This article is for anyone who has ever sat in a meeting with an agency or tech team and felt like they were speaking another language. Fear not! Here are some definitions for common tech words.

But, mainly, this is for my parents, because they have no idea what I do as a front-end developer all day.

Web Designer

Building a website is like building a house, making the web designer the architect. The web designer plans the layout and functionality of a website. Getting a clear understanding of exactly what the client wants out of their website is the most important and difficult job a web designer has.

This process involves phases of brainstorming and road mapping. Often, the client lays out all of the must-haves for the project. Then the designer’s creative wheels start moving with insightful ideas to accomplish the client’s goals. Once the goals are understood, the designer can unleash their creativity through Photoshop and start laying out content, adding images, deciding on fonts, colors, and a whole bunch of other artsy things I’m not going to get into.

Client meetings are held on a weekly basis to ensure both parties are happy with the progress and direction of the site. Once the design is approved, they can hand over the Photoshop file to the development team to start building.

Web Developer

If a web designer is like an architect, can you guess what the web developer would be? The construction crew! A developer brings the designer’s vision to life, making it an interactive entity (through languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, and PHP). A developer’s day often involves sitting behind a computer with headphones on, rarely interacting with anyone unless it’s through instant messenger. About 25% of their day is spent writing useful code, and the other 75% is spent fixing something that worked perfectly yesterday.

There are two types of developers: back-end and front-end. I think front-end developers tend to be less nerdy than back-end developers, but I’m biased. Front-end developers are usually self-taught. Some have a college degree, but it’s by no means a necessity. Front-end developers write code in primarily three languages (described below).

Back-end developers often have a background in computer science. And they do a bunch of really smart stuff that I’m not knowledgeable enough to educate someone else on. If any information on your site needs to be stored in a database (user logins, email form submissions, donations, etc.), the back-end developer will probably touched it.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

It’s not as fancy as it sounds. Remember what I said earlier about the developers being the construction crew? Well HTML is the code that is used to build the skeleton of a website, much like the frame of a house. This is where the content (copy and images) of a website live. Whatever you’re reading on a website is there because of HTML.

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If HTML was a person, they would be very structured, organized and a bit boring.

If HTML had a job, they would be an accountant.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

CSS is the code that styles a website and makes it look pretty. All the colors, fonts, spacing, layout… basically everything else besides the content are done with CSS. This is the code and adds the paint, furniture and decorations, turning your house into a home.

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If CSS was a person, they would be creative and meticulous.

If CSS had a job, they would be an interior designer.

JavaScript

This is the most logical and unforgiving of these three languages. It’s not going to let you get away with forgetting something as minute as a semi-colon, so don’t even try it. JavaScript is used to add interactivity to a website. Anything that makes you stop and say “Oooo, that was cool!” was probably done with JavaScript.

It adds the plumbing and electricity to your home. Could you live in your home without those things? Probably. Would it be enjoyable? Not really. It’s the same for your website. Technically, you can have a functioning website without writing any JavaScript, but the site is going to be dull.
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If JavaScript was a person, they would be that annoying smart friend that you always invite to pub trivia.
If JavaScript had a job, it would be a Primary Care Physician.

Mock it up

Give it to the design team to create a static version of what the entire project will look like.

Dev it out

Give it to the development team to build.

SCRUM

Our team’s daily morning meeting where we each take a turn and say (or in Tracy’s case, whisper) what we worked on yesterday, and what we’re going to accomplish today. But usually we just talk about dogs and babies.

CMS (Content Management System)

This is the system, primarily WordPress-based, we provide to our clients to empower them to take ownership of their site by updating copy and images themselves.  Handing over control of a website is like giving up the puppy that you’ve taken care of for months and now it’s old enough to leave the mom and be given to a new owner. Usually handing over your website involves fewer tears than handing over your puppy, but not always.

Stay tuned for more tech basics coming your way next month!