If you carefully look back you will understand that our world has gradually changed with the advent of technology that has now come to stay making,  businesses, etc. even better.

Technology literally dominates every aspect of our lives right from home to schools, offices, businesses, and even down to our day-to-day dealings. Making it one of the easiest fields to get employed if you are stranded in 2021 that is why I have come up with this post to help you get started in building a career in technology. Technology is vast and for this post, we would like to narrow it down to web development.

You reading this probably have a technological gadget, it could be a smartphone and every bit of software in there is built by a developer even down to any beautiful web app.

Becoming a web developer in 2021 is one of the best choices for a career, as technology keeps advancing the need for developers is on the increase hence, the increase in job availability.

According to Indeed, the average salary of a developer in the United States is $72, 090 per year. This will definitely go down to becoming one of the best career choices you have made in 2021.

So, now that you have finally decided to become a developer, let me walk you through the very steps to becoming a fully-fledged web developer in 2021. Ready? Let’s get started.

In this guide, I will walk you through the basic steps in web development and show you the most important skills and tools you need to know to break into the industry.

First and foremost we will look at web development as it stands in 2021. Now, with the impact of COVID-19, the system of work has changed globally. Lots of people have been forced to work from home. Hence, choosing web development as a career in 2021 is definitely a good career choice.

Let’s look at the following points;

Is 2021 a good time to become a web developer?

There are a few things that one needs to consider before jumping into a new career such as career opportunities, stability, and job security. You need to find answers to some simple questions like, can this industry offer me a good opportunity?, How likely am I going to get hired? How secure is my job if hired? 

These questions are important because with the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and job market hiring has been slowing down gradually in many other sectors. 

So, let’s  take a step further,

Is there a high demand for developers in 2021?

In all your day-to-day dealings you’ll have realized that technology is always taking part in almost everything you do daily connecting with friends almost every day on social media apps (Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, etc), some collaboration software and tools (ZOOM, Slack, Discord, etc), paying bills online. In fact, most of what we do every day relies on technology in one way or another other, and behind all these technologies is a team of developers who build and constantly ensure it keeps working through proper maintenance. 

Statistics have shown that the employment of web developers is projected to grow by 8% from 2019 – 2029 more than any other occupation as stated by the Bureau of Labour Statistics.

Despite the pandemic, these statistics still stand. As a matter of fact, the full-stack developer comes first in the Indeed Best Jobs 2020 list (https://www.indeed.com/lead/best-jobs-2020).

You can also try searching for the most in-demand tech skills in 2021 and you will things like Web Development, IoT, Cybersecurity, Machine Learning, AI, Data Science, Cloud computing, DevOps, etc.

In the wake of this pandemic, companies across all industries are moving their businesses to a virtual world. Hence, web developers are always needed to achieve this. If you want to know if web developer jobs are available in your location, try ‘searching web developer jobs’ on Indeed, glassdoors, etc giving it your location and you will see lots of vacancies.

How has COVID-19 affected web development jobs positively?

Technology has become one of the fastest-growing fields in our world today. As businesses have been greatly affected by the pandemic and are being forced to close down most businesses rely on technology to keep functioning. This often results in a business having its own website to keep the business running. Hence, web developers are needed to achieve this.

Another advantage is working remotely. Web developers can work from the comfort of their homes. A web developer can build his/her own startup web development business from home. Working from home full time.

Now, having known virtually all you stand to gain as a web developer let’s look at what web development is all about.

What is web development?

Web development is the process of building websites and applications for the internet or intranet. Note, web development has nothing to do with web design rather it is the coding and programming that brings a web design into full functionality.

From the most simple, static web pages to social media apps, from e-commerce websites to content management systems (CMS). All these have been built by web developers.

Web development can be broken down into three (3) categories;

Client-side scripting is also known as front-end development.

This has to do with everything the end-user experience directly. They relate to everything people see when they visit a website. This includes fonts, colors, layouts, buttons, menus, contact forms, etc. 

Server-side is also known as backend development.

This is basically what goes on behind the scenes. It is an essential part of the website that an end-user doesn’t get to see. It is responsible for storing and organizing data, and also ensures everything on the frontend runs smoothly.

Database.

Database technology stores files and contents that are necessary for a website to function. It does this in a manner that is easy to retrieve, organize, edit and save.

Hence, the frontend, backend, and database technology all work together to build and run a fully functional website or application, and these three categories form the foundation of web development.