Web Designer vs Web Developer

May 16, 2023 7:40 am by Sumit Gour

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Web designer and web developer are two related but distinct roles in the web industry. They both work on creating and maintaining websites, but they have different focuses and skill sets.

A web designer is a graphic artist who is responsible for designing the layout, usability, and visual appearance of a website. They use tools such as WordPress, Adobe Dreamweaver, and InVision Studio to create mockups and prototypes of how a website will look and function. They also need to have a good sense of aesthetics, typography, color theory, and user interface design. A web designer’s goal is to make a website that is attractive, user-friendly, and consistent with the client’s brand and goals(elementor.com).

A web developer is someone who builds and maintains the core structure of a website using coding languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, etc. They use tools such as Angular.JS, Chrome DevTools, and Sass to write, test, and debug the code that makes a website work. They also need to have a good understanding of web servers, databases, APIs, security, and performance optimization. A web developer’s goal is to make a website that is functional, reliable, and secure(coursera.org).

There are also different types of web designers and developers based on their specialization. For example:

• Front-end web designers work on the parts of a website that users see and interact with (also known as the user interface). They design the layout, graphics, menus, buttons, etc. using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Back-end web developers work on the parts of a website that users don’t see directly (also known as the server-side). They create the logic, functionality, and data management of a website using languages such as PHP, Python, Ruby, etc.
• Full-stack web developers do both front-end and back-end development. They have the skills and knowledge to build a complete website from scratch using various languages and frameworks.
• Webmasters are responsible for maintaining and updating a website after it is launched. They monitor the site’s performance, security, traffic, content, etc. using tools such as Google Analytics, Hotjar, etc.