The Differences between Web Development and Software Development

Web development

On many occasions, you will find people who are not tech-savvy bundling everything that has to do with computers in one way or another into the same profession. To be fair, the number of fields and industries keeps steadily increasing, which can easily make a person get confused. Today, we are going to compare and contrast Web development and Software development.

Web Development

Web development deals with creating web applications or websites. The idea is to put up a site and/or make certain portions of the site behave like the client wants them to. The projects can be intricate, as well as simple. Think of it as building the house and furniture, only doing so online. There are several steps in completing the projects from scratch:

  1. Finding out what the client wants,
  2. Planning on how to do it,
  3. Page design,
  4. Content management,
  5. Building the website and testing it, and
  6. Launching the site.

Of course, once the site is launched, it is up to web developers to regularly check if everything is running smoothly. With the increasing demand and the relatively simple coding involved, more and more people turn to this profession. Bear in mind that it’s not easy being a web developer, and you need to keep upgrading your skills constantly to stay ahead of the game.

Software Development

When we talk about Software development, we mainly refer to desktop applications. It is static programming with few customization options once the product is complete. The process is somewhat similar to that of Web development, except that this process has a different name here – it is the Software Development Life Cycle. SDLC consists of the following steps:

  1. Planning,
  2. Analysis
  3. Design,
  4. Implementation, and
  5. Maintenance.

Software development deals with developing applications that we use on a regular basis. Word-processing programs, games, photo-editing programs, and video players are all products of Software development. Since they are designed to work on one or two platforms, you may find that the programs you use for a certain task are different from the programs your friends use.

The Main Differences

While both Web development and Software development require some knowledge in coding and design, the biggest difference is the interface used. In addition to that, Web development requires more security, as the data the websites hold requires constant defense against theft and destruction.

Software applications are designed to work on certain machines, and web applications are much more versatile – they can be accessed by nearly everyone, which, again, is all the more reason for the extra protection. Web applications are usually filled with intricate graphic design and content to make the product more appealing.