subject: The Growth Of The Web Development Industry [print this page] The Growth Of The Web Development Industry
The term web development encompasses all aspects of work involved in building and coding a web site for the Internet or an intranet. Web development can be defined as the design of a simple static page of plain text to complex web-based applications and even social networking services.
In cases when the work is to complete a complex project, the web development teams can consist of hundreds of people and oftentimes will be a collaborative effort between several departments. Smaller organizations may only need a single individual working as a webmaster on a contractual basis.
Everyone wants a slice of the online pie
The web development industry has been the fastest growing industry over the last decade. Businesses have seen the internet as a way to reach a worldwide audience and everyone wants to get in on it. As more and more web development companies are being set up, the cost of creating and hosting a website has dropped substantially. The lower costs mean that even small businesses and individuals can afford their own website. This easy accessibility has gone on to further fuel the growth of the web development industry.
The cost of web development
In the last ten years, the start-up cost for a website has dropped from tens of thousands of dollars to less than a thousand dollars. Hosting packages and domain names can be purchased for relatively low prices, this is a huge incentive for people to want to set up a website. As far as web development goes, the price largely depends upon the complexity of the website and the quantity of content. Also, there are a lot of tools available to both web developers and the public free of charge to aid in the industry's development a popular one is the LAMP (Lunux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). Also, there is a lot of easy to use, "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) software that means that virtually anyone with a computer and an idea can develop their own webpage in very little time. Some examples include Adobe Dreamweaver and Microsoft Expression Studio. Knowledge of coding isn't even required to use this software.
Where is this all heading?
Web development is slowly becoming a fully web based service with a big increase in the use of tools such as LAMP, Java Platform and Microsoft .NET technologies. These all enable the Web to be used to host applications and web services rather than traditionally having them run from a desk based computer.
The main concern with having a fully web based service is that of security. Scripts can be manipulated to allow unauthorized access to personal information. Thorough web developers coupled with a good server environments is very important especially for websites which contain sensitive information. As such, rigorous testing is required prior to websites being made live.
A fully web based service enables information to be decentralized and allows users to be able to interact with applications from anywhere they choose, instead of being tied to one specific desktop computer. Web development has drastically changed the way that business is conducted. Sites such as eBay and Amazon.com have completely changed the shopping experience for many consumers. As such, social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter has given it's users an open platform to communicate with the world. It has also created a new form of online advertisement for businesses and this rapid growth in e-commerce has made the web development industry very lucrative.
