What is Website Development?

I suppose the question most people want to know is "What is the difference between website design and website development?"

Put simply web design is the front end of the website, web development is the behind the scenes code. Website development covers a wide variety of different elements, but some the tasks covered under the term website development are:

• Making the HTML code for a website, clear and easy to update (by using things like PHP templates etc.)
• Database creation
• Changing the database based on user input
• Retrieving results from the database
• Generating Page Layouts based on the database
• Creating server-side scripts capable of any tasks including:
  • Processing Payments Online
  • Creating Shopping Baskets
  • Uploading Images
  • Creating a working CMS
  • Full blown application development

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just gives you and idea of what website development is.

Dazines approach to web development

When we take on a web development project we try to approach the project in a methodical and organised manner. We take the following steps:

• Establish the client objectives including:
  • Desired functionality of the site
  • Expected scale of site, including number of expected users/visitors
  • Required CMS functionality
  • Possible functions that might be added in the future
• Separate the site into distinct areas of development (eg. CMS, user login, content areas, product database etc...)
• Come up with a list of tasks for each area
• Assign time limit for each task
• Start work on tasks, and continually monitor progress on these tasks
• Provide frequent updates to the client, and communicate with them to ensure the project is progressing to their satisfaction