Talk:Web development/Web development (rewrite)

Note: This is my first pass at allocating the current (copied on 12/26/2006) content of the WEB DEVELOPMENT article to a new page. Some of what follows is new material I am drafting, some is existing material with my comments about it. Many sections are still empty, but included to show the overall layout. I hope to at least write stubs for each section.

For more details of how to participate in this discussion, see the Talk:Web development page. But please go ahead and make minor edits here, if you see something that needs fixing. Chris Loosley 16:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Introduction

I think this existing material can be reworked a bit to produce a good introduction. It needs to better reflect the diverse products of Web development -- pages, sites, blogs, consumer and business applications, Web services, and ... (what have I forgotten?). Chris Loosley 16:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Web development is a broad term that incorporates all areas of developing a Web site for the World Wide Web. This can include graphical Web design, actual coding of pages, backend programming, and Web server configuration. However, among web professionals, Web development usually refers only to the non-design aspects of building Web sites, e.g. writing markup and coding.

The following examples should be preceded by a more general sentence saying that there is no standard set of participants, only some common tasks to be accomplished. Also, this material could be merged into the later section on small- and large-scale development. Chris Loosley 16:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

For larger businesses and organizations, Web development teams can consist of hundreds of people. Smaller organizations may only require a single permanent or contracting webmaster, or secondary assignment to related job positions such as a graphic designer and/or Information systems technician. Web development may be a collaborative effort between departments rather than the domain of a designated department.

Web development activities

Web development is a special form of Software development, a broad topic that is covered in many Wikipedia articles. The principal activities of any software development process are requirements analysis, architecture and design, programming, testing, and deployment. Although a Web development process incorporates corresponding activities, the it is best described by a slightly different set of categories. The principal Web development activities are:

1. Requirements Analysis
2. Conceptual Design
3. Mockups and Prototyping
4. Production
5. Launch
6. Maintenance

These categories reflect the specific challenges of developing for the Web, the approaches typically adopted by those doing Web development, and the terminology favored among Web designers and developers to describe the processes they follow. But note that the above list of activities, although presented in a logical order, does not imply that those activities must be performed sequentially in a process that follows the waterfall model. In fact, Web development is much more likely to be performed using an iterative and incremental development process. The following paragraphs summarize the tasks and deliverables that comprise each development activity:

Small-scale and large-scale Web development

I know we need to cover this, but I have not yet decided where to put it. Chris Loosley 16:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

In practice, informal approaches to Web development, especially those employed by a single Web developer or a small development team, may not treat each development category listed above as a distinct activity or phase. Nonetheless, the more formal descriptions of software development processes do serve to identify a collection of tasks that are essential to the production of effective software. So while people may adopt many different methodologies (or approaches) for addressing the work, those essential tasks must still be performed -- somehow, by someone -- during any development process. This article focuses primarily on the tasks of Web development, rather than on the processes or methodologies that can be adopted to perform those tasks.

Concerns that span development tasks

This article should contain short sections on each of these topics, but in most (maybe all?) cases those sections would link to a separate article. Chris Loosley 16:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Platforms, frameworks, and tools

Some initial suggestions for edits of existing material: Chris Loosley 16:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

As far as Web development tools and platforms are concerned, tThere are many systems available to the public free of charge to aid in development. A popular example is the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP), which is usually distributed free of charge. This fact alone has manifested into many people around the globe setting up new Web sites daily and thus contributing to increase in Web development popularity.

Another contributing factor has been the rise of easy to use WYSIWYG Web development software, most prominently Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver. Using such software, virtually anyone can develop a Web page in a matter of minutes. Knowledge of HyperText Markup Language (HTML), or other programming languages is not required.

The next generation of Web development tools uses the strong growth in LAMP and Microsoft .NET technologies to provide the Web as a way to run applications online. Web developers now help to deliver applications as Web services which were traditionally only available as applications on a desk based computer.

Instead of running executable code on a local computer, users are interacting with online applications to create new content. Another good example of transformative communication led by Web development is the blog. Web applications such as WordPress and b2evolution have created easily implemented blog environments for individual Web sites. Open source content systems such as Xoops, Joomla, and Drupal have extended Web development into new modes of interaction and communication.

History of Web Development

I favor moving this section towards the end of the article -- comments? Chris Loosley 16:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Since the mid-1990's, Web development has been one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. In 1995 there were fewer than 1,000 Web development companies and in 2005 there are over 30,000 such companies. The Web development industry is expected to grow over 20% by 2010. The growth of this industry is being pushed by large businesses wishing to sell products and services to their customers and to automate business workflow, as well as the growth of many small web design and development companies.

In addition, cost of Web site development and hosting has dropped dramatically during this time. Instead of costing tens of thousands of dollars, as was the case for early websites, one can now develop a simple web site for less than a thousand dollars, depending on the complexity and amount of content. Smaller Web site development companies are now able to make web design accessible to both smaller companies and individuals further fueling the growth of the web development industry.

See also

• Software development
• web application
• Web design

Sections of current article that will be dropped

These two paragraphs are off topic. They are about the effects of the Web, not about Web development. That article already contains material about Sociological implications Chris Loosley 16:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

This has created new methods in communication and allowed for many opportunities to decentralize information and media distribution. Users are now able to interact with applications from many locations, instead of being tied to a specific workstation for their application environment.

Examples of dramatic transformation in communication and commerce led by Web development include e-commerce. Online auction sites such as eBay have changed the way consumers consume and purchase goods and services. Online resellers such as Amazon.com and Buy.com (among many, many others) have transformed the shopping and bargain hunting experience for many consumers.