5 Important Skills Every Web Developer Should Have

Web development is still one of the hottest industries out there, and that's not going to change any time soon. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of web developers is expected to grow 27 percent between 2014 and 2024, significantly faster than the average for all occupations.

With that in mind, we've put together a list of the most important skills every web developer should have. Knowing what to improve is the starting point for achieving greatness, so we hope you find some useful information in this post.

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1. Constantly learning and improving

In a fast-paced industry like ours, you have to constantly learn to stay up to date. Technologies change as quickly as trends, and what is common practice today may become outdated in a few years. If you want to become a great web developer, you need to stay one step ahead of the curve. This means learning new technologies and programming languages, as well as keeping an eye on what customers want (and need) to be satisfied.

In a recent survey of more than 2,000 Java developers 53% admitted to being “technology sheep” who only adopt new things once they have been accepted as standard by the industry. 44% described themselves as “early adopters” who update OSX versions before they are stable. It's pretty clear which faction is more likely to be one step ahead of its competitors. And it's not the 3% of so-called "unchangeables" who think all change is bad and "don't have time for change" because they're "too busy with their actual work."

Another reason to educate yourself is to stay ahead of your user base. Or, as author Rick Cook puts it: "Programming today is a race between software engineers, who strive to create better and better, idiot-proof programs, and the universe, which tries to produce more and better idiots. So far, it has won the universe."

2. Stay current with the industry

To stay up to date in the industry, it's a good idea to follow blogs like Smashing Magazine, Sitepoint, Hacker News and of course our own blog (even if it looks like you're already doing well there). Attending trade fairs and conferences is also a good idea, as you can make contacts there and pick up lots of new ideas and insights. A good personal goal would be to attend at least one tech conference per year to keep things fresh and get out of the daily routine. If you need help deciding which trade shows to attend this year, check out our post on 16 conferences in 2017 that no developer should miss.

3. Being able to manage time and set priorities

Working in web development can sometimes be extremely stressful and chaotic. The projects are piling up and the deadlines are always around the corner. To stay efficient (and healthy), it's important to manage your time as best as possible. This is something that many developers struggle with because they have never taken a step back to improve their time management skills. Here are some tips to help you stay organized and avoid deadlines getting in your way:

Create a to-do list and put the most urgent and important tasks first. Sometimes the other things just have to wait.

Check your list first thing every morning and make a quick plan for the day. Even though things won't always go according to this plan, having it in place in the first place will make you much more efficient.

Set reminders for important tasks and project steps that you want to complete at specific times during the day or week. Ignore everything else if necessary to ensure you meet your own little deadlines.

Take advantage of the 80/20 rule and try to find the daily activities that take up too much of your time without producing enough results. You'll be surprised at how much time you spend every day on things that take far too long relative to what you get in return.

Talk to your boss or clients as soon as possible if you feel like you won't meet a deadline. It's not ideal, but it's not the end of the world either. The sooner you let them know about this, the sooner they can adjust.

4. UX understanding

A really good developer is characterized by mastering not only the technical side of their business, but also the design and customer-facing aspect. To great Develop applications and software , you need to understand how your customers will use the final product. The Swiss computer scientist and programmer Niklaus Wirth put it this way: "Of course, programming courses should teach design and construction methods, and the examples should be chosen so that step-by-step development can be beautifully demonstrated."

Before you start working on a new project, take the time to really think about the design and how it will be used by consumers. In this step, you will often come up with ideas that can significantly improve the product design itself.

Another important point is to keep up to date with design trends. The best way to do this is to spend some time each day reading articles on one of the countless great web design blogs out there. If you don't have time and just want to get a quick overview of the current trends, just check out our top 10 web design trends for 2017.

5. Communicate well with others

Communication is important in every profession, perhaps even more so in web development. The needs of designers, developers, clients and customers must be perfectly aligned to create an outstanding product. This means that communication is a large part of a web developer's work and should always be treated as a high priority.

The need for good communication skills is reinforced by the fact that programming is something that is very difficult for non-developers to grasp. You have to be able to make other people understand technical problems, which can be quite difficult. To improve your communication skills, talk regularly to people you know outside of the office and try to explain to them what you're working on. Yes, they'll probably get bored, but that's also the challenge: if you can tell your friends about your new project without putting them to sleep, you can do the same with your next potential client. And it will also significantly improve communication with your boss and your design team.

It really doesn't matter how long you've been working as a web developer, there's always room for improvement. Sometimes all you need is a little motivation to see what you are doing and decide to improve something and you can reap great benefits. We hope you were inspired by this post and that it helps you become a better developer.