Top 5 Web Technologies: Explained in Layman Language

It’s a safe assumption that the greatest tech ideas don’t necessarily come to the “techies”.

We all have a fair share of innovation that many of us try to convert into real, tangible, practical business products. Which is the case with 90% of the web development clients that we get. 

These are CEOs and business owners who have played with technology all their life to have a good grasp over it but they are still unaware about the tech jargon used by the developers.

We have a number of such clients in our career as an IT outsourcing web development company, therefore, we thought of dumbing down the top 5 technologies that are used most often in our projects. These technologies are thrown around like buzzwords and it’ll be really beneficial to understand what they mean for clients interested in business products. 

Here we go! 

1. PHP Laravel - Plumbing Tool

PHP is a server-side scripting language and Laravel is a framework written in PHP. 

PHP is massively popular due to its compatibility and the number of use cases it covers. You can make websites, web apps and anything that runs on a server.

You can view PHP as a plumbing tool. 

Just like plumbing supplies help you connect the source of water to a place from where you can access it (your wash basin for instance), PHP connects your information source to your website to where it is displayed.

PHP encapsulates all the data and files that your website needs and takes it to the display. It also manages the flow of data to and fro between frontend (display) and backend (source). 

Laravel is one of the many frameworks used in PHP. What Laravel does is similar to what the sanitary layout does in your home. It’s a structured way of using PHP so that it can serve with better efficiency and security. 

Laravel is known for it’s variety of pre-built libraries, and the security that it offers in web development.   

2. React JS - Carving Tools

React JS is used to design the front-end of the web applications and websites. 

React was developed by Facebook which they later started giving out as open source code for more developers to use. 

We can consider React JS as a set of carving tools.

If you have seen craftsmen carving art on stone, soil or clay, you’d notice that they use tools that help them make intricate patterns. They have a range of tools to make different kinds of strokes on their canvas. 

(Website) (React JS) 

Similarly, React JS comes packaged with a set of carving tools that help developers carve out a beautiful yet functional frontend for websites. This frontend displays information held by the website in a lucid manner.  

React JS is popular because it is written in Javascript and makes the task of carving frontend really easy. It’s modularity offers developers the kind of tools that they enjoy while development.  

Here’s a project we made using React. 

3. API - Dot Connector

API is a word that gets thrown around a lot. It basically means Application Programming Index, or quite simply, dot connector.  

The web is a loosely spread out world and APIs are used to connect the dots that usually won’t connect. They help developers to allow flow of data from one application to another using a standardized method.

 

The most common methods for APIs are SOAP and REST. You’ll find most software applications offer their APIs so that they can help extend their functionality into another application without exposing the whole code structure. 

APIs maintain a secure and controlled flow of data as warranted by the developer of the API. The most common example for this is the Weather API offered by Open Weather Map. Using the API, you can show weather forecast data in your application without having to gain access to the Open Weather Map’s database. The criteria for choosing the best weather API are very diverse, since the dot connector can be implemented in different areas.

4. MySQL - Table Builder

MySQL is a widely used database technology. You’ll find MySQL in nearly every project you touch on the web. 

MySQL can be compared to a simple table builder. If you’ve ever used Microsoft Excel, you must have built reports using the tabular form wherein you fill data in rows and columns.  

Excel table

SQL table

Same is the case with SQL. It tabulates the data your website or web application needs in a tabular form and assigns unique table headers to each column. 

Using SQL queries, you can take out any value from the table and display it on your frontend. So, for say when you search gym shoes on Amazon, the SQL query embedded in the search box goes finds all the items with column name gym shoes and shows you the results. 

5. Stacks - Ingredient List 

The last one on our list isn’t a technology in itself but deals with a group of technologies that are addressed using the word “Stack”.

Ever heard of “LAMP Stack, or MEAN Stack or Full Stack Developer”?

A stack represents a group of technologies (or ingredients) that forms the architecture of a website or web application. It usually involves all the core technologies used in databasing, middleware and frontend. 

Whenever you have to start building your application, you need to decide which stack you’ll be working on. So, developers often study various stacks before they begin development. 

Choosing the right stack is important as it determines how efficiently and effectively, your app will achieve your desired goal. 

The most common stacks are;

LAMP - Linux Apache MySQL PHP

MEAN - MongoDB ExpressJS AngularJS NodeJS   

RoR - Ruby On Rails 

Conclusion 

With the basic knowledge of the above mentioned technologies, you’d be better able to communicate in the developer lingo. It’s not necessary to understand the nitty-gritty of the code, but a high-level overview of things will help you stay intune with what’s happening in your web development project!