What Makes a Good Web Development Company

The world of web development continues to be very a lot misunderstood. We have even heard folks name it a “darkish art”. So while you need assistance turning your ideas and designs into a top quality website or web software, how are you aware who you may belief to get this completed?

The aim of this submit is to offer some key factors on what makes a superb web development company, and can show you how to perceive the type of questions you ought to be asking development corporations.

That is going to be a really opinionated submit and we make no apologies for it. In the event you disagree with something we’re definitely open to discussing it additional.

Now to get on with the submit. Under are the important thing areas we’re going to be taking a look at, and what you ought to be in search of in a web development company.

• In a position to do each front-end and back-end development
• Do not specialize in one back-end expertise
• Ought to comply with greatest practices
• Understanding of marketing methods surrounding the tasks
• Invests time in analysis and development
• Has a rigorous testing course of, together with automated checks
• Versatile to vary
• Use supply management

In a position to do each front-end and back-end development
We do not subscribe to idea of builders that do front-end development and builders that do back-end development. That is the equal of getting a plumber who solely suits pipes and leaves the becoming of the baths, showers, sinks and bogs to another person.

We agree there’s a separation between web builders and web designers, there is a utterly completely different thought course of happening there, however the separation between front-end and back-end is simply mistaken. To be a superb web developer you want to perceive the total development cycle and to have the ability to get entangled within the mission from begin to end. There may be additionally a lot to be learnt from the working with the various applied sciences, however we’ll come on to that.

Do not specialize in one back-end expertise
There are a number of excellent back-end applied sciences which can be applicable for web development together with Ruby on Rails, ASP.Internet and PHP (and others). All of them have their strengths and weaknesses and never one is ideal. A superb web development company ought to be versatile by which applied sciences they use, in order that they use probably the most applicable one for his or her shoppers’ wants.

The important thing purpose we’ve got frolicked studying a number of applied sciences is to in a position to choose and select the bits we like. Through the years the builders concerned in The League have been in a position to take the great elements of every expertise and formulate a number of greatest practices and use them throughout all platforms.

Ought to comply with greatest practices
The important thing to being a superb web developer shouldn’t be the applied sciences that you simply use, however the most effective practices that you simply comply with. As applied sciences come and go in our very quick moving trade these greatest practices will stay, or not less than evolve. As a developer when you have a superb grounding then you may transfer with the occasions and applied sciences pretty simply.

So what are these greatest practices that we’re speaking about. Under are a few of the key ones we comply with.

• Writing semantic HTML
• Observe web requirements for all entrance finish coding
• Automated testing of each front-end and back-end code
• Use of a MVC framework

Understanding of marketing methods surrounding the tasks
We have heard this grievance many occasions that web builders do not take into consideration the marketing technique of a mission. That is usually as a result of builders do not care. Properly they need to. How can they advise shoppers and take into consideration serving to shoppers produce the appropriate answer, if they are not excited about the “larger image” (sorry, we all know it is a horrid phrase, we’ll go wash our mouths out now). If a developer blindly does the work, they don’t seem to be providing the shopper a service, they’re simply being a meat puppet.

An important query a developer can ask is “Why?”. Take time to grasp the shopper’s necessities totally, and advise them, after all of the shopper would not perceive the ins and outs of web development, you do. Make the development cycle a two means dialog.

Invests time in analysis and development
As everybody is aware of the web trade is a really quick moving trade. Issues come and go within the blink of a watch. A superb web development company provides it is builders allotted time every week to have a look at new developments and applied sciences. Admittedly a few of these developments and applied sciences are lifeless ends, however you will not know until you look into them.

If you wish to know if a web development company is aware of there stuff, merely ask them what their builders have been trying into not too long ago. You do not have to grasp the whole lot you’re instructed, observe them down although and look them up on the web to grasp if the company are taking a look at new developments or not.

R&D might be crucial time every week for a developer. If builders do not evolve, the options they construct will grow to be stagnate and dated in a short time. As a shopper would you like an outdated answer earlier than you even begin?

Has a rigorous testing course of, together with automated checks
Too usually we’ve got seen the shopper is the tester for a mission. If that is taking place, then, to place it bluntly, the development company do not perceive your mission properly sufficient, they’re simply “banging out” code.

A superb web development company ought to be writing automated checks (integration checks, unit-tests and so on) for all their code, each front-end and back-end. On a easy stage, checks assist builders to focus on the code they’re writing at that given time, additionally they assist builders to write down extra concise code. Extra concise code means the code base is less complicated to grasp and cheaper to take care of.

The main advantage of a take a look at suite to a shopper is that when adjustments are made to the code within the mission there generally is a lot extra confidence in the truth that the change, or new code, hasn’t damaged the rest.

We’re not saying automated testing is the silver bullet of web development, and checks are solely efficient if they’re written properly, however they definitely ought to be a part of any web builders toolset.

Automated checks aren’t the one necessary facet of testing. The web development company also needs to have a stage of human testing as properly, and that is definitely one thing shoppers ought to be concerned in. Person tales are key to this course of. As a part of the development course of, shoppers ought to work with the web development company to place collectively Person tales, so that every one events concerned perceive how customers will work together with the location or software and the outcomes of these interactions front end development services.

Versatile to vary
We have all heard builders complaining how their shoppers’ change the necessities of a mission halfway thought a mission. Builders have to cease complaining about this, it occurs to us all and it is by no means going to vary. A superb web development company ought to have processes in place to deal with change. In case you are a shopper, ask how change requests might be dealt with.

Web builders ought to work to quick launch cycles, ideally 1 – 2 weeks. The worst factor that may occur to a mission is that the builders get the transient, begin the work after which 2 months later they announce it is completed, just for the shopper to say “This is not what I requested for!”. By working to quick launch cycles, shoppers will be concerned in any respect levels. On the finish of every launch the shopper ought to evaluate the mission thus far and submit any change requests.

Use supply management
Our ultimate advice is a fairly apparent and easy one, to most individuals, however we nonetheless converse to builders who do not use any type of supply management. This appears extra prevalent with freelancers as they do not see the necessity as they’re the one ones engaged on the code. If that is how they see it, then they’re lacking the purpose.

There are many the reason why all code ought to be supply managed. We’re are solely going to say a few key factors right here. Firstly it is a good way of preserving a log of adjustments made to code. (So long as builders put a remark into the commit). Secondly and most significantly is permits builders to vary code with out the worry of dropping already work already completed. That is particularly helpful when making an attempt out different attainable coding options to an issue.