Foundations of Web Development

Scott Frees, Ph.D.

Program Director, M.S. Computer Science
Program Director, M.S. Data Science
Convenor, B.S. Cybersecurity

Ramapo College of New Jersey
505 Ramapo Valley Road
Mahwah, NJ 07430
sfrees@ramapo.edu

©2025

A foundational guide to modern web development—from protocols to front-end interactivity, grounded in real-world architecture and time-tested pedagogy.

This book isn’t just about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—though you’ll encounter plenty of all three. It’s a comprehensive guide to the concepts of web development, and how those concepts span across frameworks, languages, and layers of modern full stack applications.

Written for college students, instructors, and professional developers alike, it takes a pedagogically sound, hands-on approach to learning how the web actually works—starting from the ground up. You’ll begin with the fundamentals: internet protocols, TCP/IP, sockets, and HTTP. From there, you’ll build up a working knowledge of web standards like HTML and CSS, and then dive into backend programming using JavaScript in the Node.js runtime—not because it's the only option, but because it minimizes language overhead and maximizes focus on the architecture and ideas that matter.

You won’t learn just one way to build a web app. You’ll build your own framework before adopting industry-standard tools like Express, gaining insight into routing, middleware, templating, databases, and state management. You’ll incrementally evolve a single example—a number guessing game—through nine iterations, each showcasing a deeper or more advanced feature, from form handling to RESTful APIs to reactive front ends built with Vue.js.

You’ll cover:

  • Networks & Protocols – Learn what really happens when you click a link, from TCP handshakes to HTTP requests.

  • Markup & Hypertext – Go beyond tags and learn how HTML works as the structural backbone of the web.

  • JavaScript (Server & Client) – Explore the language in a way that emphasizes conceptual understanding over syntax memorization.

  • Asynchronous Programming – Master callbacks, promises, and async/await as you build responsive, concurrent systems.

  • Databases & State – Learn how modern web apps manage persistent state with relational databases and sessions.

  • Templating & Frameworks – Understand how server-side rendering works from first principles, then leverage Pug and Express.

  • Styling & Layout – Dive deep into CSS, including Flexbox, Grid, and responsive design, before layering in frameworks like Bootstrap.

  • Client-side Development – Manipulate the DOM, handle events, make AJAX requests, and build interactive SPAs with Vue.js.

  • Security, Deployment & Infrastructure – Round out your knowledge with practical insight into authentication, encryption, and modern DevOps topics.

Whether you’re a computer science student getting your first taste of real-world development, an instructor looking for a curriculum-aligned text, or a working developer aiming to fill conceptual gaps, this book will challenge and reward you. It doesn’t shy away from the complexity of the modern web—but it does guide you through it with clarity, consistency, and context.

If you're tired of chasing trends and frameworks without understanding the foundations, this book is your starting point—and your roadmap—for becoming a thoughtful, well-rounded web developer.