If you’re thinking about a career in web development, you’re probably curious about what the day-to-day life of a Web Developer looks like. Here’s a guide to help you get a clearer picture of what to expect; it includes a Web Developer’s job description, typical responsibilities, and how they usually spend their work hours.
What Is a Web Developer?
Web Developers are responsible for designing, coding, and building functional websites from start to finish based on their clients’ specifications. The websites Web Developers create can be used for practically any purpose—anything from an uncomplicated single-page site to a complex ecommerce or social media website. Web Developers also take care of debugging, maintaining, and updating the website, making sure that it continues to function as it should.
Web development is often broken into three separate specialties: front end web development, back end web development, and full stack web development. Those who work on the front end are responsible for all the elements users interact with. Back end web development deals with servers, databases, and applications that users never see. As a combination of both the front and back end, full stack web development encompasses the entire website.
What Does a Web Developer Do on a Daily Basis?
The job duties of a Web Developer may vary on a day to day basis, but their basic responsibilities include:
- Working with stakeholders to determine the purpose of the website and how it should look
- Creating and maintaining servers, databases, APIs (application programming interfaces), and overall website architecture
- Developing website design on the front end
- Coding the front and back ends of the website and debugging any errors that may arise
- Utilizing user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) principles
- Creating and maintaining user interfaces and navigation menus plus modifying them when necessary
- Incorporating multimedia content such as graphics, audio, video, etc. onto websites
- Ensuring that websites can be accessed on a variety of platforms and devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones
- Implementing protocols to secure data
- Testing websites for speed, performance, usability, etc. and making changes to optimize performance
- Writing technical documentation for the site
- Providing website maintenance and making enhancements when required
A Day In the Life of a Web Developer
To help you better understand what it looks like to work as a Web Developer, here’s a snapshot of what they experience during a typical workday.
7:30 AM - Wake Up
The typical day starts around 7:30 in the morning. After the alarm goes off, it’s time to get out of bed, take a shower, and get ready for the day ahead.
8:30 AM - Leave for Work
Many web development jobs are located in larger cities, so you’ll probably have a commute of at least 25 to 30 minutes.
9:00 AM - Get to the Office
Once you get to the office, you’ll have some time to settle in a bit before the day starts in earnest. It’s a good idea to use this time to prepare for the day. You can grab a coffee from the break room, then go to your desk and check emails for a few minutes before looking at upcoming tasks for the day.
9:30 AM - Development Team Meeting
After you’ve had a chance to ease into the workday, your first major task will be a meeting with the rest of the development team. In this meeting, you’ll discuss what you accomplished the day before and your priorities for the upcoming day. If you’re facing any challenges in your work that you need help with, now is an excellent time to bring them up and ask the team for suggested solutions.
10:00 AM Deep Work
After your team meeting, it’s time to head back to your desk and get to work. Your company will probably have a dashboard or software that keeps your work organized and lets you know what tasks to prioritize.
Depending on your workplace, you might do some pair programming during this time for training purposes. Pair programming is when two developers work together on a project with the least experienced person coding and the other guiding, observing, and providing feedback.
1:00 PM - Lunch
After a few hours of deep work, you can take a break and grab some lunch. Hopefully you work in a location that’s close to some decent restaurants so you can enjoy a nice meal out with your co-workers. Otherwise, you’ll have to bring your lunch and eat in the break room.
2:00 PM - Design Team Meeting
After you get back from work, it’ll be time to check in with the design team. In this meeting, Web Designers will present their designs to Web Developers and walk them through their vision for the website. Then the team can discuss ways of bringing the designers’ vision to life before adding the necessary tasks to their queue.
2:30 PM - Deep Work
Once your meeting with the design team is finished, it’s back to work on your major projects. If you find yourself with any extra time, it’s a good idea to read up on the latest trends in web development. Technology changes fast, so Web Developers need to keep up with all the new advancements.
5:30 PM - Wrap Things Up
As the day starts winding down, you can take some time to review what you completed during the day. This is also a good time to check the queue for upcoming tasks so you can make a rough plan for the following day.
6:00 PM - Leave Work
At around 6:00 PM, you can close your laptop and head home. Most Web Developers tend to work between 40 and 44 hours per week, so you shouldn’t need to work any overtime. Of course, that depends on the company and project you’re working on; you may need to stay late in some cases.
6:45 PM - Arrive at Home
Once you arrive home, you have several hours of free time to eat, watch TV, etc. If you want to make extra money, you could take on some freelance web development work, but that’s optional.
11:30 PM - Go to Bed
It’s a good idea to go to bed at a decent hour so you can focus on your work the next day; otherwise, you’ll have to down an entire pot of coffee just to stay awake!
How Can I Become a Web Developer?
The best way to become a Web Developer is to enroll in a bootcamp. Often viewed as a viable alternative to a traditional degree, these skills-focused programs operate on an intensive schedule to get you career-ready in less than a year. That’s especially good news when you consider how many open positions there are in the field; you can start to earn back your financial investment shortly after graduation.
Depending upon your location, you might be able to find a web development bootcamp in your area. If there are none available or you prefer the convenience of learning from home, there are many excellent web development bootcamps available live online. These offer the same live instruction and hands-on learning as in-person bootcamps, but without the inconvenience of commuting to class.
If you want to explore web development but a bootcamp is too big of a commitment right now, you might consider taking web development classes. That way you can start learning the basics of web development while gauging your interest in pursuing a career in the field.