Is there a Difference between Web Designer and Web Developer? - By: Debra Nolan

Web Designer and Web Developer are two terms that are often used but the difference between them are not always known. They are not the same. A web Design is the overall appearance of a website or the part visitors see when they go to a site, while a web developer is the actual programming or functionality of a site. Here we will explore the two disciplines.

A website has numerous distinctive elements based on the complexity of a website. A few common elements are layout view, content, and programming or functionality. The view element includes the color, images, graphics, etc. The content includes the product or service information, which can be detailed and/or technical. The function element is the features of a web site that provides the visitor interaction with the site. The programming is the language of the site, navigation, and usefulness.

The view or aesthetics of a website is the web designer's expertise to understand color combinations and imagery that will project the correct business image of the website owner. A professional web designer will have a good appreciation for aesthetics and understands layout of a website and the proper use of fonts and colors for each page.

Content is all the information on a website for the benefit of the visitor. Descriptions, detailed information, website policy, benefits of a product or service. It is an overall sales letter explaining the purpose of the website to the visitor. For Properly targeted content in the form of text you can use a copywriter and/or editor to create good content.

Web site functionality includes all the aspects of a web site and includes animation. To create sophisticated web sites programming languages such as Perl, php, or java can be used. Flash is a great way to animate graphics. Although most pages can work independently, most commonly a database is used create features. JavaScript is a programming language used to make web site effects such as mouse over images, or changing link colors. JavaScript works on the web browser rather than on the web server.

Other functions of a web site include the applications that are transparent to a visitor, such as content management or form processing. All of these types of programming are integrated into the HTML code used on a webpage.

As you can probably see from the quick overview, the difference between web design and web development overlap a great deal. A web design usually involves content creation and the aesthetics of a web site, while a web developer involves the programming, functionality, and testing its usability.
Web designers should be proficient with graphic design programs such as Photoshop and they also must know HTML to implement the design. Animation however is usually the responsibility of a web developer. Web designers edit and rewrite content and should be able to perform simplistic testing of a web site for load speed and navigation.

Web developers are programmers that create the functionality of a website. They are able to integrate content into a program and also do site testing. The overlap between the two disciplines is not easily separated. Large corporations will divide these disciplines into separate departments, while individual professionals expand their knowledge base to become an expert in graphic design, content creation, programming and testing within a niche web design market to provide an overall professional service to the client.

About the Author

Contractor Web Studio offers professional web design services for small business & contractors. For more information visit: http://www.contractorwebstudio.com

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Debra-Nolan/38719

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