What is web development?

Web development is the process of building and maintaining the functional, technical layer of a website or web application. It covers everything that makes a site work: the code, databases, server infrastructure, APIs, and logic that process user interactions and deliver content dynamically.

Unlike website design, which governs how a site looks and feels, web development determines how it performs, scales, and integrates with other business systems. It is divided into frontend development (what users see in the browser, built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript frameworks like React or Next.js), backend development (server-side logic, databases, and APIs built with Node.js, Python, or PHP), and full-stack development, which spans both layers.