Website Building 101

When it comes to building a website, there are many options, from simple to complicated that can all result in a website that you can be proud of. Often when non-technical people talk about building a website, they talk in very general terms are unaware of just how complex it can be to make seemingly simply components of a website.

Building a website may require one, two or more different types of programming languages to accomplish the end result; a completed website. Two main types of programming languages include front end and back end programming languages. Front end programming languages are the ones that are seen, meaning that the code that is written on the page, is then translated by a web browser and converted into the website you see in front of you. The most common examples of front-end programming languages include HTML, CSS and JavaScript. HTML is the most common and simplest for of programming for websites. Various tags are used that can be read by your web browser (ie. Internet Explorer or Firefox) and are converted into a website.

Similarly, CSS or Cascading Stylesheets use simple codes to adjust style items like the fonts, colors, alignment. With CSS, you can have as many HTML pages as you wish, but in order to make changes to the styling, you simply edit the CSS file, often called stylesheet.css and every page is now changed. JavaScript goes a step further and uses specialized code to make something happen. For example, movements and calculations (ie. Mortgage calculators) can easily be made using javascript, which can then be used in conjunction with HTML to make a website.

Flash is yet another type of language, that can make very complex animations and movies. If you have ever been to a website that has a moving objects or logos, this is most often achieved using Flash. As long as the computer that you are using has Flashplayer installed, you can see these animations. Flash can be used in conjunction with HTML as well and inserted into a page to make an otherwise boring website really stand out.

On the other hand, a back-end programming language is one that is more complex. Often a back-end programming language is used in conjunction with a front-end programming language to help retrieve specialized data. One of the most popular of these back-end programming languages is PHP. When you need to create a dynamic website that has changing content, PHP is often a good choice. It can easily be used with HTML has well, to make a simple website do more than just HTML would allow on it's own. Other back-end programming languages include Ruby, Python, C#, Java and Visual Basic, which are all used in various capacities to make online applications. If you work for a large corporation, most likely you are using these technologies everyday and you don't even know it.