Web Development - Let's get started!

Hello there,
Thanks for joining me on my blog, and today I will be sharing the ultimate way to start Web Development with tweaks that I have learned from my experience. Well, it is going to be a rather long journey to cover the whole of Web Development so what I am thinking to do is splitting the whole post into logically divided small meaningful posts. So, right now you are reading the first part of my Web Development- Getting Started article.
Well, without further adieu,  let's get started!

In today's world, the Web resembles to be a place where we all live a virtual life. Ranging from social utilities like Facebook, Twitter to workplace web apps like Github, and Google Business, we experience a virtual touch every day. Well if we are surfing around a place for a while, visiting awesome stores (Amazon), and socializing in there with people we haven't met physically, then it is not a bad idea to buy a place there to live in. Well, most of you got what I am talking about. Yes, it's a Website!

Virtual Community

A Website gives you the opportunity to live on the Web with a permanent address. It is sort of an online virtual house that marks your presence in the Web. Now that we have got a rough idea of a website is, I would like clear out the fog from your brain by co-relating the hypothetical terms I have used like,virtual house and address to real world entities which you know about. 
Well, the virtual house I am talking about is the server. The permanent address is your domain name and the webpage are the contents that you have at your virtual home which people can see when they log into your virtual home.
Lets us talk about all the techie stuff I foolishly expected you to understand from the beginning.

1. Server - It can be thought of as a computer which is connected to the internet and is capable to fulfilling a request (file request, mail request etc) from any other computer connected to the internet. You can google about it for more info or if you really want to know more about Servers including how they work, what they are made up of etc, just leave a comment below and maybe I can come up with a post for it.
2. Domain Name- These are those fancy little names that you type in your browser windows to visit to a site like, www.google.com or www.facebook.com or www.nasa.org.
   Extras: At an early stage, when you have just set-up your server and connected it to the internet, all you get is a combination of numbers separated by dots[.] to make up an IP(Internet Protocol) address. Example - 192.168.164.10
   Now for a human brain, it becomes hard to remember such sequence in order to visit a site so the immediate solution was to convert these number based IP's to words based, which is done by linking each number based IP to a word that you have brought to represent your website like mywebsite.com These links are maintained by the DNS or Domain Name Server. When you enter a websites name on your browser like examplesite.com, the browser goes to the DNS to fetch for the IP of the server storing the examplesite.com website. After it gets the IP from the DNS, only then can it go and fetch the required website examplesite. To know more about Domain Names, just comment below, and I will write a whole new post on it.
3. Webpage- According to Wikipedia, a webpage is a hyperte....., for better understanding, it is just the components of your virtual house that you wanna show to the people you have invited to your virtual home(website). 

Now I know that I went sidetrack for giving you a glimpse of the terms related to Website Development, but mind my words, as they are equally important to know as developing a Website.

To develop a Website you first need to know to develop a Web page first. As, by the definition, a Website is a collection of related Web Pages that are somewhat linked to each other in a logical way.

To develop a Webpage, you have to write codes, codes that either a Server or the Browser can understand and interpret it to your users. Remember, developing a Webpage is just like writing a Newsletter, first you need to write the content, the you need to design it and then add additional features like sparkling behavior etc. 

Writing Content (HTML DEVELOPMENT)

The language in which the main content of the Webpage is written is Hyper-Text Markup Language or commonly known by its acronym HTML. Here are few great sources from where you can learn HTML without spending a penny!
Resources:

• w3schools - This site is mostly example oriented and does not speak much about the details involved. Perfect for brushing up your memory or getting an over view of what you have to study in HTML. It covers all the topics related to HTML and even I use it often to brush up.
  Do leave a review if you liked the course and also leave what you feel about this site.

Always remember that programmers never memorize the whole code. We get use to it and it is never a havoc to forget as their are these online resources that are always available to help you out. 

•  Mozilla Developers Network - The best website I have encountered for beginners to learn. It speaks of all background details related to browser rendering and other geeky stuff  that you need to know to stay cool and look different from others. The courses are from the best developers from the world and speaks sense. Its free resource so you don't need to touch your pocket for gathering knowledge. Help other by commenting your view about this site if you have went through the course offered by MDN previously.

• Tutorials Point - This is another free learning resource which is good from intermediate learners who are a bit familiar to the concepts from before. One of the best part if you are planning to learn from Tutorials Point is that you get access to a free PDF available for offline download. I won't rate a 5 star for the content delivered but as already said if you have a little bit knowledge in your brain beforehand, then this tutorial can make you a power user.

• Udemy  - A paid resource that worth the money. Don't believe my words, take the course for free by clicking on the link here. The link is brought to you by Programming Buddy.

Additional Help :
With all those resources it is my belief that you will be able to learn at least how to write something in a Webpage. Well, as I said earlier developers don't actually remember each and every syntax about languages they learn as I myself am not very proficient in subjects like History 😜.
Here I have the best cheat sheet available in the internet for you. Click Here to download the PDF file and use it offline to help yourself brush up the concepts anytime. Not to forget the cheat sheet is created by the awesome guys at www.html.com, go pay them a visit as they have an elaborated documentation of all tags that are available on HTML and know more about the newer implementations and upgrades in HTML. 

Software I have used for Web Development:

• Adobe Dreamweaver -IDE
• Brackets -IDE mostly useful for PHP development
• Microsoft WebMatrix - IDE for working on Microsoft Technologies 
• Sublime Text - Text Editor
• Visual Studio Code - Text Editor
• Online Services
• Github - for collaboration in projects
• JS Bin -  sharing code made easy

Some tips along the way:

• Before starting your journey go through the course on Microsoft Virtual Academy to know more about Web Development and earn yourself a certificate. It's my advice to print out the certificate and stick it in a wall so that you get motivated and do complete the journey you started for. 😎
• Remember to practice, and do it in a productive way. For my case, I always have a project in mind before getting started with any new technology. First I get to know what can that technology help me achieve and then based on that you must have a project in mind(which might not be unique). While learning keep that project in mind but never do the mistake of giving the project the first priority, and getting project-centric. One way to avoid these is by choosing a project that need all the concept related to the topic. I would like to give you the freedom of using your brain in making an appropriate selection.
• Drink lots of coffee, and spread the word- Join forums, groups on social websites, and even try to work as a freelancer  for proving your skills.

With that being said I would like to end my first part, of the long Web Development series. Stay Tuned while I prepare for the next which will cover the designing work for your virtual home, i.e., CSS or Cascading Style Sheets.

Thank to almighty God, and keep learning and developing.👋