How to Become a Solid Web Developer, the Short Version
Post from February 12, 2010 (ā» June 10, 2021), filed under Web Development.
This and many other posts are also available as a pretty, well-behaved ebook: On Web Development.
Every once in a while people ping me on how to master web development and design. Given how much thereās still to learn for me this makes me blush. Chronically short on time I typically reply in just a few sentences, though I welcome to ping me again, and to keep me posted on the effort. Hereās one of my recent responses. Slightly edited.
The three major recipes, from my point of view, are these:
Read the specs, in particular HTML and CSS. Sounds intimidating at first but youāll get a good understanding of whatās going on, and what can and cannot be done.
Practice, practice, practice. Set up your own website if you donāt have one already. Do some projects for friends, family, smaller businesses. Try to somehow get into really, really big projectsāthatās where the key lessons winter.
Get hold of the best resources. Subscribe to blogs from real masters. Read only the best books. Donāt settle for anything other than expert knowledge. (It doesnāt hurt to read outstanding literature out of neighboring fields, either, such as works from Edward Tufte, Donald Norman, or Jakob Nielsen.)
This is far from complete, but it reflects a good part of my professional philosophy. Which did indeed evolve to keep things short.
About Me

Iām Jens Oliver Meiert, and Iām an engineering manager and author. Iāve worked as a technical lead for Google, Iām close to the W3C and the WHATWG, and I write and review books for OāReilly. Other than that, I love trying things, sometimes including philosophy, art, and adventure. Here on meiert.com I share some of my views and experiences.
If you have questions or suggestions about what I write, please leave a comment (if available) or a message.
Comments (Closed)
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On February 12, 2010, 23:55 CET, Neovov said:
I think you forgot āLove the webā š
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On February 14, 2010, 18:43 CET, Lukas said:
Thanks for sharing!
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On February 16, 2010, 10:04 CET, Shiju Alex said:
Good list. ‘See more of the Webā could be an addition.
About best resources, ‘the wisdom to know the differenceā could be a big factor, because everyone out there would most likely present themselves as experts or gurus. -
On February 17, 2010, 23:11 CET, Lev Stewart said:
Please add a bit more detail⦠For example, why donāt you refer to HTML5? And are there any specific blogs youād recommend?
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On February 28, 2010, 0:47 CET, santhos website laten maken said:
What is a solid web developer in the first place? Itās more than html and css. Should one also learn php / asp, mysql, javascript / jquery / etc, learn about graphic design, usability, seo ?
Thereās so much to learn. But either way, I think youāre right by saying you should start with html and css. After that you can start exploring all the other aspects.
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On April 7, 2010, 14:12 CEST, stef said:
i like the āPractice, practice, practiceā.
a good knowledge about html and css is ok. but āpassionā is the most important thing š -
On April 30, 2010, 11:07 CEST, Stefan Nolte said:
I totally agree with you. I think, for the beginning it is really important to read only the really good books or the w3c specs, so that you learn the good way to develop websites. Especially in the net and all the āwebdesign blogsā there are so many tutorials, which tell you wrong or complicated ways to solve problems.
Furthermore you should be very passional and be interested in all things, that affect the website: this is not only clean an good code, but also usability, seo, accessibility, ā¦
So I think, to be a good web worker you always should think outside of the box. -
On May 20, 2010, 15:18 CEST, Aleks said:
Practice, practice, practice - it is the single way to become good web developer and web design.
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On November 19, 2010, 21:24 CET, JohnnyMC said:
@Aleks yeah practice is the gold word, iām teaching web designing, a person who wants to be a great web developer should think creative, love web and practice again and againā¦
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Perhaps my most comprehensive book: The Web Development Glossary (2020). With explanations and definitions for literally thousands of terms from Web Development and related fields, building on Wikipedia as well as the MDN Web Docs. Available at Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and Leanpub.