What a web developer does
Web developers build the websites and web apps people use every day: shopping sites, school portals, dashboards, booking systems. Front-end developers build what you see and click in the browser. Back-end developers build the server, the database and the APIs behind it. Full-stack developers can do some of both.
You do not have to decide between front end and back end on day one. Learn the basics of both, build complete small apps, and you will naturally discover what you enjoy more.
What to learn, in what order
- How the web works. Browsers, servers, URLs, domain names, HTTP requests and responses. Know what happens between typing an address and seeing a page.
- HTML. Semantic structure: headings, paragraphs, lists, links, images, forms and tables. Learn why correct HTML matters for accessibility and search engines.
- CSS. Colours, fonts and spacing first, then the box model, Flexbox and Grid, and responsive design so your pages work on phones and laptops.
- JavaScript fundamentals. Variables, conditions, loops, functions, arrays and objects, then events and changing the page with the DOM. Build small interactive widgets.
- Git and GitHub. Commits, branches, pull requests and README files. From here on, every project you build should live in a Git repository.
- Working with APIs. Use fetch to load data from a public API and display it: a weather app or a movie search. Learn what JSON is and how to handle loading states and errors.
- A front-end framework. React is widely used. Learn components, props, state, forms, lists and routing. Only start this once plain JavaScript feels comfortable.
- A back-end language and framework. For example Python with Django, or JavaScript with Node.js. Learn routes or views, models, an admin panel and building a REST API.
- Databases and SQL. Tables, rows, relationships, and basic SQL queries. Understand how your back end stores and reads data.
- Authentication and security basics. User sign-up and login, hashing passwords, keeping secrets out of your code, and basic protections against common attacks.
- Deployment. Put your front end and back end on the internet, set environment variables, connect a domain, and learn to read logs when something breaks.
- Testing and team workflow. Write a few automated tests, set up continuous integration, and practise working in a team with tickets, standups and code review.
Projects to build along the way
- A personal portfolio website (HTML and CSS), published online.
- A to-do list or quiz app in plain JavaScript.
- A weather or movie-search site that uses a public API.
- A React app with several pages and live data.
- A full-stack app with login and a database — for example a notes app, an expense tracker or a small booking system.
- A team project built with a friend or two using branches, pull requests and code review.
Common mistakes
- Tutorial loops: finishing course after course without building anything on your own. After each tutorial, build something similar without help.
- Starting React before JavaScript basics. Frameworks make much more sense once plain JavaScript is clear.
- Ignoring CSS. Many beginners can write logic but cannot make a clean, responsive layout. Both matter.
- Never deploying. A project that runs only on your laptop is hard to show anyone.
- Skipping Git. Learn it early; it is used in every software job.
How long does it take?
It depends on how much time you put in and how regularly. With steady practice of several hours every week, many learners can build and deploy a simple full-stack app within a few months. Becoming confident enough for a job usually takes longer and needs real projects and team experience, not just courses.
Free resources
Official documentation is the best long-term companion for a web developer. These are free and kept up to date:
- Learn web development — HTML, CSS, JavaScript (MDN)(opens in a new tab)
- Learn React (react.dev)(opens in a new tab)
- Django tutorial (docs.djangoproject.com)(opens in a new tab)
- The official Python tutorial (docs.python.org)(opens in a new tab)
- Pro Git book — free (git-scm.com)(opens in a new tab)
- Visual Studio Code documentation(opens in a new tab)
Learn this with a mentor at CodeBakerz
Our Builder program follows this roadmap over six months: programming fundamentals and Git, responsive front-end, React, Django REST APIs with a database, a team sprint project, and deployment. A mentor reviews your code every week, and you work with tickets, standups and pull requests the way software teams do.
If you are a complete beginner in class 6 to 10, start with Starter instead. If you can already build apps and want job readiness, look at Career.