There is no denying that the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an extraordinary feat. Despite being relatively new inception, AI has already transformed several industries. However, employees are concerned about their future because they view bots as a potential tool to replace the human workforce.
This possibility might seem like a distant dream at the moment. But the reality is that AI is rampantly marching forward with all its might. By now, AI has taken over factory workers, lift operators, toll collectors, call-center representatives, and farmers to a large degree. So imagine yourself graduating from a reputed college only to find out a robot has filled your vacancy in the workplace.
Therefore, it would be wise to enroll in a course like a web development, ensuring a secure future from every aspect. IT companies are hiring web developers by leaps and bounds. It is one reason why employment opportunities in this field are likely to touch a 15 percent growth rate by the end of 2026.
The cherry on top is that formal education is not necessarily a pre-requisite for a web developer. As long as you excel at the following skills, employers will give you handsome rewards:
CSS
CSS is the acronym of the Cascading Style Sheet. CSS’s core function encompasses the visual features of a website, including fonts, layout, background, and colors. Typically, visitors do not take a lot of time to conclude your website’s overall standing. So if a website does not hook them up visually, they will mark the exit in little to no time. It reiterates how critical it is for a web developer to gain significant command on CSS.
Apart from that, nailing CSS also serves other purposes such as:
- It empowers a website to be supportive of multiple screen sizes.
- With CSS, redesigning a website is not a time-consuming process. If you are associated with a brand that wants to give its website a different look for the other event to pull off maximum buyers, CSS expertise will come in handy.
HTML
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is basically for creating the desired structure of web pages. In other words, it is responsible for the arrangement of headings, subheadings, paragraphs, images, and so forth. This language is arguably easier to master, and millions of students are learning it effortlessly through the hour of code activities across the globe.
Though developers have access to an abundance of programming languages, HTML stands the most favorite to date. The biggest reason behind this; HTML enables a website to open on nearly all the available browsers, which ultimately boosts the user experience. What is more, HTML increases the odds for a website to have a better search engine ranking because it makes optimization simpler for an SEO team.
JavaScript
The web development industry is developing at an accelerated rate, and so is the demand for JavaScript (JS). Under the findings of a well-documented study, nearly 70 percent of companies are on the lookout for a JS developer. The main task of JS is to execute the most complicated stuff related to a website. Content updates, videos, animated graphics, search bar, and interactive maps, to name a few.
If you want to put yourself entirely in the shoes of a web developer, getting the exposure of JS is a must. It will make you think like a seasoned programmer. JS is a world in itself. In case you do not intend to study all of it, knowing the below-outlined vital skills will make a good web developer out of you:
- Variables
- Loops
- Events
- Functions
- Basic data types
- Object-oriented programming
- Conditional statements
Debugging
One begins debugging after writing the code. It is a mandatory practice to identify and then get the potential error out of the system. Stats reveal that a programmer dedicates almost 35 to 40 percent of his time fixing the software abnormalities.
Debugging is undoubtedly a consuming task initially. But, gradually, it will keep on becoming simpler. Contrary to the past, modern-day browsers are equipped with debugging tools to make life easier for developers. You can access them without paying a dime.
Writing tests
You could readily come across programmers who do not rate writing tests very highly and skip them for the most part. That said, we strongly recommend conducting writing tests because they complement debugging. You must know how to take on some of the major types of tests, namely, unit testing, smoke testing, component testing, system testing, regression testing, and user acceptance testing.
SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has been one of the oldest methods of digital marketing. As time goes by, SEO does not show any sign of decline. If anything, companies are sanctioning more and more budget to implement SEO strategies. Everyone would want his/her website to appear on the first page of Google at the end of the day. Undeniably, there is no point in creating a website if its layout, design, or any other element does not make sense to algorithms. That is where your SEO knowledge will make a massive difference.
As a developer, if you are well-versed in SEO, you will format every nitty-gritty of the website that aligns with the search engine. Being alien to SEO will heavily dent your income or chances of getting hired for that matter.
Communication skills
Unfortunately, communication skills never get a due share of attention. Sometimes, they can make or break for a web developer because he has to take many people on board, including clients, designers, and SEO professionals. What is the point of possessing all the technical skills if you can’t convey your expertise to others? Thus, it is highly advisable to polish your communication abilities. They are the gateway to all the success you are going to enjoy.
The concluding remarks
As AI continues to gain ground, people are beginning to be skeptical about their future. But specific jobs are gaining mileage due to the influx of AI, and web development is undoubtedly one of them. Being a web developer, you are likely to enjoy the perks that are non-existent in other industries.