Working in web development has a much different feel than graphics design. The work is more task-oriented and requires a higher level of concentration and detail, not to mention bug fixes, maintenance, or getting sites running live on a web server.
It seems that a designer’s job is more creative and freeform. This holds true for development as well, except with a different ideology. The open-source movement has dramatically changed the web design industry at its core. Social media is a related industry with a tremendous backbone. Once you understand how social networks can help you as a developer, you’ll be hard-pressed to take the Internet for granted!
Building Contacts
When I first started coding websites, it was much easier to work with a group of people. This is still the case with any modern-day large project. But with so many open-source content management systems floating around, you are no longer required to work with people in the same physical space.
Network and try to meet other passionate developers working on similar ideas as yourself. There are online forums, bulletin boards, and blog discussion threads where you can share ideas. This is also the best way to teach yourself new techniques.
However, one of the biggest advantages of using one of these infamous open-source CMSs is that Most popular examples have been running for years and are coupled with a populated support forum. I’ve included just a few links to check out:
The Stack Network
I cannot recommend enough young devs to start using Stack Overflow. I am naturally curious about building web products, so it’s very frustrating when I run into trouble coding some JavaScript or PHP. But the Stack network is full of brilliant coders with years of practice under their belt.
To sign up for an account, you should visit the Stack Exchange website. From there, you can connect directly to Twitter or Google or register using an e-mail address. But once you’re in, you can connect the same account details to each of their different sites. A couple popular communities are the pro webmasters and ux stack(there’s even one for WordPress).
You can include extra contact details on your profile page. This makes communicating easier, especially with other helpful members who can answer your questions. But the community isn’t just about grabbing quick fixes for problematic code.
You can also review some of the recently asked questions and help answer those who are struggling. If you’re a beginner, you likely won’t have as much knowledge to do this. But as you have more time to practice these skills, they should become easier to memorize.
Coding on Open Source
The recent trend of open-source code has allowed major improvements to rendering engines in web browsers. Webkit standards are being adopted by most third-party developers, including Microsoft and Mozilla. Web developers can host their code online for free and share it with a huge network of other developers from around the world.
The most popular example is GitHub, which acts as a Git repository for open-source code. This includes much more than HTML/CSS/JS – even up to software development with Java and C++. However, the website is also a social network where developers can connect via e-mail, chat, or personal messages. You can set up teams of developers and work on coding projects hosted on their servers.
Another cool resource Bitbucket is more private for personal projects. The system behaves similarly to GitHub, although profiles aren’t huge. I haven’t used the site much but have read great things about their service in a few blog articles.
Write About your Experience
If you have some years of experience, it may be worthwhile to set up a small blog of your own. Even if you have a simple portfolio website or nothing at all, you can still write tutorials and articles about coding practices and web development. Write about anything you know that would be helpful for others to understand and build products for the web.
Over time, you may aggregate a small following. Curious web developers are always interested in learning about new techniques. If your content is good, it’s easy to draw in and captivate a small audience. You can further this success by running profiles on major networks like Twitter and Facebook. Marketing is just as important, and you can’t ignore the perimeter of social media.
Check Social News Websites
In the same vein as social media, a popular sub-culture is devoted to social news. This is a web application where the community of users becomes the editors. All stories are voted on, and only the most popular articles will be published on the front page. Digg is possibly the pioneer in this industry – yet the web development niche has progressed.
My favorite network is Dzone, as it has been around for years and supplies great front-page content. Another popular choice is PHP Camp, which is more devoted to PHP web applications. You can sign up for free on either website and submit tutorials you find online or your own blog posts.
A newer launch, Source Canvas, has been online for just a few months now. Their network is invite-only and requires an administrator’s approval to register. However, this leads to much higher-quality submissions, which ultimately provide an excellent source for networking with like-minded people. Check out any of these brands and see if you can relate to the community.
Conclusion
These are just a few suggestions for getting your name out there online. It’s important to keep trying new ways of marketing and feel free to experiment with anything and everything at your disposal.
The advancing Internet technologies, as well as mobile devices, will play a huge role in the 21st century.
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