Web Design vs. Web Development: What is the Difference?

Have you ever heard the terms "web designer" and "web developer" and thought:

"What does each mean? What do they entail?"

Below I will elaborate on each, discussing what each role incorporates, how they are alike, and how they differ.

web development

What Is a Web Designer?

A web designer focuses on the appearance of a website or web application.

Web designers are familiar with color theory, graphic design, and information flow.

Certain aspects of web design, like information flow, touch upon user experience(UX). Moreover, tools like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and other wireframing software are in the web designer's toolkit.

As a web designer, it is good to know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, there are certain web designer positions where these coding skills are not mandatory.

Nonetheless, as a web designer, it is important to be digitally savvy — even if you can't "code".

What Is a Web Developer?

Compared to web designers, web developers must know how to code and work on making websites/applications working. In general, web developers are concerned with functionality — not the appearance — of websites and applications.

There are two different types of web developers: front end and backend.

Front end developers must know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Also, realize that web designers and front-end developers have a good deal in common.

Backend developers typically work with a particular programming language and framework — like Ruby on Rails or Python and Django. They also have an understanding of databases, such as MySQL.

There is also a third type of web developer called a "full stack developer". This means that this individual is familiar with both the front end and backend.

Or as it is commonly called, "client side" and "server side"

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