Solopreneurship for Software Developers
Why should I learn web development when there is WordPress?
With all the wonderful things that WordPress can do with little effort and time, why learn web development when it can quickly, easily, and cheaply be done in WordPress?
In today’s insight, we are going to understand why you should learn Web development even with the advancement and availability of no code, easy-to-use platforms like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, etc.
WORDPRESS WEB DEVELOPMENT
WordPress Web Development is so easy and straightforward. A lot of work is done for you so that you can concentrate on the core business of your website without compromising the quality of the website.
WordPress enables anyone to make good-looking websites with little or no web development skills. You can make blogs, social sites, video sites, E-commerce websites, business websites, forums, membership sites, and more by just installing some themes and plugins.
The process of developing a website with WordPress is so easy that even without any coding skills, you can have a fully working website in a matter of hours. Most of the work is just element selection and drag & drop.
There are a lot of big companies using WordPress, some of the popular ones include
- BBC
- TechCrunch
- Sony
- CNN
- Disney
- Wired
- Spotify
- Etsy
- IBM
- Microsoft
- New York Times
- Vogue
- Mozilla
- Havard
- New York Post
- Dallas Mavericks
- Toyota
- Reuters, and many others.
It can be seen that WordPress is widely used and trusted by big companies. Even celebrities like Usain Bolt and Jay-Z have WordPress websites.
WordPress is the most popular Content Management System in existence and is used by over 37% of all websites online. Most of them are blogs, news, and publication websites.
The most interesting thing is that WordPress is free and open source, meaning you can also contribute to making it better, more secure, and more accessible.
With this simplicity, flexibility, easiness of use, and a huge community around it, it is easy to see why WordPress is widely used and why a lot of people are asking whether learning web development is worth it anymore in light of WordPress.
WHY LEARN WEB DEVELOPMENT?
Learning web development will open up many opportunities to work on life-changing projects for different companies around the world.
Web development is a huge field that continues to transform our world today, Web development goes beyond just making websites.
There is so much that a web developer can do that someone who knows only WordPress cannot do.
Let us look at some of the reasons why you should learn web development even though there are such platforms as WordPress.
UNLIMITED BY WORDPRESS
When you are a web developer, you are not limited by what WordPress offers you. Remember, a WordPress website is limited by available themes and plugins.
If you want to add a feature to your website and there is no plugin for it, you will need the power and skills of a web developer to develop it for you.
MAKING THEMES & PLUGINS
The people that work on WordPress themes and plugins are highly skilled Web developers. Learning web development will help you to develop customized themes and plugins that you and others can use.
GETTING JOBS
Companies are looking for top talented developers with great coding skills, you will not get a job as a developer who knows completely nothing about programming languages, APIs, Database technology, and other web development skills.
CUSTOM SOFTWARE
When you are a web developer, you will have the skills to make powerful web applications that can be very specific to companies and organizations. This ability to make custom company-tailored web applications cannot be achieved by knowing only WordPress.
Most startups working on new and revolutionary ideas will need custom software developed for their new ideas, WordPress simply won’t fit in this picture. Think of start-ups like Coinbase, AirBnB, Byju’s, Robinhood, Revolut, and many others, how are their web apps developed?
WORKING FOR FAANG
If it is one of your dreams to work for FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google), Solely knowing WordPress will not get you there.
You must familiar with highly sought-after development skills like data structures and algorithms. WordPress will not teach you these.
MAKING MOBILE APPLICATIONS
You can use web development technologies to make mobile applications for Android and IOS.
You can use React Native, Ionic, Cordova, and Nativescript to make cross-platform mobile applications. You can’t possibly do this with WordPress.
MAKING DESKTOP APPLICATIONS
You can also make desktop applications with web technologies using Electron JS or NW.JS. This cannot be done if all you know is WordPress.
Desktop Applications such as VS Code, Skype, TwitterTron, Arizona, Bootstrap studio, Microsoft Teams, Youtube Music, Whatsapp, GraphiQL, Figma, Github, and many others are made using Electron JS.
HEADLESS CMS
When you have web development skills, you can use WordPress as a headless Content management system.
This allows you as a web developer to do a lot of customization and give a new look to your web application. This is only possible if you understand web development.
DEVELOPING CODING SKILLS
Learning Web development will help you to develop your programming skills and understand programming in general.
Programming can help you to solve a lot of real-world problems in health, education, science, finance, transportation, etc.
MAKING GAMES
Web development skills can help you make games that can entertain the world. A great example of a game made with Web development technologies and skills is the viral word game Wordle.
Wordle was created by Josh Wardle and was acquired by the New York Times for more than a million US Dollars. You can hardly use WordPress to make such a web application.
MAKING MONEY
You can make money as a WordPress freelancer building WordPress websites, but you can make even more reliable recurring income by developing WordPress plugins and themes. This is only possible using web development skills.
We can see that even in the presence of such a powerful platform as WordPress, learning web development is a far much greater investment than just sticking with WordPress.
As a web developer, you can work on making web applications better, including working on WordPress itself, learning web development gives you a greater understanding of how WordPress works and it will be easy to make advanced customizations and changes.
In effect, WordPress does not replace web development, it makes some of the work of web developers easy. WordPress is just a part of many things that Web developers can work on.
SHOULD WEB DEVELOPERS USE WORDPRESS?
WordPress is a powerful platform that does a lot of heavy lifting for Web developers. Web Developers should use WordPress whenever they can to make websites inexpensively, quickly, and easily.
Using WordPress can serve you a lot of time and resources. You will be able to build a fully working, secure website in a short period of time.
However, knowing WordPress should never be the reason not to learn Web development. Web development teaches you more things and gives you great advantages that WordPress alone can never give you.
If you are interested in trying out your own website with WordPress, Bluehost is a great place to start. You will be able to install WordPress with a one-click and you will get a free domain.
On the other hand, if you want to learn more about web development and what web developers do, you can check out our article Guide to Become a Self-taught Web Developer (Step by Step).
WILL WORDPRESS REPLACE WEB DEVELOPERS?
No, WordPress will not replace web developers. There are still many tasks that require the skills of a web developer, such as:
Building custom themes and plugins: WordPress themes and plugins are what give websites their unique look and functionality.
While there are many free and premium themes and plugins available, there are also many cases where a web developer needs to build a custom solution to meet the specific needs of a client.
Optimizing websites for performance and security: WordPress websites can be complex, and it is important to optimize them for performance and security.
This requires a deep understanding of WordPress and web development best practices.
Troubleshooting and fixing problems: WordPress websites can sometimes experience problems, such as security vulnerabilities or performance issues.
Web developers are skilled at troubleshooting and fixing these problems quickly and efficiently.
In addition, web developers are often involved in the planning and design of websites, as well as the development of custom content and functionality.
While WordPress has made it easier for people to create websites without having to know any code, there will always be a need for skilled web developers to create and maintain complex and high-performing websites.
