Web Development Timeline: Past, Present and Forecasting

The internet and web development has a history of half a century. During this short period, many interesting and entertaining facts shaped the history. Here you will read something you were not taught at school. So, here we go!

The 1960s: Slow Beginning

In the 1960s computer scientists started working on a project which we would one day be called the Internet. It all started as a US Department of Defense project together with Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET.

In 1965 MIT lab created computers that could communicate with each other. Four years later the first remote message was sent from one state to another, however the connection crashed halfway.

During this decade programming languages like COBOL and BASIC were used.

The 1970s: Birth of the Internet

During this decade web development sped up. This is the time the first email was sent over a closed network, and this is the period we can announce “the Internet” was born. They launched Internet service providers and designed Internet protocols. It was 1976 when Queen Elizabeth the II sent her first email.

New programming languages like Pascal and C appeared.

The 1980s: Domain Names

The 1980s brought domain name suffixes such as .com, .edu, and so forth. World's first and oldest registered .com domain name on the Internet is Symbolics.com in 1985. The site is still accessible today as a piece of Internet history. Academic centers in the US, students and researchers had access to 56,000 bits dial-up speed available Internet.

More and more programming languages were created, like Ada, Smalltalk, C++, Objective-C, and Perl, bringing object-oriented programming upfront.

The 1990s: Birth of Open-Source Systems

Thanks to Tim Berners-Lee, we now have Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which is basically the backbone of every web page ever written. HTML creation was a renaissance for the Internet. By 1993 there were already 2 million computers connected to the Internet. By 1995, major web players like Yahoo, Amazon, Craigslist, and eBay were launched. During this decade, the concept of SEO was first released when Google started its search engine business in 1998.

Free and open-source software operating system Linux appeared, together with programming languages like Haskell, Python, Java, Ruby, and JavaScript.

The 2000s: Rise of Internet Startups

This is the period when thousands of Internet startups appeared on the web. This decade brought us such popular networks as Myspace, Skype, and WordPress in 2003, Facebook and Firefox browser in 2004, YouTube in 2005, Twitter in 2006, etc.

Adobe Flash started providing embedded interactive elements and cascading style sheets (CSS) making it easier to create in HTML. C# programming language started to be used.

The rise of commodity computers led to the development of the Cloud. Now applications can be updated and accessed in real time as instead of being downloaded in the user's computer.

2010-2015: Web and Mobile Apps

The rise of mobile is significant with the development of smartphones and tablets. Because the trend went with “smartphone for everyone” the trend of mobile applications rose as well. Instagram and Pinterest appeared to join the group of popular social media. Meanwhile Facebook, Twitter, and later on Instagram as well, reached millions of user base. Social media started playing a huge role in social life, even in organizing protest or conflicts.

This is the period when Edward Snowden rocked the world in 2013 with the discovery of US citizens being wiretapped without their knowledge.

Online banking became so popular that half of the US citizens were holding online bank accounts.

2016 and future: What Else to Come?

A new term appeared in the online community – Internet of Things (IoT). A number of household devices began appearing with built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The 5th iteration of HTML made it easier to create multimedia presentations natively, so Adobe Flashed eventually was phased out. Another new term which provides wealth opportunities to millions is cryptocurrency and various methods of doing business by using it. The rise of virtual reality and AI is still going on.

Many specialists claim that AI is the future (if not the present already). It is everywhere from gaming to education, hospitality to healthcare. The quality of chatbots will now be the next web development trend for engagement and conversion rates. No matter selling medicines, electronic toys or even software development services, a chatbot will become a must-have for every website.

The history shows that the rise of technology is getting faster and quicker. If years ago we had just a simple PC with a very plain design and a few basic features, now we develop software solutions and apps, which automate the manual time-consuming work, making it easier for the businesses to make quicker and smarter decisions. CodeRiders has a mission of building simply powerful systems with state-of-the-art technology and innovation to automate business processes. We serve to the needs of this millennium and we strive to accomplish the business needs of the future. Due to our quality and effective work we have been included in the list of Top Enterprise Software Development Companies. Get introduced to the software solutions list we provide and contact us to consult and build your dream program of the future.