What is required to develop a website?

Web developers can integrate dynamic content into their projects using a variety of tools, tailoring the experience to individual users. A key requirement for this is professional web hosting that provides the necessary resources to support modern web development.

The technical foundations of a website

The foundation of any online presence is a suitable server. Established web hosting providers typically offer complete packages that include not only the necessary storage space, but also server resources like RAM, a custom domain, databases, and essential web development tools. It is also possible to choose to provide the technical foundations yourself.

Domain

Every project on the World Wide Web is accessed through a unique, identifiable name. This domain is one of the core components of a website. Domains follow the hierarchical structure of the Domain Name System and consist of a top-level domain (like .com or .org), a freely chosen domain name (the second-level domain), and optional subdomains. Domain registration is handled by a web service provider, who submits the request to the appropriate registry. When choosing a domain, it’s best to go with short, clear names and widely recognized top-level domains.

Web space

Every website consists of data that must be stored on a web server to be accessible via the internet. That’s why web hosting plans always include a certain amount of storage space for HTML documents, stylesheets, images, videos, databases, and all other website files. Uploading this data is typically done via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or the encrypted SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) using an appropriate FTP program like FileZilla or WinSCP. For your web project to remain scalable, it’s essential that your web space can be expanded at any time as needed.

Database

Modern websites often use databases to deliver content dynamically and manage user data. Instead of serving static HTML pages stored on the server, database-driven projects generate web pages on the fly with each request. Depending on the use case, web developers rely on either relational databases (SQL) or NoSQL databases.

Relational databases like MySQL, MariaDB, or PostgreSQL store information in tables and link them using unique keys (IDs). This structure is ideal for applications that require clearly defined relationships between data, such as user accounts, orders, or product catalogs. NoSQL databases like MongoDB, Firebase, or Redis support dynamic schema changes, making them especially useful for scalable or high-performance web apps and real-time applications.

Web server

Depending on the hosting model, the server can be shared (shared hosting or dedicated (with your own hardware, a VPS, or cloud infrastructure). Large web projects often use additional technologies such as load balancing and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to improve performance. Modern applications also rely on container technologies like Docker and Kubernetes to deploy server applications in a flexible and scalable way.

The term “web server” refers to the core software component responsible for delivering websites and web applications. Web servers handle requests from browsers via the HTTP(S) protocol and return the appropriate content. Some of the most popular solutions include Apache, NGINX, and LiteSpeed.

The most important tools for developing a website

Once the foundation of your web project is in place, you have several options for developing your own website. These range from user-friendly website builders with limited design flexibility to more advanced content management systems (CMS) and fully custom-coded solutions. Website builders, based on the WYSIWYG principle (“What You See Is What You Get”), are primarily aimed at beginners with no programming knowledge. Running a CMS, on the other hand, requires some technical experience. Developers who want full control often choose to build their project from scratch in a code editor—usually with the help of a framework. This approach requires a solid understanding of basic programming languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP. However, practical tools like prebuilt code templates and AI-assisted programming now make the process significantly easier.

HTML

HTML (hypertext markup language) plays an important role in web development by semantically structuring digital content; a process that’s carried out by using what developers refer to as tags. This approach allows you to define elements such as text blocks, headings, graphics, or hyperlinks. The resulting markup forms the basic structure of any webpage. A simple static website is essentially just a collection of interlinked HTML documents. The current standard, HTML5, also adds markup support for audio and video elements.

CSS

The visual presentation of content is defined using CSS, the standard formatting language for HTML documents. Web developers use CSS to assign display rules to the elements defined in the HTML code. The current standard, CSS3, includes not only layout, color, and typography rules but also features like animations, gradients, and shadows.

JavaScript/Typescript

Visitors interact with modern websites by using input fields, drop-down menus, or slide shows. JavaScript or its extension, TypeScript, come into play whenever dynamic content like this is to be used on an HTML site. The script languages expand the HTML and CSS framework by evaluating user interactions and reloading, updating, or changing page content.

PHP

While static websites are ready to be accessed on web servers, dynamic websites are first generated when a request is made through a web browser. This process is made possible with the script language PHP. PHP programs are interpreted server-side. Instead of delivering the source code of dynamic websites directly onto the browser, the web server transfers the file to a PHP interpreter. This interpreter then generates the requested website–often by using information deposited in the database–and returns it to the web server. From there, the interpreter readout is sent to the browser. Additional script languages used for developing dynamic websites are Perl and Python.

Frameworks

Modern web development increasingly relies on frameworks to speed up development and provide proven structures. Frontend frameworks like Angular and React simplify the creation of dynamic, interactive user interfaces. They support a component-based architecture and improve performance using virtual DOMs.

Backend frameworks like Flask and Django support server-side development by providing features such as routing, database integration, API management, and security functions. By combining frontend and backend frameworks, developers can build scalable web applications while optimizing development time.

APIs

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are interfaces that allow web projects to communicate with other applications. This enables a website to, for example, fetch data from a server or integrate third-party services such as payment providers or map services. There are various types of APIs, including REST and GraphQL, which deliver data in a defined format. Many modern web applications rely on APIs for dynamic content or to add extra functionality.

Responsive web design and performance optimization

Modern websites must adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes. Responsive web design ensures that content is displayed optimally on smartphones, tablets, and desktops. This is achieved through flexible layouts, CSS media queries, and mobile-first design strategies. Depending on the project, it may also be worth considering whether traditional responsive design, a dedicated mobile site, or a mobile app is the best fit.

In addition to visual display, load time is also critical. Performance optimization is one of the most important aspects of modern web development. It includes techniques such as:

• Compressing images
• Caching
• Compressing CSS
• Minimizing JavaScript/TypeScript
• Lazy loading

Security measures and testing

Security is a key factor in the success of any web project and should be considered early in the development process. Websites should be protected with SSL/TLS encryption, strong passwords, and safeguards against attacks such as XSS or SQL injections. Regular updates and backups are also essential.

Especially when developing more complex web projects from scratch, testing is a crucial part of quality assurance. There are various testing tools available for web development. If you only want to test specific parts of the web project, you can use unit tests. There are different test frameworks for this purpose, such as PHPUnit for PHP or JSUnit for JavaScript.