Web Development
Each day, while you’re browsing between your main cycle of websites, you often aren’t thinking about any of the development that’s gone into creating some of your favorite sites. As it turns out, website development is both complex and fascinating; including multiple layers of design, various levels of development, and countless hours of planning that go into creating a functional website.
There are a few different approaches to website development. One is custom coding in which website developers/coders hand code their websites to be exactly what they want. To do this, coders use platforms like Adobe Dreamweaver to code each aspect of their website. Another way to develop a website is to use CMS or Content Management System. CMS doesn’t require coding; some examples are WordPress, Squarespace, etc.
Compared to hand-coding, CMS is much easier to use and understand for average users. When creating a website, most people resort to CMS’s like WordPress or Squarespace to showcase their brand or business. Additionally, CMS is helpful because you can choose preset custom codes otherwise known as templates for your website design and it can all be adjusted later on. While CMS’s do cost money, most plans are relatively affordable and allow for things such as domain registration and hosting.
On the other hand, while hand-coding requires more knowledge and take more time, in some instances it may be necessary because it allows for maximum flexibility. Since the code is being created from scratch, this makes it 100% customizable.
One example of an HTML website is Caffeine Post. This is a website for a creative production company that features multiple astonishing website elements; especially the motion design. Plus, the website does a very good job at using transitions from click to click to keep the viewer engaged. In my opinion, it’s fascinating knowing it was all hand-coded.
However, CMS websites are more common. For example, NastyGal, a popular women’s online store, uses Squarespace to sell items to thousands of people across the globe. Tapping into my own experience, in 2022 I interned for a fashion magazine that also used Squarespace. This gave me the opportunity to explore the backend of Squarespace to see the templates I could use, how I could customize them, and how to increase interactivity throughout the website.
Altogether, even if you’re not interested in going into computer science or website design, knowing how websites are built is important to understand how we interact with them.