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Programming

What do you need to start web development?

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On January 5, 2012

In Programming, Web Development

Computer CodingEvery web developer needs a set of tools to begin web development. The following list of tools can help you get started:

  1. A good computer with plenty of memory, hard drive space and a speedy processor. Choose the computer that fits your needs.
  2. You’ll want to develop locally; build sites on your own computer. A web server lets you develop and test web sites on your computer whether or not you have an internet connection. You can install a web server likeXAMPP. If you want to go the Microsoft path, you can install their Microsoft Web Platform Installer.
  3. As a web developer, you’ll need to create or edit photographs and graphics. By loading software like GIMP or Adobe Photoshop, you can make adjustments to images for your web site. Even if you hire a graphics designer to make logos for you, you still need a photo/image editor to make minor adjustments.
  4. You’ll need web development tools. There are many tools to choose from. You can build a web site using a text editor like Notepad++ or TextMate. Or you can use a development tool like Dreamweaver, Visual Web Developer or Aptana.
  5. More than 1 browser. Not all web sites look the same in all web browsers. You’ll want to install more than IE to test your designs. If you build mobile, you’ll also want to test it on more than one device or mobile emulator.
  6. Web Tutorials and cheat sheets. Tutorials teach you how to complete a specific task. A task like setting up a web server, creating a CSS navigation or anything else that you need to do. As a web developer you should have a collection of web design and development sites like Web Design Dev or StackOverFlow. A cheat sheet is a short guide that contains tips and shortcuts for a certain programming language, web design technique or framework. Here are 50 cheat sheet for web designers and developers.

Once you have your computer setup for web development, you can start building web sites. You need a knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript to build static websites. From that point, you can choose to build dynamic web sites by learning PHP, MySQL and a content management system like WordPress or Joomla. Or you can choose to start learning ASP.Net, Ruby or Java. Whether you choose the Microsoft or Open Source path, there are plenty of things to learn and tools to use.

Refactoring Your Website

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On November 28, 2011

In Programming, Web Development

Computer with codeWhy refactor a web site? You don’t always have the time to redesign your website from the ground up. Your web site uses outdated HTML and web technologies, loads slowly and needs search engine optimization. Today’s web sites need to load fast, display on multiple browsers and mobile devices and utilize current web standards. A slow loading web site means that your visitors will not wait for your site to load.

Refactoring means changing your web site’s structure to make it easier to read, maintain and provide the user with a better experience. It gives you a chance to fix that one issue that bugs you about the web site.

What items should you look for?

  • Outdated HTML As more developers use HTML5, you’ll want to remove HTML tags that are no longer in use. Tags like <center> and <font> are not depreciated in HTML 4. In HTML5, tags like <blink> and <marque> are also depreciated.
  • Unnecessary code When you have code embedded in your site, you need to determine whether or not it really belongs there. As browsers and HTML changes, old hacks can be removed because the browsers now support a technique that originally required you to create the hack.
  • Embedded styles Styles embedded in HTML tags make it difficult to change the look of your site. If you want to create a new look, you have to edit all of the embedded styles. By moving the styles to an external CSS file, you can change the look of your site more easily.
  • JavaScript When a browser encounters JavaScript, it stops to handle it before loading the rest of the website. You want to evaluate each piece of JavaScript on your site. Does it need to be there? Can you use CSS or another technique that works better? Should you move it to the bottom of the web page so that the page can load faster?

You don’t need to take care of all problems at once. Even a small change like moving JavaScript code to the bottom of the web page can improve the overall experience for your visitors.

Testing Websites: Locally or on a Subdomain

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On November 21, 2011

In Design, Programming, Web Development

Computer CodingWhether you use a CMS or build a site from scratch, you need to test it. You need to make certain that the front-end and back-end work. A website that doesn’t work is worse than not having one at all.

How can you test a website that you are developing? You have two options. Test the website on a local web server or on a subdomain of a website you currently own.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a testing on a local web server?

The advantages of testing on a local web server are:

  • You can test sites offline. When you don’t have access to the Internet, you can still test the website. You’ll be able to verify how the front-end and back-end work.
  • Your changes won’t affect the live (production) website. Any changes that you make will only affect your local copy of the site. Your customers can still use the web site without any issues.
  • You can have as many web sites as you have space for. If you need to test multiple web site, you can place as many as you need on your server.
  • You don’t have to pay hosting fees to host your test site.

The disadvantages are:

  • You have to maintain the server. You’ll need to learn how to edit Apache or IIS files.
  • You may have differences that affect the performance of the site between your local server and your hosting server.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a subdomain?

The advantages are:

  • Test your site on the same hosting server as your live site.
  • Your hosting company takes care of the web server. When you run into web server problems, you can call them for help.
  • Your visitors will go to the main web site. Any changes you make on a test domain won’t affect your customers experience on the live (production web site).

The disadvantages of a subdomain are:

  • You need to edit .htaccess to prevent Google and others from seeing the site. If you don’t, then the search engines will find the test site. You only want completed web sites to be found by the search engines.
  • You have to be online to test and make changes. If your internet connection goes down, you can’t continue working on your website.

Which one should you choose?
Every web development project is different. Each client may have different needs. Some people may not want to see a web site until complete. Others may want to see it as you progress through the building of the web site. You need to choose the one that fits how you work and what your client needs.

Related Article

Install Your Own Web Server

By

On November 7, 2011

In Programming, Web Development

Whether you want to test new web designs, plugins to a CMS or web apps, you will need a web server. XAMPP allows you to install Apache, PHP, Perl, MySql and more. This video by jimmyrcom guides you through the installation process on Windows.

If needed you can also get a version for Linux or MacOS.

5 Tips and Tools for Improving Your Coding

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On October 8, 2011

In Programming, Web Development

BookmarkA short list of tips and tools that can help you to become a better developer from coding tips to showcases on interface design.

  1. 7 Crazy Tips That Will Help You Become A Better Coder Louis Lazaris explains that you can become a better coder by writing code and solving your own problems, not just cutting and pasting the code of others. He provides some tips for helping you to improve your coding skills.
  2. 10 Web-based Sandbox Tools For Testing Your Code Snippets A Sandbox Tool allows you to test code snippets without having to set up a test website in order to test them. They also allow you to share and collaborate with other developers.
  3. Five Free or Open Source Text Editors For Developers Sometimes, you need a text editor to get certain projects done. Tech Republic has complied a list of open source text editors that you can check out.
  4. 4 Key Considerations for Scaling Your Database Your app may need a database to store information. When choosing a database solution, you want to make sure that it can handle the volume that you place on it. Mashable defines 4 key things to think about when choosing a database solution.
  5. Showcase of Great Web App Interfaces What makes a great web app interface? An app that focuses on usability, simplicity and helps users get the job done. Does that mean that they have to be attractive? Not all useful apps are attractive. These SEO apps are simple, usable and ugly.

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