If you are new to the realm of web development, you may be wondering what some of the current trends of the industry are. If you want to get ahead in the web development industry or to keep up with the crowd, it is important that you have some familiarity with these trends and that you utilize them in your work.

CSS3

Cascading style sheets, also known as CSS, is how the look and formatting of a website is defined. CSS3, the newest version of the program, includes many new features that are designed to make web development much easier and much more attractive. The features include: border radius, rounded corners, box shadows, multi-column layout and opacity.

HTML5

Flash’s popularity is all but dead in the eyes of many web developers, especially as they have discovered that HTML5 can do many of the same things that only Flash was able to do before. But why are developers avoiding Flash like the plague? Because it doesn’t work well with many of the newer technologies, such as mobile phones, and it can actually have a negative effect on the usability of a website.

‘Life streaming’

These days, people demand to be ‘constantly connected’ to enable them to share their lives with others at all times. Before, web developers made this possible by including links to a Facebook or Twitter page on a website. These days, developers are actually able to use a social network aggregator to combine a number of social networking profiles. This allows for a live feed of sorts to be incorporated into a website or blog, allowing users to stay up to date.

QR Code

Quick response code, also known as QR code, is by no means a new web development concept. It has, however, recently increased in popularity, thanks to the rise in usage of internet-accessible mobile devices (such as smart phones and iPads). Basically, a QR code is a barcode that incorporates certain information, such as a website URL. A user takes a photo of the barcode, usually located on advertising material, with their mobile device and is immediately taken to the corresponding information.

While these are the current web development trends, there is nothing to say that this will not change in the near future – the internet and associated software is always changing and evolving, and it is important for developers to stay on top of the newest trends.