Comments on: Ask WWD: Am I a Web Designer or a Web Developer?

By: finewebdesign

finewebdesign — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:20:50 +0000

Not be confused. It`s nearly the same and only words, only letters. :)

By: fsbrainstorm v4.0

fsbrainstorm v4.0 — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 17:49:51 +0000

Web Designer or Web Developer?

I can handle in any level of the web development process, except for the coding part, so am I a “web designer” or a “web developer”? That’s a question I’ve been struggling with for the last 5 years or so. Web Worke…

By: ff-webdesigner

ff-webdesigner — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 14:04:56 +0000

lol…funny question that. Is my hair wet or just humid? The borders are so impossibly to be drawn. so what’s the difference….

By: Island in the Net

Island in the Net — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 14:25:59 +0000

The discussion becomes even more confusing when some start to make distinctions between “developers” and “programmers”. Some argue that a developer is someone who can code the application from start to finish while a programmer codes a smaller part of an application.

Over on Wikipedia.org there is a distinction between designer, server-side and client-side developer.

As for myself, I have alway referred to myself as a web developer with a quick explanation that I am not proficient as “user-level” stuff like graphics and layout. Now that I have started to use AJAX that line is less clear.

By: Lonnie Olson

Lonnie Olson — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:46:34 +0000

Before the big AJAX craze, this distinction was simple. Web Designers were the creative geniuses who did the graphic design, the HTML layout, and even the javascript interface logic. It is up to the Web Developers to do the backend that fills in the details of the front-end designed by the designers.

Essentially, Designers design web pages, Developers write backends to provide the data for the web pages.

Now enter the AJAX craze… Frontend code has become much more than just simple interface logic. It has now become a big part of the data generation/prorogation. It is also becoming more technical, often to the point beyond the expected skillset of the designer. This type of coding may either need a new title (Web Front-end Developer?).

And Web Technologist is terrible. It could mean everything, or it could mean nothing. Completely useless.

By: Script Artists | Persönlichkeitskrise?

Script Artists | Persönlichkeitskrise? — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:15:03 +0000

[...] Schwarz oder weiß? Webdesigner oder Webentwickler? Ask WWD: Am I a Web Designer or a Web Developer? « Tipps gegen vermüllten Code [...]

By: Al Abut

Al Abut — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 23:10:17 +0000

I have to disagree with cooking up more terms - I'm going to vote for proudly reclaiming an existing title and not caring what other people try to pigeonhole you as. So for me, that term that comes closest to my heart as far as what I feel like is still "web designer", even after all these years. Going old school, there's an ALA article that I've linked to from my about page for years that sums up the debate nicely: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/proud/

By: Ken Savage

Ken Savage — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:33:53 +0000

Yea I have to say I usually ask if a job is frontend or backend.
Seems like the easiest and most simple way to get your point across about what my skills are.

By: arsenalist

arsenalist — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:32:03 +0000

In this industry a title will never convey what you really do. It has to be more verbose than that.

However usually, if you’re doing technical stuff (server side using Java, C# whatever), you will qualify as a Software Developer. Other than that, it’s all up in the air.

By: EricO

EricO — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:49:15 +0000

This topic is close to my heart as well. I come from a programming background with a degree in computer science. But as my professional career began to grow, I found that I was most drawn to the usability, interface and design aspects of programming – that combination of creativity and logic. And I understand how some programmers in areas such as C#, C++ or Java look down on the lowly web developer – after all it’s engrained in their minds at the college level that they are better than the rest because they deal with deep logic. The problem is that they can’t see the broader logic behind the other aspects that web developers must deal with, such as accessibility, compatibility and simplicity.

Regardless, I was recently offered a contract position with a web/interactive technology firm, and the position that they had titled was “Web Producer”. I saw that Jason had posted “Interactive Producer”, which is great if you deal with all forms of interactive applications, including Flash, Director, CD/DVD-based projects, and other desktop applications. Although I dip my hand in some of these fields, I have my career focused solely on web technologies. Therefore I think “Web Producer” is the best term for my goals.

A Web Producer includes creation in design, layout, standards, front-end development, interfacing and coordinating with other specialists, such as back-end developers, art directors and database managers, as well as Marketing and upper level managers. Although I do some server-side backend development, I prefer to offload the heavy lifting in this area to the web developers and other backend developers so that I can focus on the fields in my interest.
cheesy…

For companies that do not seem to have an “outside-the-box” culture, I stick with good ol’ “Web Developer.” But for the open-minded, I consider “Web Producer” a better title.