIDE LANGUAGES:
Server-side languages are executed on the server and generates the output as web page and send it to browser. Major Server side languages include PHP, ASP, JSP, PERL, Python, ColdFusion.
1. PHP:PHP is the most popular server-side scripting language on the web. More than 78% of websites are using PHP as server-side programming language (source: http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/programming_language/all). There are some reasons why you need to learn this. It is very easy to learn, it is free, and it has support for nearly every database.
Web Server stores data in a server that is called database server. Each server requires a database management system(DBMS) that store and manage database. SQL is the language to access that data. To become a web developer, you need to know SQL. If you like to follow the open source route, then you may select MySQL.
a. MYSQL: MySQL is the most popular open source database system. Small to large websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia use this. MySQL is the perfect companion to PHP.You’ll also have to learn the following technologies.
AJAX makes the web pages as interactive and responsive as desktop applications. It can receive or send information from server without reloading the web page. Before AJAX appears, to communicate with server web pages have to be reloaded. In many cases to get a single line of information from server, total web page had to be loaded again. It was boring and time-consuming. When using AJAX, visitor can use the web page at the same time AJAX brings the information from the server in the background.
XML is the specification for storing information and describing the structure of that information.
Depending on the client-side and server-side, web developer can be divided into client-side developer and server-side developer. You can select any side that you’re interested in.
There are many other things that you’ll need to learn after the beginning stage in the web development career. The above list is a starting point for beginners.