Web Design and Development (BS)
What is A Web Design and Development (BS) Degree?
Computer Science is the study of computers—mostly the design and application of software. The field has to keep up with what’s happening and needed in the world. In the world of websites, there are two functions that we sometime confuse: web design and web development. What is the difference? The Web Developer (sometimes called the back-end developer) creates the “back bone” of the website and uses specialized languages to do that—languages you may not have heard of. Web developers who are called front-end developers (most developers) serve as the bridges to the design function. They use various languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to communicate with the computer on how a website should be set-up and on how it should function with various interactive features. Web designers use that structure and, using design software like Adobe Photoshop, create pleasing designs for pages on the website, designs that will be user-friendly, compelling, and persuasive where needed.
The BS in Web Design and Development degree will tap into the students’ creative sides with the design aspect and their scientific sides for both development phases. It’s sort of like coordinating right-brained work and left-brained work at the same time. If you only want to do design work, an Associate’s degree may be sufficient. But, to be a developer requires some high-level computer skills for which the Bachelor’s degree will be needed. It makes sense to take a Bachelor’s program that covers both design and development, even if your focus will only be on the development aspects of the websites–developing a creative eye for website design can’t hurt. Courses, in addition to general education, include things like database structures, interface design, visual frameworks, scalable data infrastructures, applied design tools and interfaces, and design patterns for web programming. The degree program will probably require several major projects, along with advanced coursework in the third and fourth years to build up a portfolio of work that can be used during the job search after graduation.
