WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

Web Development vs Web Design

Web design and development is an umbrella term that describes the process of creating a website. As the name suggests, it involves two major skill sets: web design and web development. Web design determines the look and feel of a website, while web development determines how it functions. 

Web Development at NAIT

This is a 2-year diploma program in the DMIT program in which its main area of emphasis is to unionize artistic talent, creativity, and technical skills to provide students with the proper tools and knowledge needed to excel in the rapidly growing field of web design and development.

During the program, students take a wide variety of courses, in which they will learn how to utilize industry-standard software ​ like:

  • Visual Studio Code
  • Github
  • FileZilla
  • Adobe Photoshop

Students will also learn various design & programming skills ​ that will enable them to create static & dynamic interactive websites. ​ The program also trains students to become skilled researchers, professional communicators, and good team players.

After The Program - Career Opportunities

Front-End Web Developer

Front-end refers to the part of a website users interact with text, buttons, images, etc., also known as the user interface. ​ Therefore the role of a front-end developer is to ensure that users can easily interact and navigate websites. Four components make up front-end development namely; 

  • Design
  • Technology
  • Programming
  • Debugging

The central technology used in front-end development is HTML, Hypertext Markup Language, CSS Cascading Style Sheet, and JavaScript.
HTML is the code used to structure a webpage and its content. CSS is the code that adds style to HTML and JavaScript adds functionality to the website.

Some of the tasks of a front-end web developer include;

  • Developing and maintaining the user interface by properly utilizing web technology
  • Optimizing user experience by implementing techniques for user accessibility, usability, and the overall efficiency of the website. 
  • Implement responsive web design so that websites render correctly on various devices
  • Following the best search engine optimization practices so that websites are easier to find when surfing the web.

The average salary for front-end web development is $85,000 per year. 

Back-End Web Developer

Back-end refers to the part of a website that users can not see. By default, computers can not retrieve data from servers. Therefore, web developers use server-side programming languages like PHP, (Hypertext Processor) and JavaScript and SQL(Structured Query Langauge) languages like MySQL to retrieve data users input through the front end and store it in a database for future retrieval.

Some of the tasks of a back-end web developer include;

  • Troubleshooting issues and resolving them
  • Writing clean and sustainable code
  • Working with front-end developers to integrate user-interface elements with server-side logic
  • Fixing bugs and testing for usability

The average salary for front-end web development is $97,500 per year.