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/8 min read

Is Web Development Hard to Learn?

What's Easy vs. What's Hard

Pros
Instant feedback — refresh the browser and see your change
Massive free curriculum (freeCodeCamp, Odin, MDN)
Huge community — every error you'll hit is already on Stack Overflow
Low-cost setup — laptop + free tools is enough
Cons
JavaScript has many footguns — async, this, scope all bite beginners
The ecosystem moves fast — frameworks and tools shift every few years
Going from tutorial to building from scratch is the real wall
Debugging skills take longer to build than syntax knowledge
Master Web Development at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop's Full Stack Development Certificate covers HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Node, and the modern web stack employers hire for.

Explore the world of web development, its various career paths, and the ease of learning this highly in-demand skill. Understand the different roles in web development such as front-end, back-end, and full-stack development and how they contribute to the creation and functionality of a website.

Key Insights

  • Web development involves creating and maintaining websites. It is broken down into front-end (client-side), back-end (server-side), and full-stack (a combination of both) development.
  • Web development skills can enhance your professional value and open doors for career shifts across industries due to the increased reliance of all sectors on the internet.
  • Learning web development is accessible, with the option of acquiring necessary skills through certificate programs or bootcamps within three to six months.
  • One challenging aspect of learning web development is the programming languages, but learners can start as a Front-end Web Developer with a basic understanding of JavaScript and progressively learn more advanced concepts.
  • Web development professionals typically earn high salaries, making the learning process worthwhile, given the relatively low barrier to entry.
  • Noble Desktop offers high-quality web development classes and bootcamps, available in-person and live online, providing learners with individualized attention, support, and career mentorship.

People tend to overestimate or underestimate the difficulty of learning a subject; web development is no exception. Until you sit down in a class and try it firsthand, you won’t know whether or not your perception is accurate. Of course, you can always listen to others and gauge their difficulty through their experiences. This guide aims to give you a reasonable perspective on web development that will help you make informed decisions.

Thankfully, web development is not nearly as difficult as it might seem to non-programmers. Most people can learn web development fundamentals in a few months and land an entry-level job even if they had no experience beforehand. No matter your current schedule or comfort level with web development, there are plenty of tools available to make learning more manageable than you might think.

What is Web Development?

Web development is the art of creating a website and ensuring it’s consistently usable. Web Developers use various coding languages to achieve this goal, and it is common for coding teams to have a person—or multiple people—entirely dedicated to web development. It is commonly broken down into three types: front-end, back-end, and full-stack development. Each type has a unique role that contributes to the website’s operations.

Front-end web development works with the website’s client-side, referred to as the “front-end.” This part of the website contains the sections people can see such as sliders, banners, text, and other visual information. On the opposite side, back-end web development works on the website’s server-side, or “back-end.” This part of web development controls the website’s functionality and is where all its data resides.

Full-stack web development is a fusion of the two and takes on their best qualities. A Full-stack Developer will have skills in each category and can seamlessly maneuver between the front and back-end. Teams often have at least one Front-end Developer, Back-end Developer, and Full-stack Developer regularly working on the website.

Read more about what web development is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Web Development?

Web development can bolster your career, highlight your hobby, and possibly evolve into a small business of its own. Every industry—from medicine to finance to education—has adapted to the world’s changes and relies on the internet to complete its work. This list only scratches the surface—nearly every business has shifted online because they value the easy access the internet brings them and their clients.

You’ll increase your professional value by having web development skills and helping build your company’s website. You can also shift career tracks by using web development as a bridge. Are you in medicine but want to switch to art? First, you can start web development for hospitals and then pivot to creating websites for artists. The internet’s importance to all industries means you can easily change companies as you progress.

While you can showcase your passions on social media, having a website increases your credibility, helps you connect with others without competing for their attention, and creates a centralized location for your work. Most importantly, it allows you to operate on your own terms without worrying about sudden changes to a social media platform’s algorithms or policies. And, if you want to build a network on social media, why not have both?

What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Web Development?

Web development is one of the most accessible programming careers to break into, even if you have no background in the field. You can acquire the skills you need through a certificate program or bootcamp within three to six months. These certificate programs and bootcamps act as college-level classes that will allow you to build a portfolio of work and help you get an entry-level position.

The demand for these positions is high because of the internet’s rapidly increasing relevancy, showing no signs of slowing down. You won’t have to worry about finding a web development position once you have the skills, even if you’ve only had them for a year. Every industry is vying for its spot on the online marketplace and wants to have web developers on its team to make that possible.

One of the most challenging parts of learning web development is starting. You may initially feel overwhelmed, but this feeling will subside after you begin your web development journey. Once you understand how long it will take you to learn web development, you’ll be able to take classes without hesitation.

Beyond that initial hurdle, the programming languages might slow you down if you’re not used to coding. JavaScript is slightly more complicated than HTML and CSS—the primary languages used to create websites—but the more advanced JavaScript concepts are usually reserved for back-end and full-stack web development. You can start as a Front-end Web Developer with only a basic understanding of JavaScript, then learn more about JavaScript as you become comfortable.

Naturally, the further you progress into your career, the more complex work you’ll receive. But the barrier to entry is relatively low for the high salaries that Web Developers typically earn. The more you learn about web development upfront, the easier it will be to enter the field. Thankfully, it’s easy to sign up for a class and learn these skills in a short time.

How Does Learning Web Development Compare to Other Fields?

Web development is often confused with web design, but the two play different parts in building a website. Web design covers the appearance and layout of the website, including its banners, and typically involves user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design concepts.

On the other hand, web developers oversee the functionality and technical features that allow the visual elements to work correctly. In simpler terms, web design, UI design, and UX design professionals usually have graphic design backgrounds, while web development professionals have coding backgrounds.

Web development is a perfect career to start if you’re unsure whether to enter a coding or graphic design field. You can quickly pivot into any of these subjects and still find uses for your web development skills because they’ll always be relevant.

How to Make Learning Web Development Easier

While figuring out how to learn web development in a way that works for you, it might help to ease your anxieties by taking time to organize yourself. Learn about the web development classes available and see what they share in common.

After your research, you’ll want to explore some free web development resources and tutorials to expedite your learning by giving you a chance to practice and review. From there, you can set up your schedule based on your current obligations and the goals you have for yourself.

Despite any challenges you face, learning web development is worth the effort. It’s a skill continually becoming relevant in every industry, and everything you learn from web development classes will also apply to other programming careers. No matter your career path, you’ll always find ways to implement it into your current position.

Learn Web Development with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers high-quality web development classes and bootcamps that are flexible to your learning needs. These courses, taught by experts in web development, are available in-person at their training center in Manhattan and live online internationally. Noble ensures that you will work in small groups with instructors to receive individualized attention, support, and career mentorship. All Noble courses are also available for a free retake up to one year after completion.

Beginners might be interested in the Front-end Web Development certificate program because it gives them the practical knowledge needed to become Web Developers. This program has two tracks depending on how quickly you want to learn: the full-time option takes four weeks to complete, while part-time students finish in four months.

For those that are interested in learning more about web development as a whole, the Full Stack Web Development Certificate will show you all of the significant concepts associated with client-side and server-side web development. This course is another excellent option for beginners since you can take it with no prior experience. Noble’s courses come with certificates you can proudly display on LinkedIn or send to employers with your resume.