Platt College Web Design Teacher Fred Winton Talks About Languages and Skills Aspiring Front-end Web Developers Should Learn
When it comes to web languages it is important to keep in mind that foundation and fundamentals are paramount for a successful front-end web developer. Front-end web developers should be proficient with HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP.
HTML (hypertext markup language) is a standardized markup language for semantically describing the content within web documents. HTML was originally developed by Tim Berners-Lee and is under the guidance of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The current version is HTML5.
CSS (cascading style sheets) is a presentation language that defines how html elements will be displayed within a web browser. CSS was developed by a W3C team headed by Bert Bos and Håkon Lie. The current version is CSS3.
Javascript is an object oriented programming language commonly used to create user / browser interaction, browser effects and to alter content that is displayed. Javascript was created by Brenden Eich in 1995 while working at Netscape. Currently it is also important for developers to know a compiled library of Javascript such as jQuery.
PHP (php hypertext pre-processor) is a server side scripting language commonly used for server / browser interaction and dynamic web development. PHP is processed by a web server and the results are sent back to the requesting web browser. PHP was created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf. Though PHP is a server side language it is still important that front end web developers know the language as it is commonly scripted within html.
In addition to the above languages, a front end developer should be proficient with commonly used design software such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Content Management Systems such as WordPress and have solid skills with time management, File Transfer Protocol and version control.
Fred Winton has been teaching web design at Platt College San Diego since 2000. He has a B.S. Degree from SDSU and has been working as a professional web developer since 1996.
