Web development is a term that before was used when people referred to the creation of web pages of private intranets. Today, it has a totally different meaning and is more likely to be used when people refer to web application development that rival the size and complexity of desktop applications.
As the internet started, connection speeds were awful and so design was not an issue since complex purposes were not even allowed then. At the time, there wasn’t even the term web developer, instead the job title was referred as webmaster. Around this time, web design started to incorporate features like background images, columns with text, real time analytics, animated gifs and so on. All these features helped enhance the design and until today, some of these components are still in use.
Two big game changers were introduced on the late 90’s: Flash was introduced as a graphic editor for desktop computers and became colossal being not only used as an interactive display tool for web pages and games but also as a music and video player. Microsoft introduced Ajax to the market as an idea of using JavaScript to enhance performance in web browsers, but this idea wasn’t heard of as much as flash since most of the developers didn’t know that you could program with JavaScript.
Later, in the early 2000’s, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) was launched and came into the picture to play a huge role allowing developers to determine their website layout on each page. HTML contained the text and CSS focal point had the visual presentation. CSS made website customization easier, ensured quicker page load times and easier maintenance.
At this point, social media began to appear, the creation and mass reach of Windows messenger, MySpace, Facebook, Gmail and YouTube granted a big change on web development because it made programmers integrate those platforms into their web strategies.
In order to improve usability and responsiveness, John Resig invented jQuery, which is a lightweight , “write less, do more”, JavaScript library. What it does is basically to wrap up lines of code through methods that can be coded with a simple line.
Then, in 2007, Apple released iPhone, making developers think more in responsive designs so websites could work well on cell phones. After this, in 2008, Apple came out with the App Store twisting the aim of the market and creating a new culture within the IT community. So, with the introduction of smartphones and fast internet connectivity, web developers were focusing more on loading time, security and usability.
Today unlike before, web developers and web designers are more aware of the bigger picture and the potential that internet poses. As a matter of fact, we can’t forget that there are other technologies that also influenced the evolution of web development such as gadgets or the internet of things that gave new perspectives to design and technology in general.
In Kambda we are always looking for new trends, we stay up-to-date so we can provide our customers with the best products and services. Take a look at our main services or contact us for more information.
