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Job Description

A Web developer is a person or group which offers technology services to construct and maintain websites.  A web developer is involved in the development of databases or programs in any number of available scripting languages such as PHP, ASP.NET, HTML, CSS, Cold Fusion, Action script, client side scripting in JavaScript, Java, Active Server Page (ASP), C, C++, Front Page or Dreamweaver, Perl, Oracle, Standard Query Language (SQL), Common Getaway Interface (CGI), Visual Basic (VB), ActiveX, Windows 95 or NT and any number of tasks attached to the applications or dynamics of web pages.  A web developer is different than a web designer; a web designer generally does not create computer code.  HTML and CSS are both considered to be code in the world of web design, so workers begin calling themselves web developers as soon as they gain a little knowledge of HTML and CSS.

Responsibilities

Web developers have the need to check web pages and forms in the most common browsers to check for compatibility between browser type and function.  The browsers the developer may work with include the latest and previous versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Firefox, and Opera among others. A created page should appear consistently high-quality and remain fully fictional in any web browser. One key element that a web developer needs to keep in his or her awareness in a highly trafficked website is convenient and user-friendly navigation while users are on the site. Developers need to implement an aesthetically pleasing web scape while keeping the page user-friendly. An effective search engine for the site is one thing the web developer can add that will help visitors enjoy the site visit and to efficiently navigate to the products or content the user is interested in.  Interactive pages displaying items of related interest that are dependent on click instructions help to make visitors want to spend more time at the site; this also will potentially boost website generated revenue.  A web developer does not want to create a page where visitors become frustrated by navigation difficulties or content that is not well designed and products that are difficult to locate.

A Web developer also has to make absolutely positive that forms function properly. Assorted script languages are available to create contests, surveys, and sales inquiry forms. Secure information transfers between the users and website are imperative for the web developer, the user, and the site owner. Browser settings related to cookies and scripts can impede the proper functioning of some online forms. A web developer must take all of this information into consideration; when a site user fills in a form, they are sure to get the expected result and not have the form create an error after the user has clicked the send button.  A site that is not usable is no help for a business. Users are easily frustrated by web page errors when they have taken the time to fill in a form on a site.

Job Requirements

Qualifications

Requirements to obtain a position as a web developer are as follows: a good working knowledge of database architecture, a minimum of 4 years experience in programming, at least 2 years of experience programming using web base technologies, a BSCS or MSCS degree or an equivalent in work experience in a directly related field or industry, expertise with Windows NT and IIS 4.0, the ability to succeed in an environment which strongly values both teamwork and individual initiative, demonstrating proficiency in the use of JavaScript, VBScript, ASP, Visual Basic and COM, strong skills in CORBA and SQL Server.

Important skills

The skills a Web developer needs to have are more specific than those of an average web designer; the web designer might be an end-user using out-of-the-box script to throw together small business or personal website. The Web developer is usually considered to be capable of creating custom written scripts to meet a customer’s desires and is either professionally trained with a technical degree or has extensive personal experience with working in assorted script creating languages. Web developers function to create web sites and content from starting point of empty web space; they create all aspects of a page from the page content to layout and functional capabilities. In order to become a good web developer there are certain qualities a person should have. Proficient web developers are generally unsatisfied with their work; they always feel something could be improved or made better if they just work a little longer. A web developer should continually be saying to them, “I can improve this.”  This continual desire to do better creates an endless cycle of wanting to learn how to design websites that are better than the competition, quicker than previous websites and that are easier to build and use. Good web developers are also continually reading in trade journals about new technologies or languages that might make them better web developers. A web developer should know their limits and never promise everything they are not sure they can deliver. When a client or supervisor arrives to asks if they can a specific task that is beyond the web developers capabilities the developer must admit they cannot provide what is being asked of them. A good web developer thinks ahead.  Like a good developer of business a good web developer should always be thinking, “How well will this work or how easy will this be to develop further later in the site’s life cycle?”   Thinking ahead is an important consideration in both writing code as well as creating easily maintainable and updatable websites. Good web developers need to be as precise as possible as web development is an accurate and exact field. Neglecting to include just one character of code in a string can cause an entire website to be useless.

Job Benefits and Earnings

Benefits

There are many benefits of having as job as a web developer. Some are that you are able to use creativity to develop new and different ideas than what have been used before. Web developers are able, to an extent, to choose their own preferences between different formats and styles in design. While working as a web developer one is able to interact with different types of people, associates, and clients from outside businesses. One of the most beneficial outcomes of a web developer, to some at least, is the ability to make customers satisfied with the developer’s creations and ideas. Developing an original design is rewarding in itself but a satisfied client can be more rewarding to some.

Earnings

Web developers are hired by employers in many countries and industries. Information found at payscale.com (2009) reported the average national salary of a web developer in the United States between $30,000 and $80,000 dollars a year, depending on the experience the candidate has to their credit; in hourly format this rate would be between $14 and $33 per hour. A web developer may also earn bonuses between $2,000 to $3,000 dollars per year. These averages are nationwide, however and will depend on the area the web developer in employed in, company size, skills, experience, and any degrees held.