Web Development
GUIDE

Basic Terminology

Description: As soon as you enter the world of web development you will come across the same terms again and again. Read up on them below to help further your knowledge.

As a newcomer to web development you can find yourself quickly surrounded by a whole new language. However while many of these terms probably mean nothing to you at the moment, it will help to gain a basic understanding of them. If you do you will find the world of web development much more accessible.

Here is a break down of some of the terms you are likely to come across:

Scripting

A script is part of a web page and it allows that web page to perform certain actions, depending on the nature of the script itself. It operates separately from any other software or function.

Coding

When someone is coding a website, they are basically writing it using a code that will make it appear in exactly the way they want it to. You may also hear this referred to as a coding language.

Client side

If you are a webmaster and you are performing an action to update your website, this action is determined to have been performed ?client side'. It basically refers to anything you do, rather than what happens on the server side.

Server side

The opposite to the above - any action which is performed on the server side of the two way relationship between you and your computer and the server your website is located on.

Web development tools

These are a wide range of tools which allow you to do various things when designing or updating your website. They can range from design applications to simple widgets to put onto your site to indicate Google Page Rank or the number of visitors you have received.

WYSIWYG

This acronym stands for what you see is what you get, and is extremely useful in web development. If a document is being written in HTML for example, it's good to be able to see what it will look like before it's finished and uploaded to the site itself. WYSIWYG makes this possible by allowing you to see it while you're still writing it.

Applications

These are programs that allow you to do certain things. For example, in the world of web design Dreamweaver is an application that lets you design web pages. It is quite common for several applications to be used at any one time during the design process for a new website.

Dreamweaver

This is a tool which is used to help people design and create web pages. It's commonly used by web developers and can be used alongside other applications.

HTML

HTML stands for hypertext markup language. It is a basic straightforward language that is used to determine the layout of content on a web page. It uses a system of tags to indicate what goes where on the page.

XHTML

This is the eventual replacement for HTML. It has been created to take into account the changes in technology that have rendered HTML rather more basic and immobile within the current web development climate. HTML isn't as flexible as the new XHTML, which combines XML and HTML to create a whole new way of designing web pages.

Dynamic content

Dynamic content differs from standard web content in that it is interactive. It allows a website's visitors to request and receive personalized information from the site, for example. It is used frequently in social networking and bookmarking sites.

CSS

This stands for cascading style sheets. These have been created to make it easier to format HTNL documents. Style sheets do not replace HTML; instead they work in conjunction with it.

As with many aspects of the internet, there are hundreds of terms which are used in different situations, so it's worth exploring the subject in more detail to gain a better understanding of the world of web development.