Web Development In 2024 - A Practical Guide

Traversy Media・2 minutes read

The guide provides a comprehensive overview of web development, offering advice on tools, languages, and frameworks to simplify the learning process and provide perspective. It covers various roles, career paths, essential tools, coding languages, design principles, JavaScript, back-end development, frameworks like React and Angular, content management systems, and emerging trends in web development like WebAssembly, IoT, the metaverse, AI, DevOps, and Web 3.

Insights

The guide provides a comprehensive overview of web development technologies, tools, languages, and frameworks, aiming to simplify the learning process and offer personal advice for success.
Various roles in web development are discussed, including web designer, front-end developer, back-end developer, full-stack developer, and DevOps, each with distinct responsibilities and career paths outlined.
Essential tools for coding, recommended text editors like Visual Studio Code, and the importance of choosing the right operating system based on personal preference are highlighted.
Front-end developers now require terminals due to framework CLIs, npm, and git requirements, with specific recommendations for Mac OS, Linux, and Windows users.
HTML and CSS fundamentals, including semantic markup, accessibility, core properties, layout methods, CSS frameworks, and pre-processors like SAS, are crucial for web development.
JavaScript's significance for front-end development, including learning fundamentals, DOM manipulation, high-order array methods, asynchronous code, and HTTP handling, is emphasized, along with the importance of understanding front-end frameworks like React, Vue, Svelte, and Angular.

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Recent questions

What are the essential tools for coding?
Computer with 8GB RAM, SSD, Visual Studio Code.
What are the major front-end frameworks?
React, Vue, Svelte, Angular.
What is TypeScript?
Superset of JavaScript with static typing.
What is Docker?
Tool for containerization in web development.
What is DevOps?
Integration of software development and IT operations.

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Summary

00:00

Comprehensive Guide to Web Development Success

The guide is a comprehensive overview of web development technologies, tools, languages, and frameworks, offering personal advice for success in the field.
It aims to simplify the overwhelming process of learning web development by consolidating information in one place and providing perspective.
The guide includes YouTube videos, playlists, and premium courses on the website, all organized in an easy-to-follow manner.
Viewers are advised to use timestamps for navigation due to the video's length and are encouraged to select what interests them from the vast array of topics covered.
The guide is not focused on the latest trends but encompasses a wide range of technologies, regardless of their age, to provide a holistic view of web development.
Various roles in web development are discussed, including web designer, front-end developer, back-end developer, full-stack developer, and DevOps, each with distinct responsibilities.
Different career paths for web developers are outlined, such as working for a company, freelancing, joining a startup, creating a product or software as a service (SaaS), and pursuing internships.
Essential tools for coding include a computer with at least 8GB of RAM and an SSD, with the choice of operating system based on personal preference.
Visual Studio Code is recommended as a text editor for coding, with other options like Sublime Text, Atom, and Vim also available.
Web browsers are a matter of preference, with Chrome being a popular choice for its versatility and developer tools.

14:13

Popular browsers, terminals, and web development essentials.

Chrome and Firefox are the most popular browsers, with Firefox having excellent Dev tools and Microsoft Edge now using chromium.
Safari, Brave, Vivaldi, and Polyan are other browser options, with Polyan being geared towards web development but not free.
Front-end developers now need to use terminals due to framework CLIs, npm, and git requirements.
Mac OS and Linux default terminals are great, while Windows now has an improved terminal with SSH capabilities.
Linux offers various third-party terminals, with Terminator being a popular choice.
HTML and CSS are fundamental for web development, with HTML structuring content and CSS styling it.
HTML focuses on semantic markup, accessibility, common tags, and attributes like headings and paragraphs.
CSS involves core properties, the Box model, margin, padding, borders, specificity, units of measurements, selectors, layout methods like Flexbox and grid, and responsive design.
CSS Frameworks like Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, Bulma, and Materialize offer pre-built classes for layouts and styling.
SAS, a CSS pre-processor, adds functionality like variables, mixins, and nesting for modular CSS.
Git is essential for version control and collaboration, while Markdown is useful for styling text and documentation.
Editor or IDE extensions like EMT, live server, prettier, and learning shortcuts enhance coding efficiency.
AI tools like GitHub co-pilot and chat GPT aid in writing code and problem-solving, but caution is advised in relying too heavily on them.
Design tools may be beneficial depending on goals, with learning the basics suggested unless strictly backend-focused as a freelancer.

29:13

Essential Skills for Effective Freelancing

To freelance effectively, having design skills is crucial, especially for creating layouts and websites.
Figma is a recommended tool for designing websites and UIs due to its user-friendly nature and being web-based.
Other tools like Sketch, Adobe XD, Photoshop, Invision, Canva, and Balsamic are also popular for design work.
Understanding design principles like color contrast, white space, scale, and visual hierarchy is essential for creating effective websites and UIs.
Learning basic design principles can benefit front-end developers, even if they are not designers.
JavaScript is vital for front-end development, with the extent of learning depending on career goals.
Learning JavaScript fundamentals, the Document Object Model, high-order array methods, and the Fetch API is crucial.
Understanding HTTP, promises, asynchronous code, and JSON is necessary for working effectively with JavaScript.
WordPress, built on PHP, is a valuable tool for freelancers, offering quick website creation and customization options.
Deploying websites to live servers can be done easily using services like Netlify, Vercel, or GitHub Pages, with domain registration and SSL certificates being additional considerations.

44:05

Backend Development: Key Steps and Frameworks

To become a backend or full stack developer, start with backend development using server-side programming languages like Python, C, PHP, or JavaScript with runtimes like Node.js, BunJS, or Dino.
Learn a backend framework like Express for Node, Django for Python, Laravel for PHP, or ASP.NET for C.
Understand relational or NoSQL databases to create APIs for front-end developers or work on full-stack projects.
Consider learning about DevOps to deploy server-side applications and APIs to production.
Front-end development has evolved from traditional multi-page server-rendered websites to single-page applications (SPAs) using front-end frameworks like React for dynamic and fast user interfaces.
Server-side rendered websites (SSR) combine server-side rendering with client-side components for interactive UI using frameworks like Next.js for React or Nuxt.js for Vue.
Static site generators like Gatsby, Gridsome, and Astro allow building static websites with dynamic UI using React, Vue, or Svelte.
React, Vue, Svelte, and Angular are the major front-end frameworks, with React being component-based and using JSX for HTML within JavaScript.
Vue emphasizes simplicity and performance, offering an options API and a composition API for component development.
Angular, created by Google, is a full-featured and opinionated framework with its own router, HTTP client, services, animations, and TypeScript by default. Angular CLI simplifies project setup and deployment for SPAs, SSR, or pre-rendered static sites.

59:31

Essential tools and frameworks for React developers.

React can be installed manually, but using Create React App is recommended for additional features like hot reloading and a Dev server.
Create React App is built on top of the webpack build tool and allows customization by ejecting to delve into webpack configurations.
React, though often called a framework, is technically a UI library lacking essential framework features like a router for defining routes in single-page applications.
For manual route definition in single-page applications, React Router is the popular and official choice, offering ease of use and extensive documentation.
React offers component-level state management, but for global state sharing, beginners may find it challenging, leading to the recommendation of third-party solutions like Redux or MobX.
Next.js, a server-side rendered framework for React, uses server components for rendering and offers easy data fetching, making it ideal for SEO and performance.
Gatsby, another static site generator for React, generates static HTML files at build time, enhancing load times and SEO, with a data layer using GraphQL.
UI component libraries like Material UI, React Bootstrap, Shakra UI, and Styled Components provide pre-built components for easy styling in React applications.
React Native allows building native mobile applications using React, enabling code sharing between iOS and Android platforms, making it accessible for web developers.
Various tools like React Query, Formik, React Testing Library, and libraries for animation and VR offer additional functionalities for enhancing React applications.

01:15:21

"Tech Trends: TypeScript, Headless CMS, Solid JS"

TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript, offering additional features like static typing.
TypeScript allows specifying variable types and function return values, enhancing code robustness and readability.
Headless Content Management Systems are gaining popularity, enabling content creation through a user interface and generating APIs for various front ends.
Popular headless CMS options include Sanity, Contentful, and Strapi, catering to projects of different sizes and complexities.
Prismic is another headless CMS focusing on structured content models for dynamic page layouts.
Highgraph is a new headless CMS with e-commerce capabilities, integrating seamlessly with payment gateways.
WordPress offers headless capabilities, allowing the generation of a REST API for content without being tied to WordPress themes.
Solid JS is a declarative library for creating user interfaces, emphasizing reactive rendering for high performance.
Alpine JS is a minimal framework for adding dynamic elements to websites without extensive JavaScript knowledge.
HTM X is a JavaScript library for creating dynamic front ends without writing JavaScript code, focusing on making HTTP requests.

01:31:14

"Node.js: Efficient server-side language for web development"

JavaScript was initially created for the browser but can now be used as a server-side language with runtimes like Node.js being the most common and recommended for beginners.
Newer options like Doo and Bung S offer interesting features and built-in TypeScript support, making them worth exploring for those familiar with Node.js.
Node.js is popular for building APIs, microservices, and full-stack applications due to its non-blocking and event-driven nature, making it efficient for handling concurrent connections and I/O-intensive tasks.
Node.js is not suitable for CPU-intensive tasks but excels in web development, CRUD operations, and working with databases, leveraging the V8 JavaScript engine.
Understanding npm, the Node Package Manager, is essential for installing various packages and libraries, similar to front-end frameworks.
Node.js ecosystem offers numerous tools and frameworks for developers, making it a popular choice for startups and large companies, especially for maintaining consistency with JavaScript on both front and back ends.
Python, a versatile language, is ideal for data science, machine learning, automation, web development, and transitioning from web development to data science.
PHP, primarily used for web development, is favored for building dynamic web pages, especially on platforms like WordPress, offering quick results but requiring caution to avoid writing bad code.
Go, developed by Google, is known for its performance and efficiency, suitable for web services, APIs, and powerful applications, with a vast standard library and secure features.
Elixir, a functional concurrent language, runs on the Erlang virtual machine, ideal for building large-scale applications and real-time applications, similar to Go in its application scope.

01:47:00

Popular PHP and Golang Frameworks Compared

PHP offers two popular frameworks, Laravel and Symfony, with CodeIgniter being another option, though less commonly used.
Laravel is considered a top-tier framework due to its high-level, opinionated structure, including features like database migrations and the eloquent ORM.
Symfony, a more complex framework than Laravel, is widely used by major companies and serves as the foundation for Laravel.
Slim PHP is an underrated framework suitable for simpler projects, akin to Express and Flask for PHP.
Golang, unlike other languages, doesn't necessitate a framework for web development due to its robust standard library, but Jin is a notable option.
C, a versatile language, is utilized in various fields like web and mobile development, often paired with the .NET Framework or ASP.NET for web applications.
ASP.NET, part of the broader .NET ecosystem, is a flexible web framework supporting languages like F# and Visual Basic, with ASP.NET Core being its latest version.
Blazor, a newer framework within ASP.NET Core, focuses on front-end development, enabling interactive web UIs using C instead of JavaScript.
Java's prominent web framework, Spring, is favored by major companies for its MVC design pattern and features for web controllers and views.
Ruby developers commonly opt for Ruby on Rails, a comprehensive and opinionated framework facilitating rapid development, with Sinatra offering a more minimalist approach.

02:03:05

ORMs, Authentication, Deployment, and Serverless in Development.

SQL queries and ORMs like SQLite are great for development without setting up a full database like PostgreSQL.
Markdown files are useful for personal websites, especially with tools like Gatsby or Next.js.
H2 is a file-based database, while SQL is used for relational databases with ORMs for easier interaction.
ORMs like Sequelize, Mongoose, and SQLAlchemy simplify database interactions through object-oriented programming.
Models in ORMs define data structures, making querying easier than raw SQL commands.
Examples of ORMs include Sequelize for Node.js and SQL databases, Django ORM for Django websites, and Eloquent for Laravel in PHP.
Authentication methods include cookies and sessions, JSON Web Tokens, and OAuth for secure user verification.
Libraries like Passport and bcrypt aid in authentication and password hashing for security.
Serverless architecture allows running server-side code without managing servers, suitable for scalable and cost-effective applications.
Deployment options range from Platform as a Service (PaaS) for easier setup to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) for full control over server configuration.

02:18:46

Essential Skills for Web Development Success

To become a developer, understanding a server-side language is crucial, with the choice of language being flexible based on preference.
For web apps or APIs, familiarity with a framework is essential as it's rare to create significant applications without one.
Knowledge of databases, whether relational or non-relational, is necessary, along with understanding ORMs to create data models and interact with databases.
Authentication implementation is vital in web development, utilizing methods like sessions, JWT, or OAuth.
Proficiency in creating REST APIs from scratch, including endpoint creation and handling HTTP requests, is crucial.
Understanding deployment to make applications or APIs live on the internet is necessary, establishing a workflow for deployment processes.
Containerization is a valuable method to package software into standardized units for development, shipment, and deployment, ensuring consistent performance across different environments.
Docker is a primary tool for containerization, aiding in building, running, and shipping applications with containers, widely used by major companies.
Kubernetes complements Docker, serving as an orchestration system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of multiple containers across servers.
Web Assembly (WASM) enables running high-performance code in web browsers, particularly beneficial for computationally intensive tasks like games, video editing, and CAD software.

02:34:28

Future Web Trends: IoT, Metaverse, AI, DevOps, Animation

IoT is expected to impact web development significantly, leading to more IoT-enabled websites and applications as businesses leverage IoT to enhance operations.
The metaverse is a virtual world enabling people to interact in a virtual environment, gaining traction and likely becoming a significant aspect of the future web.
AI is a prominent trend across various industries, with tools like Co-Pilot and Chat GPT aiding in design generation and chatbots becoming popular for customer service and sales.
DevOps merges software development and IT operations, encompassing tasks like application deployment, containerization with Docker and Kubernetes, and CI/CD using tools like Travis CI and Circle CI.
Animation plays a crucial role in the increasingly interactive web, with libraries like Gsap, Anime.js, Velocity JS, and React Spring facilitating the creation of animations and 3D graphics using tools like 3js.
Web 3 encompasses various aspects like blockchain technology, Ethereum, smart contracts written in Solidity, and the potential for VR and AR experiences, representing the future of the web with diverse opinions and applications.

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