To create the perfect website, one must be proficient in the fundamentals of web design. Web design is the entire process of building an entire website from scratch. It starts with conceptualizing ideas, planning the aesthetic elements, arranging the ideas, and executing them fully.
Savvy web designers leave no stone unturned. They make sure that the content, website flow, and appearance all blend to deliver the best website. A good understanding of UI, graphic, and UX design is necessary for web development. Fortunately, these can all be learned easily from programs and courses available online.
As you start to build your website, there are a few essentials that you’ll need. These help to cater for all website needs and provide a good foundation for the build. Below are some of the software requirements needed for web development:
1. CSS FrameWorks
CSS frameworks help to simplify the website building process by providing general functionality. They consist of practices and guidelines that allow designers to perform repetitive tasks in a short amount of time. A ready-to-use structure is provided to lift the burden of starting from scratch. Two of the most popular CSS frameworks include Bootstrap and Foundation.
- Bootstrap
Bootstrap was initially known as Twitter Blueprint. It’s an immensely popular framework that is used to ensure that websites are mobile-friendly. Also, it comes packed with tons of features that help to make websites fully responsive and compatible with several mobile devices. Creating a Bootstrap website is easily facilitated by Bootstrap templates, builders, and cheat sheets.
- Foundation
Foundation is another more advanced and sophisticated front-end framework. It’s used to build responsive and mobile-first interfaces that make it easy for users to navigate webpages. It’s also considered as the most complex, making it a very professional CSS framework.
2. PHP Frameworks
PHP is a popular programming language used to build websites and web applications. It provides a simple structure that streamlines web development, making it a straight-forward and speedy process. Designers save on time and effort that could have been used to create new code. Some of the most popular PHP frameworks available today include Lavarel, CodeIgniter, and Symfony.
- Lavarel
Lavarel is one of the easiest PHP frameworks to use. This makes it the number one choice for a majority of web developers. It also comes with a low learning curve that allows beginners to learn how to build web apps and sites. The official website provides screenshots, tutorials, and videos that teach the fundamentals of building with Lavarel.
- CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter is a free, simple, and open-source framework that provides a go-to option for small and medium-sized projects. It supports several databases including Oracle, MySQL, and many more. Users may find it a bit challenging as it’s difficult to locate important parts of the documentation provided.
- Symfony
Symfony comes packed with a wide array of PHP code that can be reused. It’s easy to comprehend and empowers web developers to tackle large projects. Over 600,000 developers work on it actively to make it more usable and friendly. There are training courses available for Symfony, but its learning curve is quite steep.
3. Advanced JavaScript Frameworks and Libraries
JavaScript has built quite a reputation for being a powerful and robust programming language. It features multiple frameworks and libraries built specifically to make it easy to perform complex tasks on the web. Two of the most popular JavaScript frameworks and libraries include React and AngularJS.
- React
React is a JavaScript library that has grown in popularity since its release in 2013 by Facebook. It allows web designers to build interfaces for single-page applications. Large applications can load data on their view layers without reloading the pages. It’s one of the most popular and most successful JavaScript libraries used today.
- AngularJS
AngularJS is an open-source JavaScript framework that allows you to extend HTML as you control the MVC pattern. Being based on HTML, it doesn’t require users to learn other languages or syntax to work with it. It’s popularly used to underpin single-page applications.
4. Website Builders
Website builders allow you to have a fully working website without having to put in a lot of work. There are a lot of these available today, which may make it hard to choose the best out of the rubble. Below are two of the most promising platforms.
- Adobe Dreamweaver
Adobe Dreamweaver provides an integrated development environment (IDE) that’s packed with web design tools to help you carry out your design and development process with ease. It was first developed by Macromedia in 1997. Macromedia was later bought by Adobe which continued developing Dreamweaver. Its WYSIWYG editor gives you exactly what you want in your preferred language.
- Designmodo
Deisgnmodo is a website and email builder that was first launched in August 2010. It incorporates Bootstrap themes and templates to help you create fully responsive websites. It also allows you to build HTML email templates using a drag and drop builder. It’s also grown to be popular amongst developers and non-tech users.
5. Website Speed Test Tools
Slow websites are a turn-off. As such, your website’s loading speed is a crucial determinant of its success. Faster websites benefit from higher conversion rates, better SEO ranking, and reduced bounce rates. Two of the best and most popular website speed test tools include KeyCDN Website Speed Test and Google PageSpeed Insights.
- KeyCDN Website Speed Test
KeyCDN is a lightweight and fast speed test tool that provides insights on how your website is performing. You can easily see your page’s full size, the number of its HTTP requests, and the corresponding loading time. It’s very responsive and works well on mobile devices.
- Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights ranks your website on a scale of 1-100. The higher the rank, the better the performance! PageSpeed provides website owners with loading speeds reports for both the mobile and desktop versions of their site. It also provides recommendations on how to improve the performance of a page.
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