When I first started getting into web development, I didn’t think I was stepping into one of the fastest-changing fields in tech. But the deeper I went, the more I realized that web development isn’t just about building websites — it’s a reflection of how the entire internet has evolved over time. In this article — the very first post under the Web Development category on my blog salimkilinc.com — I want to take a step back and walk through how web development began, how it changed, and what it looks like today.
The Early Days: Static Web
Web development officially began in the early 1990s with the invention of HTML. The web back then was a collection of static documents — plain text, maybe some images, no interactivity. There was no CSS. No JavaScript. You wrote HTML, saved it as .html, uploaded it to a server, and that was it. If you remember the term “Web 1.0,” that’s what we’re talking about.
Then came CSS in 1996, and things slowly started to look better. Layouts got cleaner. Fonts became customizable. But still, everything was static. Sites were basically digital brochures.
JavaScript Changes the Game
The late ’90s brought JavaScript — and with it, a completely new era of interactivity. You could now respond to user actions: pop-ups, form validation, image sliders. JavaScript wasn’t very structured in those days, but it unlocked a new dimension. Developers also began to use tools like Flash for animations and rich content, though it eventually fell out of favor due to security and performance issues.
From AJAX to Frameworks
Around the mid-2000s, the concept of AJAX changed everything. Suddenly, you didn’t have to reload a whole page to update a part of it. Gmail was one of the first apps that showed just how powerful this could be. This era also saw the rise (and fall) of libraries like jQuery, which made DOM manipulation far easier and helped standardize browser quirks.
Then came the frameworks: AngularJS, React, Vue… and everything changed again. Instead of writing “pages,” we began writing “components.” The focus shifted toward state management, reactivity, and performance. Frontend and backend became increasingly decoupled, giving rise to terms like “headless CMS” and “API-first architecture.”
Web Development Today
Today, web development is a layered discipline. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are still core, but they now sit under stacks of abstraction. We deal with build tools like Vite and Webpack, use TypeScript for safer code, and deploy to platforms like Vercel or Netlify. Mobile responsiveness is the baseline, not an extra. Accessibility is no longer optional. SEO is integrated from the first line of code.
Even AI is starting to make its way into how we build — not just in terms of tools like GitHub Copilot, but also in how we personalize content or build smarter interfaces.
So Where Are We Headed?
Web development has come a long way from static pages. And it’s not slowing down. With technologies like WebAssembly, edge computing, and AI-enhanced development, we’re only scratching the surface of what the browser can do.
On my blog [Your Blog Name], this article marks not just the start of a category, but the start of a conversation — about where we’ve been and where we’re going. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re already deep in the world of modern web development, I hope this series of articles gives you something to relate to, reflect on, and maybe even get excited about.