The Path I Followed To Becoming A Web Application Developer

image: orioninfosolutions.com

Finally, I am a web application developer. Took me longer than I expected but I made it.

Today, I will be sharing the path I followed to becoming a web application developer. But first, who is a web application developer?

Think about the programs you use on your laptop -- Microsoft Word, Google Chrome, Photoshop, Solitaire etc. The people who built them are called software developers. They all run on your laptop and you have to install them first before you can use them.

Well, there's a new kind of software developers. The software they build don't need installation before you can use them and they run primarily on the web (internet). They are called web application developers. 

They should not be confused with website designers because they are not building an online flyer for a company. They are building a full-fledged software that runs on the web.

Common examples of web applications that you have come across are Whatsapp, Facebook, Quickbooks Online, QuickTeller and online games.

To become a web application developer, you need to be proficient in three major things -- build the user interface (front-end) of your application using mostly HTML, CSS and JavaScript; build the core that handles the heavy computing and business logic of your web application using any program of your choice (C#, for me); and manage a database that stores the data your application uses/generates (I use Microsoft SQL database, other options are MySQL, PostgreSQL and Oracle databases).

For me, I have been dabbling in and out of HTML and CSS learning since 2006. Started learning with Microsoft FrontPage. I have also been learning and using SQL (though not Microsoft SQL, but the knowledge is transferable) since 2008 when I did my Oracle 10g database administration certification and also in some of my consulting jobs. However, it was not until 2014 that I started learning JavaScript and C#.

The hardest piece for me has been C#. I needed to learn it deeply as it will be what I will use to build the core of my web applications. It will be the one handling the business logic and whatever complex tasks my web applications will perform. And C# is not that very easy to learn. The basics can be overwhelming -- from learning about the rules to the language features. I am still not very good at C# but I have learned the basics I need and most of what is lacking will come through experience and not reading. 

I have learned to a practically useful level all the three things I need and the tools required. I am now building real useful web applications from easy to very difficult, and in the process polishing my skills. I have written out a long list of the web applications I plan to develop from the ones that will be freely accessible to the ones that I will charge for. And I also plan to build a companion mobile app (Windows app, especially) for them all.

You can follow my web application development projects at www.nigerianelite.com