Web design is the process of creating websites. It encompasses several different aspects, including webpage layout, content production, and graphic design. While the terms web design and web developments are often used interchangeably, web design is technically a subset of the broader category of web development.
Web development broadly refers to the tasks associated with developing websites for hosting via intranet or internet. The web development process includes web design, web content development, client-side/server-side scripting and network security configuration, among other tasks
Web development is also known as website development.
Websites are created using a markup language called HTML. Web designers build webpages using HTML tags that define the content and metadata of each page. The layout and appearance of the elements within a webpage are typically defined using CSS, or cascading style sheets. Therefore, most websites include a combination of HTML and CSS that defines how each page will appear in a browser.
Some web designers prefer to hand code pages (typing HTML and CSS from scratch), while others use a "WYSIWYG" editor like Adobe Dreamweaver. This type of editor provides a visual interface for designing the webpage layout and the softwareautomatically generates the corresponding HTML and CSS code. Another popular way to design websites is with a content management system like WordPress or Joomla. These services provide different website templates that can be used as a starting point for a new website. Webmasters can then add content and customize the layout using a web-based interface.
Web development is the coding or programming that enables website functionality, per the owner's requirements. It mainly deals with the non-design aspect of building websites, which includes coding and writing markup.
Web development ranges from creating plain text pages to complex web-based applications, social network applications and electronic business applications.