Innovation is a human need. It keeps things going. It allows the mind to tinker and find ways to fail, fall and succeed. It is never-ending and that reflects in how far we have come as a race that has everything on its fingertips. A big chunk of the last few decades is attributed to technology and how the World Wide Web has not just expanded but also gained the unparalleled ability to absorb the whole world into itself.
A few years ago even, platforms such as Netflix, Instagram, Spotify, Quora and such, seemed unthinkable but here we are! And the momentum in web development continues at a lightning speed still.
And the result – absolute freedom! Freedom to build and host your website however one pleases.
From basic coding to web design itself, Web Development tools have it all covered and businesses across industries in these times are making the most of it. They know that that it is now digital all the way. The future is here!
WordPress leads the pack for website design and development and has market share of 35% of all websites, say stats shared by W3Techs
Take another example – the website technology stack for Quora is packed with Javascript, Zepto.js, Nginx, Python, Pylons, MySQL, Memcached and such. Similarly, Instagram comes packed with JavaScript, React.js, Nginx, Python, Django. PostgreSQL and Redis. These stacks are suitable for the requirements of these platforms and so are chosen as such.
And how are they factored in?
As per the insights shared by Adobe, for 48 percent users, the design of the website is the primary factor in determining the credibility of a business.
Google too has said that the speed of a website is one of the factors used by its ranking algorithms to rank pages. Nearly 47 percent users said that they expected the websites to load within 2 seconds or less. That’s a tall order!
Furthermore, 59 percent of users will engage more with aesthetically designed website instead of something plain and boring.
Nearly 48 percent of the website users feel that if the website of any company is not mobile-friendly, it is an indication that the business is not serious about their customers. In the same vein, 40 users said that they will switch to a different one if the first search engine result is not mobile- friendly.
And this is reflected in the sales numbers too – 62 percent companies upped their sales by designing only mobile-based responsive platforms for their websites.
It is the established fact – the consumer is the King!
While speeding up a website in terms of loading is a different area for developers and requires different set of tasks, speeding up the process of website development is what we are focusing on.
Therefore, as the market for such websites and web applications grows exponentially, web developers are upping the ante too.
Hence, there are now more tools to speed up web development than ever. Choices and more choices!
But which ones are at the top of the chain?
A good toolkit for a web developer doesn’t necessarily need a swanky system but the right tools that complements their work.
Aptly named, Creative Tim has a lot of Bootstrap-based design elements to offer. The web development tool helps the developer build a website in less time and also aids in adding various features and functionalities. Moreover, it can also be used for mobile apps as well. This enables a lot of room for the developer to experiment and make sure that the website is user-friendly and while also focusing on the business model of the website.
Perhaps the most efficient tool within HTML5 Boilerplate, using a set of files a developer can create a new base for the website. These files are accessible to the developer and are downloadable. In addition it not only provides support for fixing the bugs but also aids in achieving CSS normalization.
Most importantly, developers can use the Apache Server Configuration to improve security, performance of the website or added application. It also has the optimized version of Google Universal Analytics snippet.
Made using JavaScript, NPM or the Node Package Manager is a web tool that aid in getting packages of reusable code. NPM is used in putting together the process in a useful way, thereby offering command-line utility. Moreover, the NPM web development tool also has several free code packages as well.
NPM publishes and handles the access to the namespace and manages the public and private code in a similar vain. It supports in discovering and reusing more than 470,000 free code packages in the registry.
Sass is basically the CSS extension language which lets the developers use mixing, nested rules, variables, and functions to enhance the functionality of the existing CSS of a website or web application.
This enables the developers to add bring more value to the website by creating more functions and built-in features. Furthermore, Sass has advanced features in the store that includes a control directive for libraries.
If AngularJS has to be described in one word, then “simplifying” would be it. This open-source front end web developer tool helps in extending the HTML vocabulary for building websites and web applications, making the process readable and accessible. As HTML is good for static documents, AngularJS will help you work on the framework of the website. The toolset also features directives, reusable components, and localization which is essential for creating Components.
In addition to offering built-in testability, this tool also provides Data Binding, Controller and Plain JavaScript.
AngularJS facilitates Deep Linking, Form Validation, and Server Communication for Navigation, Forms, and Back ends.
JQuery aids developers in simplifying HTML DOM tree traversal, Ajax and manipulation. Open source and free to use, this JavaScript library also facilitates highly interactive web applications and is widely used in event handling and animation. Packed with a powerful theme mechanism, JQuery is easy to download and takes up less space.
This web development tool helps the developer in reviewing code at any time and reduces the chances of errors. GitHub also features project management tools and allows the web developers to host their documentation straight from repositories.
This tool ensures that the task is made easier at one place – building the software, managing projects and easily reviewing code.
In conclusion, these web development tools, better known as DevTools, have drastically changed the very definition of a software development and all the jobs that come with it.
However, this also depends on what your priorities are as a developer too. Ask yourself these questions – “Do you want to do start own thing?”, “Do you want to work on a product company or prefer to work as a consultant instead?” and “Do you want to work full-time or freelancing would to a better option for you?”
This means that web developers have to master the trade but also wear many hats – from working as a one-man team to leading a team to collaborating across departments to get the desired product. Web development is a niche that only a talented few are skilled in.
For businesses, on the other hand, whose core competencies are not in IT, are held back when it comes to their online presence or even expanding their business.
Therefore, website and web app development requires meticulous planning and the right insight into the product and service are a must. It is a time consuming process too.
So, when your core businesses is not online or core competency is not in web development, why not shift the cumbersome burden on the experts while you focus on your company? Because Big Tech has done just that.
So, what is stopping you from getting that edge over competition?
In a country like India, which is renowned for its prowess in technology and has one of the largest base of smartphone users in the world, web development takes up a big chunk of outsourcing.
It is based on three factors – speed, quality and money.
Keeping these three factors in mind, one can hire a developer in India with full confidence.
One can cherry-pick a developer or a team of web developers, depending upon your requirement and the duration of your project in this business model and get it done in the fraction of the cost without compromising on quality. It is a win-win for all!
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