Did you know, that clear and easy to scan layouts of a website offers a 47 percent usability improvement? If you are an aspiring web developer, you may already know how important the website layout is. It not only influences the search engine rankings, but also tells your users where to focus on the website. It is no surprise why the web developers are so much in demand these days.
If you want to succeed as a web developer in 2018, you need to master a few essential tools that are currently powering the field of web development.
1. Sketch:
An impressive website requires more than just coding, and who knows that better than a web developer. If you have an interest in great design elements, then Sketch is the perfect assistant for you. This digital design toolkit allows you to manipulate the design elements as per your needs. Some of its highlighting features include the creation of simple animations, the creation of clickable prototypes and cloud collaboration.
Furthermore, the tool also lets you create a master symbol, which you can personalize as per your requirements. It even allows you to design custom fonts to give the website a custom appearance. The only drawback of this toolkit is that it supports Mac OS only. So, if you work on Windows or Linux, you cannot reap the benefits of this tool.
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2. Bootstrap:
Bootstrap is undoubtedly one of the most useful tools that enable you to put your skills regarding Javascript, HTML, and CSS into good use. You may already be acquainted with this tool as it has been in use for several years. However, if you don’t use it yet, you may find it quite helpful in creating a responsive website and mobile application in compliance with Google’s “mobile-first” index.
This popular open source web UI framework packs a lot of amazing features, including a library of components, prototyping tools, and plugins which make your job a lot easier. Initially, it was developed for the internal use at Twitter. However, now it is being used by some of the corporate giants like Walmart, Bloomberg, Target, and even the NBA.
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3. InVision Cloud:
InVision Cloud is a great digital product design platform that takes numerous traditional design elements and techniques and put them into the use as per the needs of today’s virtual world. Interestingly, it is used by a number of reputed companies, including Amazon, Netflix, SoundCloud, and Evernote. It shows how effective this tool can be in 2018.
The tool offers useful features like an element library, a web prototype for desktop, an inspiration board, a photography board, and navigation flows. As a web developer, you may find its prototype tool to be quite effective as it allows you to create a prototype website with clickable elements for both desktop and mobile devices. Even though this is a paid tool, you can use its free tier, which can handle a single prototype.
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4. SQL:
SQL is one of the first few commercial languages that serve the purpose of database management. Since data is one of the driving forces for business, commerce, entertainment, and other crucial industries, SQL now plays the bigger role in the field of web development. Anyone from a data scientist to a marketing analyst can use this tool to create relational databases, manipulate them and communicate with them.
In 1986, SQL was recognized as the standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). In 1987, it was also acknowledged by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO). Now, SQL is being used by a number of big enterprises to manage their massive data storages. YouTube, Wikipedia, Twitter, and Microsoft are some of the big brands that use SQL to their advantage.
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5. Sublime Text 3:
Since codes play a much bigger role in the process of web development, having a code editor at your disposal can make things a lot easier for you if you want to make a few adjustments in the existing code. Sublime Text 3, which is one of the finest code editing tools available in 2018, which offers a number of amazing features that you can use to your advantage as a web developer. Since it works on all the popular operating systems such as Windows, Mac, and Linux, you can certainly reap the benefits of this tool.
Among all the highlighting features of this tool, the “GoTo Anything” command deserves a special mention as it allows you to find a piece of code almost instantly at your request. Also the Multiple Selection Command allows you to make changes to recurring sections of code, and the Split Editing that can broaden the display of the codes on a widescreen monitor (or even on multiple monitors). Interestingly, you can download this tool for free. However, you may need to purchase the license for using it.
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6. Javascript:
Javascript is one of the major foundations on which the web is currently standing. If you aren’t very good with Javascript, it is time to upgrade your Javascript skills. You may not be aware, but this popular programming language drives most of the interactive content you may get to see on an average web page.
If you have not skipped your classes or hired an assignment writer to do your programming assignment, you should know that the use of Javascript is not limited to the website development. It is also used quite frequently to manage servers, databases, word processors and even the PDF software. As a matter of fact, almost every web browser now offers a built-in engine that is solely dedicated to Javascript.
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7. Python:
Python is another high-level programming language that is widely used in the field of web development. Initially, it was built to stress on the readability of codes, notably using significant whitespace. It offers a structure that allows clear programming on both large and small scales. This conservative and straightforward language is considered to be an easy starting point for the aspiring back-end web developers.
While Python is very popular among the web developers and designers, it also shares its popularity among data analysts, game designers, AI specialists, and other professionals. Big web companies such as Dropbox, Spotify, and Reddit often choose Python over the other available programming languages for their web development needs.
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8. Foundation 6:
If your work involves a lot of front-end tasks, you should consider getting acquainted with Foundation 6, which offers a collection of front-end frameworks. You can use this “family of responsive front-end frameworks” to design websites and emails, and customize to get the look you want. Interestingly, Foundation 6 is used by some of the big brands like Adobe, HP, and Disney.
The tool offers a library of HTML templates – each of which is optimized for specific applications. You can build upon this with the “Building Blocks” like full-screen hero page, a subscription form, rounded social buttons, and star rating block, to make the website feature-rich. You can simply download this tool from the official webpage. However, the price of the tool is not very clear, unless you buy it yourself.
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9. Java:
Even though it shares its name with another popular programming language, there is no reason to confuse it with Javascript. This programming language is popular among the web developers for its “write once and run anywhere” feature. However, it is traditionally used for client-server web applications.
If you are an android developer, you must be familiar with Java as the platform’s SDK uses Java as the basis for building Android applications. Since it supports most of the operating systems (Windows, Mac, and Linux), you won’t have any issue while using it in your work.
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10. C:
C is perhaps one of the oldest programming languages that are still in use in the field of web development. Even though it came into existence in the sixties, this is still used massively in today’s modern operating systems. Interestingly, most of the popular programming languages interact with C, lending it the name of lingua franca of web development.
You can use this language to write complex programs, thanks to its rich set of built-in functions and operators. Also, the C compiler combines the features of a high-level language. In fact, it allows you to create your personalized function and add it to the C library.
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Web development is a dynamic field, and as the search engine requirements tend to change with time, having all the necessary tools at your disposal can help you stay on top in 2018.
