There are specific types of coding a web designer should know at a basic level. Even through there are many convenient drag-n-drop editors that facilitate and streamline the whole process, it’s still important for web designers to understand the fundamentals of coding, according to CIO. Web designers should definitely know how to code because it expands their creativity, competency and employability.
Wed Design Codes
Web development is generally divided into front-end development, which deals with the user interfaces and experiences, and client-side development, which deals with browser management. Back-end development deals with the functional aspects of applications like data and network processes, so it’s sometimes called server-side development. For front-end development requires a markup language to define how the document is structured and displayed. These codes are HTML, XHTML and HTML 5. Next, it involves a stylesheet language like CSS that dictates the appearance and artistic feel of the document. These basic elements of visual design include the font, colors, borders and typesets. Client-side language allow web designers to process data on the client-side, adjust how the document acts, adjust environmental factors and other stimuli that is dynamic in nature.
Front End Development
Front end website development involves creating interactive websites and providing useful functionalities. Front-end developers structure websites and develop applications using coding technologies like CSS, HTML and JavaScript. These codes will smoothly run in the web browsers of most technological devices. This coding specialization is recommended for web designers who prefer the design aspect of website development than the programming aspect of building complex web apps. Learning JavaScript is one of the best career choices a web designer can make in order to become very competitive in the job market. This paves the way for adding interactivity to features and learning how to popular Javascript libraries like jQuery and AngularJS. Web designers who are interested in advanced design should learn languages like PHP and AJAX.
Back End Development
This involves transforming static websites to dynamic ones with interactive features or strong applications. This type of website requires knowledge of front end development because programmers must structure websites and create web applications. Similar to front end development, web designers should learn CSS, HTML, Javascript and JQuery. The latter is a Javascript framework that is used to add enhance website functionality. Web designers should learn server-side frameworks like Express JS and Ruby on Rails. Server-side coding languages include PHP, Python, Ruby and NodeJS, which is a Javascript based platform. Database design and management codes include SQL, MySQL and MongoDB. Additional codes include Bootstrap, which is one of the world’s most popular mobile and front-end framework. It uses CSS and HTML to smoothly build responsive websites. Django, Angular and AngularJS are other coding languages.
Related Resource: What is a Graphic Designer?
To conclude, there are certain types of coding a web designer should know to improve their marketability and core competencies. After web designers master a few basic codes, they should learn and adopt a popular framework that is well established and well documented. Similar to architects understanding engineering, web designers should understand the building blocks of their profession.
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