How to choose a Web design framework

Building Web platforms is challenging, and there's little room for error. End users, clients and customers can spot a low-performing or just plain bad website from a mile away, and a negative initial experience can turn them off for good. As demand for optimal websites rises, it's getting increasingly difficult to ensure that everything will work regardless of device, browser or connection. Developers need tools that can help them establish, roll out and maintain complex Web environments quickly There are a few techniques and tools that programmers can use to ensure that their websites are functioning optimally.

Web development: Approaches to live by
The most important part of a Web development project is determining a scope at the outset - one that all parties can actually stick by. Whether the developer is working as a temporary partner or is a full-time employee, business leaders must ensure that all objectives of the website are laid out so that the programmer can incorporate business logic into the design project. How the site looks and functions on all browsers and devices must be taken into account, as well as multimedia, shopping portals and other additional site features, according to SD Times contributor Christina Mulligan. These requirements then need to be considered when the developer selects and ramps up the integrated development environment.

Setting out all of these elements and their coding and design needs beforehand not only ensures a faster time to deployment, but eliminates extraneous or surprise costs and requirements - what Marketing Land contributor Stoney deGeyter referred to as "scope creep."

"The cost of this creep is often saddled on the developer because the scope was never clearly defined in the first place," deGeyter wrote. "When your developer poses these questions up front, it helps the client carefully think through all of the things they need in advance, eliminating scope creep almost entirely."

Web development: The right tool for the job
A more complex website development approach demands a more robust tool. Wijmo is an all-in-one kit for Web development, offering a range of studio options that support a company's effort to leverage any website design style. It includes both server-side and client-side programming functions, with a Wijmo-based ASP.NET framework that provides both HTML5 applications and JavaScript-style development. It hones in on the user interface, making theming easier, providing a slew of jQuery-centric ASP.NET control and using MVC Scaffolding to automate key aspects of the design process. With the amount of devices, platforms and screen sizes developers need to account for, it makes sense to invest in a tool that already has Web integration down to a science.