There are many specializations in development – mobile applications, gamedev, web, databases, software architecture, frontend, backend, fullstack, etc. This article will only talk about web development – creating websites and web applications.

This is the easiest specialization to enter the profession and steadily popular direction – there are more and more vacancies, and the demand for website development does not fall. This is due to the fact that some web applications are not converted to mobile format at all. For example, the graphical editor Figma would be extremely inconvenient to use from a phone. But it works fine in a browser.

Basic Web Developer Skills
Any web application consists of two parts: the backend and the frontend. The backend is what’s “under the hood,” the “stuffing” of the site, and the frontend is what users see.

Backend developers do the technical part, and frontend developers do the user part. There are also full-stack developers – these are full-service specialists, they do both the backend and frontend.

Each type of development has its own programming languages.

A programming language is the main tool of a developer.
To be in demand as a specialist, you do not need to be tied to a particular language. Over time, you learn to program as a whole, that is, to understand the general patterns and principles of languages. Then the next languages will be easier to master. They are in principle similar to each other – once you have learned one, it will be easier.

The frontend developer: languages, skills
Almost everything we see on the Internet is made by frontend developers: websites, feeds, online stores and much more. The frontend developer is responsible for the visible part of the Internet: how pages behave and how users see them.

Skills. The main language used by frontend developers is JavaScript (not to be confused with Java). You also need CSS and HTML, markup languages. Another useful language and a partial analogue of JavaScript is TypeScript – it solves some of the shortcomings of JS and requires little effort to learn.

CSS, HTML and JavaScript are the base of every web developer
In addition to the main language and markup languages, it is a good idea to know at least one framework. The most popular are React, Angular, Vue, and Svelte. Most front-end jobs today require knowledge of a framework, not just Javascript.

Backend developer: languages, skills and salary
Backend developers are responsible for what happens on the server. The backend is not visible to users. Backend technologies include authorization, data processing and storage, emailing, etc.

The main backend languages are Java, PHP, Python, C#, Ruby. But for a successful work it is necessary to get acquainted with the frontend, at least indirectly. Therefore the backend needs to know CSS, HTML and basic JavaScript.

Fullstack developer: languages, skills and salary
A full-stack developer understands frontend and backend. But there are far fewer such jobs than there are for individual frontend or backend specialists.

Often, fullstack is needed for projects where design is not important, and the only requirement for the product is “to make it work.”