the course notes

All Posts Learner's Guide

Image representing The World of Web Development

The World of Web Development

By Denton Zhou

May 1, 2019

Table of Contents

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
React.js
Vue.js
Node.js
Python Flask
Ruby on Rails
SQL Databases
MongoDB

Web development is about more than building a website. It's about creating experiences for a vast audience of people on the Internet. Today's developers help people connect, create, learn, and play, shaping the way the world works.

This Course Explorer segment introduces popular online courses that focus on building modern web applications. The first section includes ones that teach HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These three technologies combined form the foundation to the web that we experience everyday.

You could think of these technologies through a simple theater metaphor. HTML is the script that the actors memorize, CSS is the costume and stage design that gives the script color and form, and JavaScript is the director.

The text you're reading now, for example, is all HTML. HTML contains the content and defines the structure for where each piece of content should go on a page. The styling—how much padding wraps around the text, what font the text takes on, the color and shape of the buttons on this page—is all CSS. JavaScript, meanwhile, enables all of the other complexities that make the modern web what it is.

When you click or tap the "save" button (the one with the little heart icon next to it) next to any of the courses you see here, JavaScript is behind most of what happens immediately after. It updates some data stored in your browser, modifies the styling of the button so it turns pinkish-red, and pings our server, which in turn makes a note that you've saved this course. When you pull up your saved courses, it's again JavaScript that does the work of retrieving the list and it to you.

The sections following "HTML, CSS, and JavaScript" cover popular frameworks and tools that many developers use today to create powerful, modern, apps. These are the same technologies that underlie a lot of popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

React and Vue are two popular frontend frameworks that make it easier to build rich and interactive user interfaces. Node, Flask, and Ruby on Rails on the other hand provide the structure that apps need to handle user requests, store and retrieve data off a server, perform computations, and return responses. SQL and MongoDB, on the other hand, are popular databases that make it possible for apps to quickly store and retrieve huge amounts of data.

In the course of learning web development, you'll find that some tools are better than others for any given project. In fact, this Course Explorer captures only a small slice of the web development universe. You'll discover more along the way. When you do, be sure to search for courses on those at OpenCourser.

Happy coding!

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Programming Foundations with JavaScript, HTML and CSS

Duke University

Intro to HTML and CSS

Introduction to HTML5

University of Michigan

Introduction to HTML, CSS & JavaScript Programming

HTML, CSS and JavaScript

The Hong Kong University of Science and...

HTML for Educators

LinkedIn Learning

Introduction to HTML, CSS and JavaScript Programming

Learning HTML5 Game Development

LinkedIn Learning

Advanced HTML5 Game Development

LinkedIn Learning

HTML5 and CSS Fundamentals

React.js

React - The Complete Guide 2024 (incl. React Router & Redux)

Learning Full-Stack JavaScript Development: MongoDB, Node, and...

LinkedIn Learning

Building Applications with React 17 and Redux

React Router and Redux

React and Flux for Angular Developers

React VR: Interactive Multimedia

LinkedIn Learning

Practice React Component Rendering

React Router Basics

Vue.js

Vue.js: Getting Started

Practice Vue.js List Rendering

Practice Vue.js Templating

Animating a Landscape with VUE

LinkedIn Learning

Node.js

Business Analyst Nanodegree

NodeJS - The Complete Guide (MVC, REST APIs, GraphQL, Deno)

Learning Full-Stack JavaScript Development: MongoDB, Node, and...

LinkedIn Learning

Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree

Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree

Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree

Smarter Chatbots with Node-RED and Watson AI

Advanced Node.js 12

Node.js Essential Training

LinkedIn Learning

Introduction to NodeJS

Python Flask

Build a Social Network with Flask

Python Flask for Beginners: Build a CRUD web app using Flask

LinkedIn Learning

Building Web APIs with Flask

LinkedIn Learning

Ruby on Rails

Practice Input and Output in Ruby

Installing a Rails 5 Development Environment on Mac

Ruby on Rails 5 Basics

Practice Ruby Numeric Types

Behavior-Driven Development with Cucumber

Installing a Ruby on Rails Development Environment in OS X

Building Ruby Web Apps with Rack

Active Record Associations in Rails

Test-driven Rails with RSpec, Capybara, and Cucumber

Creating Static Pages in Rails

SQL Databases

Oracle Database 12c SQL Certified Associate 1Z0-071

SQL Server 2012: Designing Database Solutions

LinkedIn Learning

MySQL Indexing for Performance

Managing Big Data with MySQL

Duke University

SQL Server Integration Services

LinkedIn Learning

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

MySQL Fundamentals Part 2

Practical SQL Server Security, Compliance, and Auditing

SQL Server: Developer and DBA Collaboration

LinkedIn Learning

Big Data Analysis: Hive, Spark SQL, DataFrames and GraphFrames

MongoDB

Oracle Database 12c SQL Certified Associate 1Z0-071

SQL Server 2012: Designing Database Solutions

LinkedIn Learning

MySQL Indexing for Performance

Managing Big Data with MySQL

Duke University

SQL Server Integration Services

LinkedIn Learning

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

MySQL Fundamentals Part 2

Practical SQL Server Security, Compliance, and Auditing

SQL Server: Developer and DBA Collaboration

LinkedIn Learning

Big Data Analysis: Hive, Spark SQL, DataFrames and GraphFrames

Read these next

Coursera Launches a Healthcare Vertical, New Health Online...

How to Choose a Course from Udemy's Vast Library

Share

Help others find The World of Web Development by sharing it with your friends and followers:

Copy Link

Featured in this article

Programming Foundations with JavaScript, HTML and CSS

Intro to HTML and CSS

Introduction to HTML5

Introduction to HTML, CSS & JavaScript Programming

HTML, CSS and JavaScript

HTML for Educators

Introduction to HTML, CSS and JavaScript Programming

Learning HTML5 Game Development

Advanced HTML5 Game Development

HTML5 and CSS Fundamentals

React - The Complete Guide 2024 (incl. React Router & Redux)

Learning Full-Stack JavaScript Development: MongoDB, Node, and React

Building Applications with React 17 and Redux

React Router and Redux

React and Flux for Angular Developers

React VR: Interactive Multimedia

Practice React Component Rendering

React Router Basics

Vue.js: Getting Started

Practice Vue.js List Rendering

Practice Vue.js Templating

Animating a Landscape with VUE

Business Analyst Nanodegree

NodeJS - The Complete Guide (MVC, REST APIs, GraphQL, Deno)

Learning Full-Stack JavaScript Development: MongoDB, Node, and React

Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree

Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree

Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree

Smarter Chatbots with Node-RED and Watson AI

Advanced Node.js 12

Node.js Essential Training

Introduction to NodeJS

Build a Social Network with Flask

Python Flask for Beginners: Build a CRUD web app using Flask

Building Web APIs with Flask

Practice Input and Output in Ruby

Installing a Rails 5 Development Environment on Mac

Ruby on Rails 5 Basics

Practice Ruby Numeric Types

Behavior-Driven Development with Cucumber

Installing a Ruby on Rails Development Environment in OS X

Building Ruby Web Apps with Rack

Active Record Associations in Rails

Test-driven Rails with RSpec, Capybara, and Cucumber

Creating Static Pages in Rails

Oracle Database 12c SQL Certified Associate 1Z0-071

SQL Server 2012: Designing Database Solutions

MySQL Indexing for Performance

Managing Big Data with MySQL

SQL Server Integration Services

MySQL Fundamentals Part 2

Practical SQL Server Security, Compliance, and Auditing

SQL Server: Developer and DBA Collaboration

Big Data Analysis: Hive, Spark SQL, DataFrames and GraphFrames

Oracle Database 12c SQL Certified Associate 1Z0-071

SQL Server 2012: Designing Database Solutions

MySQL Indexing for Performance

Managing Big Data with MySQL

SQL Server Integration Services

MySQL Fundamentals Part 2

Practical SQL Server Security, Compliance, and Auditing

SQL Server: Developer and DBA Collaboration

Big Data Analysis: Hive, Spark SQL, DataFrames and GraphFrames

Share

Link

Our mission

OpenCourser helps millions of learners each year. People visit us to learn workspace skills, ace their exams, and nurture their curiosity.

Our extensive catalog contains over 50,000 courses and twice as many books. Browse by search, by topic, or even by career interests. We'll match you to the right resources quickly.

Find this site helpful? Tell a friend about us.

Affiliate disclosure

We're supported by our community of learners. When you purchase or subscribe to courses and programs or purchase books, we may earn a commission from our partners.

Your purchases help us maintain our catalog and keep our servers humming without ads.

Thank you for supporting OpenCourser.

© 2016 - 2025 OpenCourser