Becoming a web developer involves learning coding, building projects, and understanding the web ecosystem.
Step 1: Understand the Basics of the Web — HTTP/HTTPS, browsers, servers, DNS. Know the difference between front-end and back-end.
Step 2: Learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript. Use MDN Web Docs and freeCodeCamp.
Step 3: Version Control with Git and GitHub.
Step 4: Responsive Design & Accessibility — media queries, flexbox/grid, ARIA.
Step 5: Pick Your Path — Front-end, Back-end, or Full Stack.
Step 6: Frameworks & Libraries — React/Vue/Angular; Express/Django/Rails; Tailwind/Bootstrap.
Step 7: Databases & APIs — PostgreSQL/MySQL, MongoDB, REST/GraphQL.
Step 8: Build real projects.
Step 9: Deployment — Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages; Heroku, AWS, DigitalOcean.
Step 10: Create a portfolio and apply for jobs.
Front-end focuses on UI and UX: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React/Vue/Angular. Pros: visual feedback and beginner friendly.
Back-end focuses on servers, databases, and application logic: Node.js, Python, Ruby, SQL/NoSQL. Pros: control over functionality and high demand.
Recommendation: start with front-end for motivation, then learn back-end to become full stack.
Front-end: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript; React, Vue.js, Svelte; Tailwind CSS, Sass.
Back-end: Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, PHP; Express.js, Django, FastAPI, NestJS.
Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL; MongoDB, Firebase.
Other skills: Git/GitHub, REST, GraphQL, cloud deployment, CI/CD, Docker.
USA — Junior $60k–$80k, Mid $80k–$120k, Senior $120k–$160k.
UK — Junior £28k–£40k, Mid £40k–£65k, Senior £65k–£90k.
Germany — Junior €35k–€50k, Mid €50k–€75k, Senior €75k–€100k.
Canada — Junior C$55k–C$75k, Mid C$75k–C$100k, Senior C$100k–C$130k.
India — Junior ₹300k–₹600k, Mid ₹600k–₹1.2M, Senior ₹1.2M–₹2M+.
Ghana — Junior GHS 36k–GHS 60k, Mid GHS 60k–GHS 100k, Senior GHS 100k–GHS 150k.
Salaries vary with remote work, company size, and skills.
Front-end: Portfolio site, responsive landing page, to-do app, weather app, simple e-commerce front-end.
Back-end / Full stack: Blog with auth, REST API for tasks/social, e-commerce with payments, real-time chat, URL shortener or notes.
Tips: host live demos, share code on GitHub with good READMEs, focus on usability and code quality.