Web developers use programming languages and complex tools to create interactive and functional websites and applications. These professionals face a wide variety of web development challenges. A basic aspect of web development is being able to come up with creative solutions for problems in a timely manner.
Unexpected bugs or crashes, for example, are just two common challenges web developers face on a daily basis and need to resolve in short periods of time. In this article, we’ll give an overview of some of the most common daily web development problems and how you can tackle them.
Challenges Web Developers Face Daily
Some common web development challenges are setting daily goals, managing time effectively, keeping open lines of communication with team members, and dealing with client requests. Challenges for developers also include adapting to changes and having to stay on top of new languages, tools, and web standards.
Common Web Development Problems
- Setting daily goals and managing time effectively
- Bad communication across teams
- Inability to work with the tech stack chosen for a project
- Dealing with web standards
- Dealing with client requests
Common Web Development Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Setting Daily Goals and Managing Time Effectively
Not setting well-defined and specific goals for each project and not managing time effectively is first on our list of challenges web developers face. For example, if daily goals and timelines are not set during the planning stage of the development process of a high-performance website, the project might not get done in time.
Set a Daily Schedule and Track Daily Progress
Setting concrete goals during the planning stage of a project is crucial for working within a deadline. Take some time to set concrete goals, tasks, and deadlines for everyone in the time allotted. Setting daily to-do lists can help manage the tasks that should be done within a deadline. Using time tracking apps can ensure everyone uses their time effectively for each task.
Bad Communication Across Teams
Teamwork is a fundamental aspect of web development. A team of professionals with different skills can make a project move forward more efficiently, but working in coordination with others is not easy. If there isn’t proper communication between a team when developing an advanced website, the finished product won’t get done in time or will be full of errors and inconsistencies.
Choose the Best Communication Strategy for You and Your Team
You can try different communication strategies to see what works best for you and your team. For example, using apps like Slack can help ensure that everyone in the team receives important messages. Employing the use of project management tools and software can help everyone keep track of the tasks that have been completed and those that need to be done for a project.
Inability to Work With the Tech Stack Chosen for a Project
Choosing the right tech stack for a project ensures that the final product is of high quality and meets the client’s expectations. Not choosing the right technology stack can be a key challenge for a project. For example, when building a simple web application, working with a complex tech stack may only lead to additional maintenance costs and technical debts.
Discuss What Tech Stack You Are Going to Use at the Start of Every Project
Before you start a new project, take some time to talk with the development team about which tech stack or web development framework you’re going to use. Consider aspects like the project requirements and the target users’ needs. If you are working on a project and notice the chosen tech stack is not right for it, try talking with the project manager to find a solution.
Dealing With Web Standards
One of the biggest challenges web developers face is keeping up to date with the ever-evolving new tools, trends, and web standards. It is also crucial to know when to use these standards to your advantage. For example, not knowing about the HTML Living Standard may result in being counterproductive when building a website using HTML.
Keep Up to Date With Web Standards
To know when it’s convenient to use specific web standards, you have to understand each standard. Keeping up to date with the newest web development updates is important. A way of doing this is subscribing to newsletters that focus on tech-related news, taking free courses on educational websites like Coursera or Udemy, and joining web development forums.
Dealing With Client Requests
While web developers don’t have to interact directly with clients when part of a web development team, they have to work in accordance with client requests. Adjusting to clients’ requests is one of the most challenging web development problems. Sometimes clients don’t give clear instructions and only give vague ideas of what they want, or they make requests that can’t be incorporated into the project.
Maintain Open Lines of Communication With Clients
Draft a questionnaire that each client will have to fill out before you work on their project to avoid confusion. To make sure clients don’t ask for impossible requests, you can ask them to sign a document that states the core services you’ll be providing and whether they can request changes during any point of the development phase, along with important transaction details.
Useful Web Development Tools That Will Make Your Life Easier as a Web Developer
| Tool | Challenge Tackled | Applications | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asana | Setting goals and managing time effectively | Set goals or objectives for each project, plan schedules for whole teams, sync tasks across teams, notify team members of new tasks | $24.99 a month per person, for the business version |
| Invision | Bad communication across teams | Collect and share ideas, sketch out wireframes using collaborative canvas, brainstorm, sketch out successful design ideas, manage teams with designers and developers. | $4 per active user a month if billed annually, and $4.95 per active user if billed monthly for the Pro version |
| Confluence | Setting goals and managing time effectively Bad communication across teams Dealing with web standards |
Plan the web development process and track each task, allow collaboration between teammates, set a priority list, let team members share best practices, tips, and other institutional knowledge, share information about the latest web standards changes. | $10.50 per user each month, for the premium version |
| Jira Service Management | Bad communication across teams Dealing with client requests |
Manage several projects at the same time, track tasks and collaborate during the website or application development process, let customers interact with your service team, let customers see the progress of their projects, let customers make requests for new or existing projects, manage request queues | $20 per agent a month for the standard version |
| Adobe Acrobat | Dealing with client requests | Scan and convert documents, forms, business cards, sketches, and whiteboards into high-quality PDFs, share PDF with extra protection, fill out PDF files, and sign-up forms online, make electronic fillable PDF forms, and request signatures on PDF documents | $15.70 per license per month for the pro version for businesses |
Resources to Overcome Web Development Challenges and Become a Better Professional
- A List Apart. A List Apart is a blog that explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a focus on web standards and best practices. This is a great resource for keeping up to date with the latest web standards.
- Pony Foo Weekly. This weekly newsletter discusses interesting and trending topics around the web platform. It’s great for learning about tools and the wide mix of design elements necessary for building complex web applications.
- Web Platform. Built by an international community of developers, the web platform is a great resource for learning the latest information and tools for building successful web applications.
- Webdev: Reddit for web developers. In this forum, you’ll find discussions about some of the major challenges web developers face, as well as many tips and resources.
- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This international community develops and maintains open standards with the goal of ensuring the long-term growth of the Web. This website is great for keeping up to date with the newest web standards.
Is Becoming a Web Developer a Good Career Choice?
Yes, becoming a web developer is a great career choice. Web development is one of the most promising careers in tech. Because websites, ecommerce, and app development have become necessary for most modern businesses, web developers are in high demand. As a result, web developers can find a wide variety of job opportunities and are highly compensated for their work.
Web Developer Salary and Job Outlook
Web development is a highly demanded career in tech. The average salary for a web developer is $77,200 a year, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), with experienced web developers making more than $100,000 a year. BLS also states that the employment rate of web developers is projected to grow at least 13 percent in the following 10 years as ecommerce websites gain more and more popularity.
Next Steps in Your Web Development Journey
To advance your career in the web development industry, you need to set well-defined and specific goals. For example, deciding if you want to focus on front end development or backend development.
The next step in your development journey can be enrolling in web development bootcamps and courses. Here, you´ll gain coding skills and knowledge of frameworks needed to build simple web development projects or mobile applications with any programming language.
Web Development Challenges FAQ
No, it’s possible to become a web developer without pursuing a college degree. Web developers have the fundamental coding skills necessary for creating websites. There are many bootcamps and courses available for those that want to learn crucial skills and get more programming experience without having to make huge financial and time commitments.
Yes, becoming a web developer is worth it. Even though learning web development can be challenging at times, it is also a highly rewarding career path. Web development is one of the most lucrative careers in tech, and the professionals that work in this field have a very promising job outlook, as most experts predict the demand for web developers will grow in the following years.
Some common web development challenges include working in teams where there are no open lines of communication and keeping up to date with ever-changing web standards and programming tools. Web developers also face common issues like working with user interfaces, providing quality user experience elements, and setting website and app security measures or dealing with security threats.
No, web development isn’t a dying career. In fact, this career is projected to grow in the following years. Even though anyone can learn how to build a website, developing and maintaining a functional website is a technical and complex process. However, you must be prepared to spend many hours coding, as most development experts will do that to provide an attractive user interface.
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