Web Development can be split into many areas and a typical and basic web development hierarchy might consist of:

* AJAX Provides new methods of using JavaScript, server side languages (eg ASP.Net or PHP) and other languages to improve the user experience.

* Flash Adobe Flash Player is a ubiquitous client-side platform ready for RIAs. Flex 2 is also deployed to the Flash Player (version 9+).

* JavaScript Formally called ECMAScript, JavaScript is a ubiquitous client side programming tool.

* JavaFX is a software platform for creating and delivering rich Web applications that can also run across a wide variety of devices.

* Microsoft Silverlight Microsoft's browser plugin that enables animation, vector graphics and high-definition video playback, programmed using XAML and .NET programming languages.

* ASP (Microsoft proprietary)
* ColdFusion (Adobe proprietary, formerly Macromedia)
* CGI and/or Perl (open source)
* C Server Scripts (TrustLeap G-WAN, freeware)
* Java, e.g. J2EE or WebObjects
* Lotus Domino
* PHP (open source)
* Python, e.g. Django (web framework) (open source)
* Ruby, e.g. Ruby on Rails (open source)
* Smalltalk e.g. Seaside, AIDA/Web
* SSJS Server-Side JavaScript, e.g. Aptana Jaxer, Mozilla Rhino
* Websphere (IBM proprietary)
* .NET (Microsoft proprietary)

* Google Web Toolkit provides tools to create and maintain complex JavaScript front-end applications in Java.

* Pyjamas is a tool and framework for developing AJAX applications and Rich Internet Applications in python.

* Tersus is a platform for the development of rich web applications by visually defining user interface, client side behavior and server side processing. (open source)

However lesser known languages like Ruby and Python are often paired with database servers other than MySQL (the M in LAMP). Below are example of other databases currently in wide use on the web. For instance some developers prefer a LAPR(Linux/Apache/PostgreSQL/Ruby on Rails) setup for development.

* Apache Derby
* DB2 (IBM proprietary)
* Firebird
* Microsoft SQL Server
* MySQL
* Oracle
* PostgreSQL
* SQLite

In practice, many web developers will also have interdisciplinary skills / roles, including:

* Graphic design / web design

* Information architecture and copywriting/copyediting with web usability, accessibility and search engine optimization in mind

* Project management, QA and other aspects common to IT development in general

The above list is a simple website development hierarchy and can be extended to include all client side and server side aspects. It is still important to remember that web development is generally split up into client side coding covering aspects such as the layout and design, then server side coding, which covers the website's functionality and back end systems.

Looking at these items from an "umbrella approach", client side coding such as XHTML is executed and stored on a local client (in a web browser) whereas server side code is not available to a client and is executed on a web server which generates the appropriate XHTML which is then sent to the client. As the nature of client side coding allows you to alter the HTML on a local client and refresh the pages with updated content (locally), web designers must bear in mind the importance and relevance to security with their server side scripts. If a server side script accepts content from a locally modified client side script, the web development of that page shows poor sanitization with relation to security.