The data contained in the websites is organized and made accessible to the online public with the help of programming languages such as (X)HTML and PHP, just to name a few. Website programming is the main method of defining the structure of a website and managing its behavior as visitors browse through its pages. With the help of web design techniques, the well-structured information is given a user-friendly look & feel. In order for the properly programmed web pages to be presented on visitors' monitors, they need to be hosted on a web server, which will allow them to be transferred to any web browser via HTTP, the main protocol of the WWW and the 4-letter abbreviation we see at the beginning of each website name.
Typically, a website falls under one of the following broad categories:
- Non-editable brochure website (often referred to as static site).
- Editable, dynamic website, with more user engagement (login areas etc) and self managed through a content management system.
- e-commerce site – integrated with a payment gateway such as Paypal, Stripe.
- A progressive web application – when a website requires lots of bespoke functionality or processes it generally falls under the web application category.