With the advent of new technologies and the sharp rise in online transactions, a quality web presence is becoming a must, and many organizations have already made the digital shift.
For the majority of people, your online presence is your main brand image, which means that without a quality website, you're completely invisible to many!
The commercial offer is also moving more and more towards virtual stores, which enable us to reach a much wider audience, allowing companies to interact better and create more lasting links with their customers and partners.
A common mistake is to confuse web development with webmastering, i.e. taking charge of a site's aesthetics and content, often via a pre-programmed solution with little or no customization.
Instead, the development process involves advanced programming skills to design and develop a customized interface, tailored specifically to the needs of your organization and its clientele.
Web site or application development is an expertise that requires knowledge of different protocols and the use of several programming languages: HTML / CSS, C#, Ruby, PHP and Python, to name but a few.
These specialists can be found in large organizations, but many also work on a freelance basis or for agencies such as Webisoft.
Because there are no formal educational requirements to work in Web development, many are self-taught and have a varied academic and professional background.
Some organizations choose to hire only those with computer science degrees, but it's more often experience and previous achievements that can guarantee quality work.
A specialized agency can develop a custom application using a bottom-up approach, creating unique, customized code that meets your needs and is specifically tailored to the content and functions you wish to promote with your online presence.
Web development is therefore generally carried out from scratch, in order to adapt the solution to your needs rather than vice versa, and involves the use of advanced skills in front-end and back-end application development, as well as complex database manipulation.
The advantage of this approach is undoubtedly the possibility of having a unique and original solution tailored specifically to your needs. For large-scale projects, working with a specialized agency that can take on all or part of the development management also enables you to split tasks and utilize all the strengths present within a team.
Most people working in Web development will specialize in one or other of the following skills.
/001
This is the person who specializes in the visible portion of a Web application, the showcase of your organization. The front-end application developer is in charge of the programming that takes the initial design through to the visible portion of the final product.
While this person is sometimes also in charge of integration, this task may be entrusted to others within the team, so the distinction between these positions can be confusing.
/002
This is the person in charge of developing and maintaining all the technologies that run in the background of a Web solution and feed the visible part.
The back-end application developer specializes in programming complex tools for automatic content creation, database manipulation, periodic action management and more.
/003
This is the most versatile profile, as it covers all stages of Web development and is therefore well placed to manage a project from start to finish.
The global application developer is currently very much in demand, thanks to his or her varied skills and ability to see a project through from start to finish. As a generalist, he or she is also rarely someone who specializes in a single language.
/004
The JavaScript program language (JS) is recognized and supported by all current browsers and Web tools. Although long associated with front-end applications, the advent of NodeJS means it can now be used for back-end development, making it all the more useful.
Note that this list is not exhaustive; there are of course many other programming languages, and almost as many skill profiles as there are developers.
In a world where almost everything is connected, it's more than necessary to ensure your presence on the Internet. While building an online site or application can be more complex than you might imagine, your best guarantee of success is to work with an expert Web development team that has the expertise required to bring your projects to life.