Hot Web Design and Development Resources – August 2021

Welcome to the August 2021 monthly roundup of Web Design and Development resources. This month’s edition features security in web development. No coding environments are becoming increasingly popular but at who’s expense! I’ll be investigating the pros and cons of no or low code environments. On another note, there be the latest and greatest find’s in the web design and development field.

Table of contents

Security in Web Development
No Code Vs Low Code Vs Code
Web Design Resources
Coding Resources
The Best of the Rest in August 2021

Security In Web Development

Security is the subject that I initially based my blog around. It remains a focal point today. Every month I read stories on the latest data hacks and have even voiced my opinion on them. This month is no different when I came across an exploit which was found in a WordPress plugin. The code was targeting the WordPress Rest API. The plugin in question was pirated and the official plugin’s codebase hadn’t been infiltrated. I can only recommend using official versions and not pirated copies. Inside them can lurk dangerous scripts that can cause a lot of damage!

No Code Vs Low Code Vs Code

NoCode environments have become increasingly popular over the last few years. So far to say that it has become a buzzword over the web. Just how popular are they and will it put developers out of a job?

No code or low code environments are ideal for those that have little experience or don’t want to learn to code. It is probably not helped because there are so many programming languages available and what suits one person may not suit another. A previously bad experience could easily put someone off.

They have always been around but Back in the early 2000s when I was learning web development. Macromedia Dreamweaver was the professional software of choice, which was later acquired by Adobe, in 2005. Many websites were built using WYSIWYG editors (What You See Is What You Get) as an alternative to hand-coding. I was the unlucky one that had Microsoft FrontPage in my course! Enough said!

Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels

The speed of building a website using this method was far quicker. The downside of course was a heap of spaghetti code at the end. Fast forward many years and now we have cloud computing that makes it possible to do just about anything, within reason! Traditional software is not the only option anymore. With decent internet speeds and powerful services, we can access everything through a web browser.

As with many choices, there are always pros and cons. If you are a visual person you might favour a no-code environment. You may also want to get your project up and running quickly and not wait 6 months for a professional developer to do it. The downside of course is vendor lock-in. Once you have everything set up, the cost alone might be more than hiring a professional developer to do the work. What happens if your project needs to expand or the service you require isn’t available. Do you own the rights to your own code?

Web Design Resources

The amount of resources available is incredible. Back in 2008, when wow was born, websites were slow, cloud computing was in its infancy. Now we have a wealth of free resources at our fingertips and websites, to a certain extent, are faster than ever before. With fonts, icon libraries and stock photos available it is increasingly affordable to run a website or blog. If you are a beginner there are fundamental principles to effective web design. These principles, such as accessibility, are outlined to create a user experience for all and should be adhered to.

Coding Resources

JavaScript remains a popular choice for developers. If you are interested in learning JavaScript for free, here are 10 free udemy courses to choose from in August 2021. At some point in your development journey, you are going to hear the word Rest API. Here is a concise introduction to REST APIs and how they work.

The word algorithm is quite a scary word when dealing with programming concepts at the beginning of your journey. At the end of the day, it is creating a solution for a problem. Our day to day lives is full of algorithms, from planning meals to organising your work/life balance. Here is a guide to demystify algorithms and fall in love with them instead.