There are two types of people who decide to get involved in WordPress development.
The first type of people are those who are already developers in one form or another and make the decision to learn more about WordPress. The second type of people are those who have no real coding experience, but need to play around with their current WordPress website to change something they don't like.
WordPress is an excellent medium to learn more about development, so it is especially suitable for those who learn things the way they need to. It works particularly well as a learning tool for new developers for a number of reasons.
The building blocks of WordPress
There are several different coding languages that need to be learned to get the most out of WordPress development. In essence, WordPress is based on one of the most common programming languages on the web, PHP. At the same time it uses a lot of HTML, CSS and a bit of Javascript for various aspects.
There are other coding languages and standards involved (in other words, XML and MySQL), but you really don't need to learn too much about them early in your development journey.
The three main languages you need to learn to become a WordPress developer (in descending order of difficulty and need) are PHP, CSS, and HTML.
PHP controls how everything within WordPress interacts and how it connects to the MySQL database. It can be used to create some amazing functions and is the key language to learn for all aspects of WordPress.
The next most important thing to learn is CSS. This is how you design your website. It is the way to differentiate your site from everyone else on the web. It can be extremely difficult to master and will require a lot of study to get the most out of it.
HTML is the structure around which the functions created in PHP and the style defined by CSS are built. It is the easiest language to learn, but extremely important for creating a well-built website.
Javascript is the fourth language you can learn to use with WordPress. It's not one you need to worry about at the beginning of your WordPress development journey, but it's worth researching it once you're comfortable with the other three.
Development paths to explore
There are three main paths to take if you are interested in learning about WordPress development.
Thematic development
Theme development is the most common input in WordPress development. Most WordPress developers start their learning process with themes. Whether you have a theme that needs to be customized for one reason or another, or you decide to create a theme of your own, this is a great place to start.
Theme development involves the three core development languages and you will learn how WordPress integrates with all of its aspects. It comes with the added benefit of allowing you to see the code for other themes and learn how they are put together.
Creating a theme from scratch is a great way to learn all aspects of WordPress.
Plugin development
Creating a plugin is not usually something those who start coding will try to play with their site. There are too many things that can go wrong with a poorly written plugin for beginners.
Those who have prior knowledge of PHP and are looking to fix a particular problem they are experiencing with WordPress are more likely to follow this path early on. The main factor in plugin development is that you are only limited by your imagination.
You can change a default WordPress installation into pretty much anything with good plugins. Examples of plugins currently available include forums, social media, membership sites, and many other things.
Develop main software
This is not for the faint of heart.
Getting involved in core software development for WordPress requires great skill. This is not something those with no prior PHP experience should try.
Learning sources
Although WordPress development can be tricky, there are an enormous amount of resources on the web that can help you with whatever problems you are facing.
Chances are, if you're stuck on something, the solution is already available. This is where you should start looking.
The codex
the WordPress Codex it should be the first stop for any development question.
It is an extraordinary resource that details every function and code within the WordPress software. It includes many articles and tutorials to get you started with WordPress and is arguably the best resource on the subject.
Tutorials
There is a wide range of tutorials on the internet to get you started with WordPress development. We have a lot of them here on our WordPress Blog. There are numerous free tutorials available for you to study, but at the same time there are several premium courses and tutorials that you can use (.
Along with the tutorials to learn about general development, at the same time there are a series of specific tutorials that will teach you to perform various tasks. A quick search on the Google search engine will provide you with reading material for days.
Forums
There are several specific forums for developers. Not all of them are noteworthy to read regularly, but they are an ideal place to ask questions about the problems you are having. Not all the answers you receive will be worth it, but they can be quick and helpful places to get answers to specific questions.
exist WordPress specific forums, or general developer forums like Stack overflow for you to investigate. It is noteworthy to take the time to discover a forum that suits you and ask questions of more experienced users.
Get involved in the community
The WordPress community is a vibrant and active place where you can learn everything there is to know about the software. It is not simply full of encoders. The WordPress community includes designers, translators, documentation writers, and many other types of people, all of whom can give you a different perspective on your development queries.
There are many ways to participate in the WordPress community. You can use beta versions of the software and provide feedback. You can talk to current plugin developers and lend your coding skills or help test and troubleshoot new versions.
There is a great article in the Codex about how to contribute to WordPress and if you want to participate, it is worth reading it. If you think creatively, there will be some way to give back to the community.
conclusion
Learning about WordPress development is a difficult and time-consuming task, but it can be extremely rewarding. If you take the time to learn the software, you can start shaping your WordPress website in many ways.
Whether you develop your own themes, introduce a plugin to the WordPress repository, or get heavily involved in future core software development, immersing yourself and getting involved in the WordPress community in some way will help you progress much faster.
Have you recently started your WordPress development journey or is it something you hope to start soon? If you are an experienced WordPress developer, how would you recommend people to get started? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
