Web development

What is web application development?

Web development is the work behind the creation and development of a site, a web page and even web applications in a programming language. Web development is done by web developers, commonly called programmers or even “devs” (e.g. front-end dev). Web developers usually have CEGEP training (college studies), attestations of college studies (AEC), university diplomas (e.g. software engineering) or even recognition of prior learning (RAC).

What are the web programming languages?

In order to develop web applications, it is essential to master the appropriate programming languages. The most widespread are:

• JavaScript
• Python
• PHP
• HTML

To speed up web development, developers will often use frameworks, such as Angular and Django. A framework is a tool that provides ready-made components or custom solutions.

What is the point of web development?

What there is to know

Information technologies are constantly evolving and most sectors of activity need programmers for their web development. This is why companies often do business with web agencies. Whether for the development of transactional websites (e-commerce), for security updates, an overhaul of web interfaces, the creation of new web pages, their expertise is required.

For a website to exist, it must be hosted on servers. On the server side, it’s a whole other, equally complex world. We talk about it in another article with databases: web hosting.

For a website to work well and be secure, you also need to take into consideration hosting and the server side of things. Databases are also a need to take into consideration.

Digital solutions

Several digital solutions exist and not all of them are good for you. From CMS, ERP, CRM, SaaS to custom software. You have to know how to ask the right questions or ask them to the right people.

Digital solutions can quickly become expensive and you should never lose sight of your business objectives. Do you prefer to rent a digital product or do you prefer to own it and increase the value of your business? Is there already a solution to your problem or has no one answered it yet? These are all good questions for you to ask yourself. If you are unsure or need support, do not hesitate to contact a specialist.

Digital asset

Digital products should be considered assets. They can provide income, via a transactional site for example, just as a real estate asset can provide income via the rental of housing. A digital asset can also inform travelers like a tourism information center would do. In web development, the parallel with real estate takes on its full meaning. At the start, there are the architect’s plans (planning), then comes construction (development) and finally small renovations (maintenance). That being said, real estate assets, like digital assets, must be maintained in order to respect certain security standards and best practices. Just like homes, your digital product needs to be maintained. In order to maximize the lifespan of your digital investment, you will need to think about one-off updates and reinject money for this ongoing maintenance. For digital technology, as a general rule, we try to budget 20% of our budget annually for the maintenance of our product in order to keep it in good condition, safe and healthy. Because yes, digital assets also have health.

Return on investment

All web applications have a purpose. Whether that objective is to optimize your discoverability, to sell online via e-commerce, web application development must be focused on your business objectives so that you can benefit from your investments.

A successful digital product doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. You must always look at the purpose of the product in order to know if it meets the business objectives. Some will aim for better visibility and greater retention. Others might even aim to decrease their online sales in order to increase quality and margins. It might seem counterintuitive, but every company has a particular objective related to its complex business area. For example, you can think of Ferrari who intentionally decided to sell fewer cars, but saw their profits increase in order to align with their market.

In the world of business, your company creates value for your customers in a unique way. This is why your digital products need to align with your value chain in order to highlight your competitive advantages and thus offer you the best possible return on investment. Our digital professionals are here to help you get the best return on investment.

Where to start with web development?

Business needs

Share your idea

Support from professionals is essential in order to develop efficient digital products focused on your users. Libéo offers its services to businesses throughout Quebec. We even have offices in Quebec and Montreal to help local businesses unlock their potential.

An experienced advisory service team is available at all times at Libéo to listen attentively to your needs. In web development, there are a multitude of possibilities and deliverables. Your business needs are complex and deserve to be dissected so that you can count on digital solutions appropriate to your needs.

Our Consulting Directors are representatives of Libéo and your company. They are the central point of all strategic exchanges and discussions with you and the internal stakeholders involved in your projects. Thanks to their analytical skills and their ability to listen, they will be able to advise you and suggest strategic directions in line with your business vision.

In short, they will be able to offer you activities that will catalyze your digital potential. Feel free to contact them.

Co-design workshops

Libéo is made up of the best digital strategist team in Quebec. Once you have understood your objectives, you will sit down with the team of strategists and your consulting director to explore your ideas in depth. The strategy process is a crucial step in web application development.

Thanks to their talents as communicators and facilitators and the ability to understand your business issues, our strategists will put their brains to work even before your project is born. They will plan, coordinate the logistics, organization and facilitation of the strategic workshops before developing the conclusion and deliverables.

Our strategists continue to surpass themselves and touch on all facets of digital and the business world. They will be true allies for the success of your digital products.

If you would like to participate in workshops for your digital transformation with our strategists, let us know!

Product roadmap

Now that the series of workshops has been completed, it becomes possible for our team to define, divide and create a roadmap. Our PM (Product Manager and not Prime Minister) will take over. They will be present in the refinement and creation of user stories.

Throughout the project, they manage the budgets, schedule and prioritization of versions of your digital product. They participate in the complete realization of these to ensure that your projects are a success. Their unparalleled customer service will make your job easier and allow you to monitor the progress of your products.

Many are not familiar with the term PM. This is quite normal. Some will say that it is in fact a CP (Project Manager). For us, there’s a big distinction between a CP who will execute and a PM who will lead your product. To be a good PM, you must know how to integrate a good vision of the product into the execution of your tasks.

In our web agency, we therefore ensure that we have Products Managers who have expertise in the life cycle of digital products. The workshops you have done deserve to be respected and the vision of your product to be coherent.

Agile development

At Libéo, our PM (project management teams) offer a working methodology that is designed to meet your needs as closely as possible. Your digital product is therefore constantly shaped and reshaped according to your specific business challenges, but also the needs of your users which evolve over time. Our unique approach draws on 25 years of experience in the digital industry, which allows us to quickly test an idea and validate our hypotheses with users.

Successful products are relevant to their users, efficient and have a remarkable lifespan.

Agile methods are distinguished by their flexibility. They involve your participation upstream for user tests, workshops and other working sessions. Following feedback from your comments, the PM (project management) team can quickly react to the schedule and deliverables and thus better align the product.

The close collaboration between you and the developers through PM allows the establishment of a relationship of trust which is very useful when operating your products. You have better visibility on the progress of the project. You will know in advance whether the product will suit the users’ needs.

What is very advantageous with agile methods is the prioritization of functionalities and the rapid delivery of them. Thanks to fast delivery, we are able to adjust the efforts to put into your digital product in real time. Efforts can translate into the development costs of an agile project. They are better controlled since we are constantly re-evaluating through the iteration of development sprints. Ultimately, it is possible for us to better project the costs for the success of your product.

As job prospects

For Libéo, it is very important to get involved in the community, which is why we chose to sponsor 42 Québec. A continuing education study program that helps developers reorient themselves and access the job market. No admission conditions are necessary (no school year). No need for financial aid or loans and scholarships either since admission is free.

To find out more, you can attend an information session during their open days. Students can follow this training full-time or part-time (flexible time, so no fixed schedule. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Once again, there are no eligibility criteria. For even more generic information, you can go to services Québec.

Internship in company

Many workplaces are looking to hire developers. It goes without saying that job prospects are therefore very good. The best-known route usually consists of obtaining your high school diploma, applying for admission to CEGEP to complete a DEP.

Now, human resources do a lot of recognition of prior learning and do not necessarily require you to have a professional studies diploma. The market has evolved a lot and that is why great organizations like 42 Québec are emerging.

If you are interested in an internship in a company, we invite you to consult our careers page.

Furthermore, if you liked this post, you can subscribe to our newsletter. You can even contact a digital professional to carry out your web development projects.

Do you need more information on web development?

First of all, if you want to start a web development project and you want to contact us, you can do so by clicking here.

Furthermore, if you would like to learn more about web development, we invite you to subscribe to our newsletter or consult our blog. The latter is full of relevant information on web development.