Web Development

Web development and website design are often used interchangeably to describe the process of creating a webpage. For me, website design deals with colours, fonts, etc. — the overall feel of a webpage. Sometimes as a designer I want an element to move or change in a specific way that cannot be done by simple CSS, this is when web development steps in to create an active code that will measure, change and redeploy elements in a new state dependent on a user action. The other instance where web development is important is testing data, especially for security. Website development tests user inputs, renders it harmless to the server and stores the data for future use.

In-house Website Development

I am an experienced website developer. I work in html, css, javaScript and PHP. I have used many online API's to add additional functionality to my client's websites. I have also worked extensively customizing WordPress to make it work how my clients want. I do all my code in-house, so security concerns are minimized. I can create small applications to work in a webpage or create completely custom websites for my clients.

The Languages of Website Developers

HTML & CSS

Your basic website is marked up (coded) in html (HyperText Markup Language) which creates the elements of the webpage and CSS (Cascading Style-sheets) which lend style to the html elements.

JavaScript

Real web development starts with the application of javaScript which can manipulate the elements and styles in real-time, test user interaction and test user input to the webpage. There are many other coding languages that have been derived from javaScript such as jQuery, React, node.js & Angular. JavaScript exists and operates in your browser and as such is called a client-side programming language.

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PHP

When a webpage must interact with a database PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)is used. PHP is executed on the server, as such is known as a server-side scripting language. PHP is often used as a "translator" between the client-side html/css/javaScript and the server-side SQL (Structure Query Language) used to control databases. In this way information collected by html forms on a webpage can be stored in a database.

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PHP & Repetitive Tasks

Using information stored in a database PHP can send that information the browser for rendering. Many CMS (Content Management Systems) use PHP at their core, WordPress being the largest. This website uses PHP to store and reuse several parts of this page such as the navigation, footer and general page structure.

API's

API (Application Programming Interface) is an interface, usually accessed by a PHP or javaScript application to access data from an online resource (that someone else owns). Sites like AccuWeather, YouTube and all the social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn have API's that allow you to access data and render it on your webpage.

This location data is pulled from a free web service, and as such is somewhat accurate and operational most of the time. For marketing purposes paid services are better. That being said it can be seen how this data can help to offer tailored experiences to different visitors.

A Simple API Example

This is a simple API Example:

Your current IP address is: 3.142.130.127
Which suggests you are in: Columbus, Ohio, United States
Your browser language code is currently set to:

Reviews

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Our Clients Drive Our Business

Here's what they have to say:

Reviewer Published: 2024-12-23
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Paul Dibattista 2020-05-01 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Village Developments Inc. would like to thank the team at Harris Web Creative for the wonderful Web Site created by Steve Bonin. The site attraction is professionally designed to reach out to our potential investors and most important interested renters in the Milton area. Steve’s attention to detail and steady pace to completion made this experience of setting up a web site a pleasure to deal with, we appreciate your involvement in elevating Village Developments Inc. and putting us on the web map.
Thank You
Tom Dusmet 2019-02-14 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I contacted Steve at HarrisWeb Creative to develop a new website for me. My experience with Steve was notable in that he was very responsive to my questions and my ideas. He quickly understood what I wanted and brought it to life on the website with a flourish. I was very impressed with the finished product and would highly recommend Steve as a website designer to anyone looking to contract a local developer for their next web project.
Bobbijo Chumley 2012-03-10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Steve, I just wanted to make sure that you knew how much I appreciated your work on the new website design as well as my business cards and flyers. Your clarity in communication and understanding of my needs were tremendous. I appreciate your insights, suggestions and most of all your work. Thanks very much... above and beyond expectations."
Carlo Giangrande 2014-04-05 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I contacted Steve to do many things for me, from website design, google maps, business cards, signs and printed forms. Steve is always professional, fast and competitively priced. I have recommended Steve to many of my business associates who have used him happily. I am happy to recommend Steve and HarrisWeb Creative for any website or printing work. Thanks Steve.
Ron Base 2011-10-08 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I came to him because I liked the look of what he had designed for his website and e-mails, and asked him to put together something for me — not knowing quite what to expect. Well, Steve more than exceeded my expectations. He got me onto Mail Chimp, created an e-mail list for me, and most importantly created an eye-catching logo template that I've been able to use on my blog, website, and in my Mail Chimp e-mails. Working with Steve was a pleasure--he was fast, professional, knowledgable, has great creative instincts, and was always available and patient with a sometimes demanding author. Thanks to his efforts, the traffic on my blog has more than doubled. Next, I'm going to get him to redesign my website. I can't recommend him highly enough!"

Important Considerations in Web Development

Behaviour Driven Development

One of keys to good web development is understanding your wants and needs. Users today expect web applications to behave in specific ways and do many things with a simple push of a button. Users do not care, nor want to understand, the complexities of the code behind the buttons that create their web experience, they just want the experience to work as expected. Behaviour Driven Development is the bridge that connects your desires to the code that executes the experience. We spend time with you, up front, defining user behaviour so the code executes exactly as you wish. This minimizes code rewrites, saves time and money.

Clean Code is Important

It is important to have clean, well written and well documented code. Web developers move on, change careers, or simply disappear into the wilderness. It is important that your code can be easily deciphered by your next web developer. You may have grown to the point where you employ an in-house developer and he or she will need to work with code written before their tenure. We liberally comment and embed explanations within our code to make it easier for the next developer to understand how a function works, or even what it is doing.
Some developers purposely write badly documented code to make it difficult for other programmers to do updates. We do not believe in this practise we view code you paid for, as yours — no strings attached.

Coffee pouring into a PHP-shaped container - Considerations in Website Development | HarrisWeb Creative

There are 3 reactions to web development: YES, NO & WOW...
We aspire to the WOW

Website Development | Web Applications | Custom Coding