I got a question...

[patrycja09]

Ok,this might sound like a stupid questions:rolleyes:. What's the difference between the web development and web design. Thanx.

[MattEvans]

Well. there are differences in the connotations each word holds; these are definitions from dictionary.com.. :):

Designer: a person who devises or executes designs.

Developer : a person or thing that develops.

I suppose, in the strictest sense, 'designers' create the foundations of ideas for products that 'developers' can then go on and create. Strictly though, 'developer' doesn't mean anything; as 'development of a design' is a valid action (which implies just 'designer'), as is 'development of a product', which, if based on an existing design is merely implementation.

In reality, both these jobs are interchangeable; and 'developer' certainly implies either designer and implementor; or an implementor working very closely with designers... that is something that can't really be judged on anything BUT the connotations/definitions of the words themselves.

Web developer is a term often used interchangably with 'web programmer', or 'web software developer'. That makes it difficult to say exactly what a web developer is supposed to do. Strictly, 'programming' is implementation to specification; but 'software development' implies design based on requirements and then subsequent implemention.

Web designer is a term often used interchangably with 'multimedia artist', that is, someone who designs the appearance of websites rather than works on the actual code of the website; although, a designer might create HTML templates, or even pages. Generally though; 'web designer' does not imply web software designer.

In some circumstances; it might be optimum to divide roles in a workplace into very finite and specific micro-roles; with each entity involved taking on a tiny inflexible part of a project... in other situations; that's not possible, either because of the nature of a project; or because of a lack of human resources.

It's not a stupid question; it's quite a valid question; and certainly an important one if you're being hired for something... An employer might consider their own interpretation of either term to be the correct one.

To me, web design means generating either proofs or templates for how a page is going to look; and web development means designing and implementing intermediate 'webpage control' and HCI code (PHP/SQL/JavaScript/HTML/CSS etc) that creates the design in 'tangible form' so to speak..

But! that's just my interpretation. 'Web developer' really is an ambiguous term; it could cover a plethora of skills and/or tasks. A better division is perhaps thus:

- Look-and-feel Designer/Developer (creates the visual design of each webpage on a website and maintains site-wide graphical continuity. Needs to know multimedia and understand 'conventional'/grpahical design well)
- Webpage Designer/Developer (creates HTML webpages based on the material produced by look-and-feel designers; needs to know HTML, CSS, and perhaps rudimentary Javascript)
- Website Designer/Developer (controls filesystem organisation/etc, probably also the project manager, needs to know the server OS, and understand HTTP to a degree)
- Database Designer/Developer (only if neccessary, will probably [should] be the same person as, or work closely with the website designer, needs to know, databases obviously)
- Foundation System Designer/Developer (only necessary if the site DOESN'T use a conventional database, or needs something unusual/non-standard. Not really worth the money hiring someone like this directly; I think I'd fit best here, knows about what they're doing at the moment, cares about little else)
- HCI*/GUI Designer/Developer (specifies and writes code to link the database or foundation system to the webpages, could be the same person as the webpage designer, or should work closely with the webpage designer, needs to know SQL, PHP, advanced Javascript, and anything else relevant to the project)

* human computer interaction

In each of those 'jobs' everyone designs AND develops. But everyone is working from someone else's material*, and everyone is providing material to someone.

* it seems like the 'look-and-feel' designer isn't working from anyone's material, but in actuality, this could represent a snapshot of time at the begining of a project; halfway through; the HCI person might have a problem with the original graphical specifications, and request a bit of reworking... so, everyone has a recieve/provide role; to a degree.

Hey. Once again, microcosmic potential situation. If you're being hired for something; best to ask exactly what's being expected of you. If you're hiring; best to ask for exactly what you want; if you're looking for a direction; narrow it down to what you're good at rather than a title, and if you're just asking out of interest; I hope that's been an interesting look at my view of things.

Well said Matt.

Here's another log http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry376.html