Do you want to be a front- or back-end web developer? Maybe, you’ve set your sights on becoming a full-stack developer. Each area has its technologies, but there are certain web technologies you should know regardless of the type of development. The fundamental component of a web application is the web stack.
A web stack is a bundle of software that makes up the environment for a web application. Most stacks are made up of a programming language, a web server, a framework, and a database. If you’re a back-end developer, you’ll need to be more familiar with the entire stack, while a front-end web developer will be more focused on individual components.
What Are the Different Web Technologies?
Web technologies are often divided according to where they are used. That is, are they focused on the client-side or server-side of web applications? Knowing the basic categories of web technologies is essential if you plan to work in web development. Thus, here is a list of web development technologies by category:
- Browsers
- HTML and CSS
- Programming Languages
- Frameworks
- Web Servers
- Databases
- Protocols
- Lastly, data Formats
Although many technologies are involved in creating a web application, some are more central to building a web application.
Best Web Technologies to Learn
To create a web application, a developer should be familiar with one or two programming languages, front- and back-end frameworks, databases, and CSS.
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets let designers change the look of a web page. CSS frameworks such as Bootstrap or Tailwind CSS can speed page development. However, front-end developers can create modular CSS components that can be reused as needed, eliminating the need for frameworks such as Materialize and Bulma.
Tools are continually being developed to help with web page design and creation. For example, LESS and SASS are pre-compilers that add functionality and make CSS easier to work with. Flexbox and Grid are two newer tools that help develop grid-like layouts for web pages.
Frameworks
Frameworks take care of repetitive development tasks or make programming tasks easier to do. There are frameworks for the server-side and the client-side of web development. Different programming languages require different frameworks. A few server-side frameworks include:
- Node.js. JavaScript server-side framework
- Ruby on Rails. Full-stack framework for Ruby
- .NET. Microsoft’s full-stack framework
- Django. Full-stack framework for Python
- Yii, Zend, and Laravel. Three of the most popular PHP frameworks.
- Meteor. Full-stack framework for JavaScript that can co-exist with front-end frameworks.
- Spring. Java framework.
Meteor and the PHP frameworks are new to the market. Some front-end frameworks are based on content management systems (CMS). Both WordPress and Drupal are CMS-based systems built with PHP. Mobile frameworks are also available, including Ionic and Phonegap/Cordova. There are several front-end frameworks for JavaScript, such as
- Angular.js
- Ember.js
- Backbone.js
- Express.js
- Vue.js
With so many frameworks, it’s easy to learn multiple frameworks. The best approach is to learn one or two and expand as needed.
Programming Languages
Programmers have their favorite languages. The best language is more a matter of preference than functionality, although there are times when one language may be better suited to an application than another. Here are the most common programming languages.
- Javascript
- Python
- Ruby
- PHP
- Java
- C#
- HTML
- Elixir
- Lastly, Scala
Elixir and Scala are relatively new languages. Other languages include Go, Objective-C for iPhones, and Swift. Swift is Apple’s latest programming language.
Databases
Databases can be relational like SQL or non-relational like MongoDB. No matter the database, web applications use them to store data that is used to display on web pages. The following are the most used databases.
- MongoDB – is an open-source NoSQL database
- Oracle – is an enterprise SQL database
- SQL Server – Microsoft’s SQL database
- Redis – is the most popular key-value store
- PostgreSQL – is a popular, open-sourced SQL database
- MySQL – a popular open-source database
Understanding data storage makes transmission of information from the front-end to the back-end more efficient.
Overview of Web Development Technologies
In addition to the core web technologies are browsers, web servers, protocols, data formats, and APIs.
Browsers
Web applications should be browser independent.
- Google Chrome. Most popular browser
- Safari. Apple’s web browser
- Firefox. Open-source browser
- Internet Explorer. Microsoft’s browser
However, if an application is not independent, the web pages may not display as they should.
Web Servers
Web servers allow communication traffic between the client and the server. The most used servers include:
- Apache Web Server
- Nginx Web Server
- IIS Web Server
- LiteSpeed Web Server
Also, Apache Tomcat, Node.js, and Lighttpd are other web servers.
Protocols
Protocols standardize how data interacts among computers. Further, HTTPS is the protocol between a browser and a website. Indeed, it is the fundamental way information transports over the internet. Two newer protocol:
- DDP – is a new protocol created in connection with Meteor that establishes a consistent socket connection between the client and the server.
- REST – is a protocol for APIs.
An API is an application programming interface that allows programs to access another application. It uses standardized rules for the exchange of information. Indeed, Facebook and Google use APIs for their web services.
Data Formats
Data formats structure data storage. JSON is becoming the most popular, although most Microsoft systems still use XML. CSV is a comma-delimited data format, primarily used by applications such as Excel.
Learn More About Web Technologies
Web technologies are continuously expanding with new features and functionality to make web development faster. If you’re interested in learning the latest in web technologies, visit our website and look at the programs powered by Woz U.
