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Web design and web development are two completely different jobs, although they are often easily confused with one another because most web developers are also web designers. The key difference between web design and web development is that web design is an art, and is the job it takes to make a website look the way it does, while web development is all the coding and scripting behind the scenes.

Web Design
Web design are the images, text layout, balance, colors, and whatever other elements are needed to make a web site look appealing to its visitors. A web designer will work with software like Dreamweaver to create a website, and leave most of the coding to the software. Designers usually do however know some coding, but not like a web developer does. A web designer will know HTML, CSS, and perhaps some snippits of Javascript and PHP. All they really need to know is HTML and CSS however, because those are the two coding languages that deal with how the page looks.

Web Development
A web developer will determine how a website functions. They don't deal with what colors to use on a website, or where the navigation bar will be. They worry about coding a shopping cart for your site, or any forms or scripts you may need to have healthy relationships with your customers. A web developer usually also deals with hosting websites, and making them secure to help protect private information. A web developer will know many more advanced languages such as PHP, Java, Javascript, MySQL, Perl, etc. They will also have to know HTML and CSS however so they can navigate their way through a web page that a web designer may have built, to put in their coding.

So web design is more creative, and to be a good web designer you must understand the basic concepts art. A good web designer can influence a customer to buy a product, donate money, or write a comment on a website by creating a professional feel for the website. In contrast, a web developer is the 'techie.' This person will need to know the in's and out's
of programming, and create a secure, interactive, and functional website for your visitor.

There are a lot of professionals who will combine both jobs into one. Like myself, most people in this area enjoy coding, but feel like they want a more creative side to their career. Also, being both a designer and a developer, there is no need to communicate with, or work around the other designer/developer.

Learn more about this author, Brenna Mae.
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