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Modern web developers must know Server Administration

zooboole

Published By zooboole

Re-Hello everyone. I am back with new tips and guidelines to help you in your daily routine as a developer. Let me use this opportunity to say sorry for not posting in the past weeks. You know how it works. I have gotten a little assignment and that was a great time for me to improve myself in many other things, especially the dialogue with my client which I should be sharing with you soon.

Web Developer

SitePoint.com

In this post, I will be talking about how modern web development tends to include server administration. You've probably been calling yourself a web developer for a while now. If you noticed, recently the tendency in the field has changed its gears. Building a website these days doesn't happen so lightly(even though many still think so). Web development has always involved servers. Long ago we used to content ourselves with just a hosting package. The server's settings were usually handled by the hosting company. Based on the type of application we can grab a specific package and we're good to go.

Unfortunately, if you still think this is ideal for you, it means your project might not be serious(big/complex) enough. These days websites are very complex and need to solve real problems. A website should not follow the server's settings, rather the server has to follow the website's needs.

With all these, it has become essential for a developer to have some skills in server administration and mostly how to work with linux operating systems it order to maintain his websites.

To prove this, look at the Laravel framework, which is actually one of the developers' favorite and the most used in the past few years. When you start learning/using it you are required to set up Homestead which is a specific (virtual)server that is suitable to the framework's requirements. Its server requirement is not usually satisfied by many shared hosting packages.

Additionally, with the event of framework interop and php components more is needed from PHP, I mean PHP extensions. Most extensions used by modern applications are not activated by default with shared hosting packages. You would have to install or activate them yourself.

I remember some time ago when I started working with Linux OS, I used to use the term SSH and I used to wonder why I needed to use it. I probably concluded I would never need such a thing. But, due to how web development is moving with the packages one might need from other developers, Composer has become eminent. It seems impossible for a respectable developer to avoid that action these days. And when we talk of packages/dependencies management, we must also be talking of SSH. And this feature is usually ignored in most shared hosting. Or worst, you will never have full right(su/sudo) to do whatever you want.

So, your website has requirements you would not avoid. To satisfy it you need a dedicated/virtual private server. Once you have that you need to install your preferred OS, set it up, and host your website. Digital Ocean has been a great proof to that. About 20M droplets launched. This is to tell you that millions of developers in this world have changed their gear already.

With this you admit with me that being a web developer is not only a website, you also need some server administration skills to be complete. And one of my favorite destinations when it comes to that is Server Mom.

Bottom line

Web development is now a real job. Many things are beyond just doing the job. Security online has become more serious than ever and websites are the best destinations for most businesses today. Your career as a developer should also become more serious. Do not remain the 90's developer. Do something today, use recent technologies, follow good practices, and be vigilant.

Linux is still the most trusted Operating System. Avoiding it as a developer is a big mistake. You can keep on using Windows aside, but you need to have some knowledge in Linux OS to enjoy some new aspects of web development.

Thanks for reading. Hope this adds up and gives you a plus today. If that's the case please share with your peers, it helps me a lot.

Cover image credit: elitbuzz.com