The evolution of web development

Web development has been rapidly progressing since the dawn of the internet. Technological advancements paved the way for web development to have a significant impact on how businesses and brands communicate faster and over longer distances. Today, we can call a web development company and have our website made in no time. The principles of a successful website are more vital than ever for businesses to grasp since web development technologies continue to evolve at an accelerating rate, with new strategies and monthly trends. A number of web development companies are competing hard to make things easier for us, with their websites and out-of-the-box concepts to amaze clients. 

Technologies are laying the foundations for developing a great business-to-customer experience, including carousels, hamburger menus, single-page websites, and so on. By adding new tools, methods, and protocols to the current system, web developers aspire to create a machine that thinks like people.

The early web development techniques have stood the test of time along with the widespread use of the internet. Web development and design have progressed from simple HTML to modern responsive web applications throughout the years. Let’s take a look at the evolution of the internet, which is the foundation of web development and has significant contributions to its history. 

What is Web Development?

Web development refers to the process of establishing and maintaining a website for the internet or a private network. Web development, in its broadest sense, refers to the tasks involved in creating websites for intranet or internet hosting. Web development encompasses a wide range of processes such as user interface design, content development, client-side/server-side coding, network security configuration, and more.

The level and scope of work that goes into web development can range from simple and straightforward design to sophisticated and mobile-first development. It can be a complex and varied mix of online applications and social media services.

How is Web Development Evolving? 

Since its inception, web development has evolved into a vast platform to make things happen. The history of web development is, however, one that has been spectacular, often abrupt, but constantly revolutionary.

The internet’s potential, like that of many other computer systems, was not understood by the general public until a graphic interface was created to appeal to the masses.

When the internet first began, connection speeds were far too slow in comparison to today’s internet speed. As a result, web design was not a top concern because sophisticated processes were not even considered. However, by the mid-1990s, it was clear that content and data needed to be represented in ways other than text. During this period, web designs with elements such as text columns, background images and animated gifs began to appear. All of these elements contributed to a better overall design and user experience.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) first appeared at the turn of the century, in the early 2000s. It was crucial in allowing web developers to have complete control over the layout of their websites on each page. The text was contained in HTML coding, while the visual graphic presentation was handled by CSS. CSS has simplified website customization and maintenance. It also resulted in faster website loading times.

The next several years witnessed the emergence of a slew of popular websites including. Social media platforms began to appear later in 2004 and 2005.  Back then, there were more than 50 million websites online already.  The arrival of Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, and other social media platforms such as Myspace ushered in a major shift in web development, as programmers began to incorporate these platforms into their design techniques. 

Then came the Google era, the king of all search engines, which introduced us to the concept of search engine optimization (SEO), and businesses began to look for ways to boost their rankings. Meanwhile, Apple made significant technological advancements between 2007 and 2008. The iPhone was a game-changer when it was released, forcing developers to focus on responsive mobile phone designs. Due to the rise of mobile computing as well as e-commerce, some businesses have abandoned their traditional websites and moved completely to a mobile-only version.

As the world became more reliant on mobile web experiences, the web development challenge shifted from browser compatibility to  mobile-friendly web design. Users expect native applications on their mobile devices to behave similarly to native applications on a desktop PC or a laptop. Web development nowadays began to focus on faster loading times, security, and simplicity of use. 

Role of Technology in Web Development Evolution

Technology evolves at a rapid pace, and new trends in website development are no exception. Every year, we experience something new in the realm of technology, as it introduces improved features that are ideal for use in the field of web development. Web development is no longer limited to the creation of websites. The scope of web development is expanding–from behind-the-scenes coding and programming to maintaining a website’s responsiveness, incoming traffic and overall performance.

Web developers and designers have a clear vision of the internet’s possibilities. Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) are just a few instances of how technology is making it easier and more comfortable to live and survive. IoT, for example, makes it possible to connect multiple devices using the internet. 

The open web community’s continued work has resulted in today’s web, which describes the numerous web technologies that support internet browsing, such as HTML5, CSS3, WebGL, and others. Multiple web development frameworks like Ruby on Rails, AngularJS and Django, programming languages like Ruby, Python and Java as well as data formats like XML and JSON, are all readily available today. Web development technologies keep advancing, whether it’s front-end or back-end development. 

Conclusion

The latest advancements in web development are truly bringing out the best for businesses, allowing them to reach their goals with ease. Young and old, people nowadays can generate money online. Individuals can now easily start their own websites or blogs. 

Web development has gone through many stages, and each technology has contributed more advancements to make life easier for individuals, and businesses who have moved their marketing tactics from physical stores to websites. Web development technologies enable us to create innovative, beautiful, and highly efficient websites that look and function significantly differently than those created when the internet was first introduced. At the same time, technology are constantly evolving in order to satisfy the ever-changing needs of users. As a result, we should expect web development to continue to evolve and innovate in the future.

Web development has progressed dramatically in recent years, and it is an ongoing process. And we’re not quite done yet.