Developer Communities

Just like other groups online, developers and people who create websites tend to gather in different areas online. There are a few major sources of information about the web development industry that are probably on most people's radars (or in their RSS feed readers). This page lists some of the different locations online that you should add to your regular browsing list. Keeping an eye on these sites, and participating in activities with colleagues and peers will help you stay on top of the ever-changing field of web development. 

Remember: The rate of change for web technology is not going to slow down, so we all need to work in time for reading, learning and connecting with peers in order to stay current as we work on our own projects.

Major Web Industry News Sites

These are news outlets (magazines, essentially) that regularly post content about the web industry. They balance coverage with a technical bent alongside coverage with a business or cultural focus. 

  • Read Write - Industry news and articles with a broad focus on the web in general.
  • A List Apart - News, articles, and how-to information optimized for people interested in user experience, design, and frontend development.
  • Ars Technica - Broad focus on technology news, but with an emphasis on in-depth articles that often make complex technical information accessible to less-technical readers.
  • Smashing - Another broad focus web industry magazine, but with an editorial focus towards design and user experience.
  • Hacker News - A links list popular with web developers, sponsored and maintained by Y Combinator, which is a notable venture capital firm investing in many tech companies.
  • Reddit Webdev - A links list popular with web developers of all kinds, especially those who like Reddit.

Major Web Industry Professional Sites/Tools

These are sites and tools that web industry professionals read and use regularly in the course of doing work. They are not primarily focused with delivering news as much as solving issues developers face and providing professional feedback as developers work through building websites and applications.

  • Stack Overflow - Q&A site where people answer questions about web development. (Note: There are many sites that use the Stack Overflow format for Q&A on other topics, too. Explore and you'll find many areas of expertise in the network of sites!)
  • Behance - A social/portfolio site for designers, especially those who work on websites.
  • Codepen - A site where you can put up HTML, CSS and JS examples in order to illustrate an idea or problem. (Very helpful to link to a Codepen project when asking a question on another site.)
  • JS Fiddle - Another site where you can put up HTML, CSS and JS examples.
  • Pastebin - A site where you can paste large chunks of text and share links to them.
  • Imgur - A site where you can paste images (such as screenshots of issues) and share links to them.
  • Dribbble - A site for designers to post work and get feedback.
  • Github - Code hosting, but also useful for quick posts (Gists) and for searching issues on specific projects, which often turn up useful information and guidance.

Web Development on Social Media

Many, many individuals in the web industry are on Twiter, Facebook, LinkedIn, G+, Meetup, etc. It is good to follow your friends and peers, but also other noteworthy developers. It's especially useful to identify noteworthy developers working with technology similar to what you are using. This allows you to absorb changes immediately relevant to your projects much more quickly.

There are many lists available online to help you find people to follow. In general, searching for "twitter list <topic>" will reveal all kinds of suggestions for any given topic. Here is a link to get you started: web industry twitter lists. Here are a few more:

Look for web developer groups on whatever social networks you typically use. You will find web developers hanging out everywhere. Keep an eye on Meetups and other events wherever you are. Meeting with people is a great way to build connections and transfer knowledge.

Web Development Job Boards

Of course, being an industry, web development professionals are often looking for people to hire and people to work for. There are some venues that cater to the web development industry, and if you're looking for work on a web production team, you should check them out.

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