What is the difference between web development & web design

Web Design and Web Development are like two sides of the same coin. Without either, the coin would lose its value.

Before understanding “Design” and “Development”, let’s first understand “Web”.

The Web is basically a network of interconnected devices. These include our laptops, desktops, smartphones, Tablets and now even devices like smart watches, smart TVs and a host of other devices.

If we were to group these devices based on interaction and core functionality, we would have “Clients” and “Servers”.

Clients are basically all the devices that common users would use to connect to the internet. This would include laptops, desktops, smartphones, smartwatches, TVs etc. These are the devices we use to view and interact with websites.

Servers, on the other hand, are the devices that “hold” all of this website data and broadcast it to the client devices. All website data and logic is stored on a server, and when a client requests for this data, the server sends it over as requested.

Speaking in metaphors, a radio would be a client, while a radio station would be a server. Except, in the case of the web, even the radio stations are interconnected to each other.

Web development:

Web development is divided into multiple stacks, we have Frontend, Backend, and Fullstack:

• Frontend development is the process of creating the layout of a website. It's the part that the users see and interact with. It's typically coded using HTML/CSS/Javascript. There are also a few tools and frameworks that can be used, like Bootstrap and Angular.js.
• Backend development is the creation of the functional part of a website. It's what makes the website functional. Unlike the Frontend development Backend doesn't have set languages to code in. Each developer chooses one or few languages he feels comfortable with and code in them. Some of the most famous Backend languages are PHP/Java/Python/Perl. There are also a few frameworks such as Ruby On Rails/Django/Node.js.. Another part of the Backend development is interacting with the Database, which requires its own set of languages like AJAX/MySql/MongoDB ...
• A full-stack developer is someone who masters the Frontend and Backend and works comfortably with both. He is usually a senior developer and has a lot of years of experience.

Web design:

Web design is the process of designing a website, using the latest design trends and keeping in mind the UI (User interface) and UX (User experience). It typically was done with Adobe Photoshop, though there are a few other tools available.

In conclusion, both of them are very different from each other but are in the same family.