Starting Website/App Development?

[llucasso]

Ok, please hear me out. I want to make an app either for IOS or android devices, however it will probably need an online service. That being said, should I develop a website first and then construct an app that retrieves data from the new website? For example, say you want to create a music streaming website/app, how would one go on about making one? I know I'll need to code a website and design it, but how does one get that website online? I know about webhosting and I know that you have to pay for the service. But cant you just build a server that will put your website online? I just want to know how little websites become big and popular over time. Facebook was started by a college kid, but how did you go about making it? Did he have a lot of money to just start off paying a webhost? Please help!!

 

[kanewolf]

You could install a website on a machine at your home, but you would probably violate the user's agreement with your ISP since you don't have a commercial account. Even if your ISP doesn't pull the plug for running a commercial server on a residential service, you have to compete with your server's traffic for your personal bandwidth.

If you want this to be a money maker, then treat it like one and spend money for hosting and then write off that expense.

 

[USAFRet]

Zuckerberg started out small, but with relatively deep pockets (Harvard and Harvard capable parents) and 'free' college campus bandwidth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg#College_years

" A short time later, he created a different program he initially called Facemash that let students select the best looking person from a choice of photos. "
"The site went up over a weekend; but by Monday morning, the college shut it down because its popularity had overwhelmed one of Harvard's network switches and prevented students from accessing the Internet. In addition, many students complained that their photos were being used without permission. "

Facebook came after that.

Nothing happens 'for free'. But it need not cost an arm and a leg.
A basic website might be $5-$10/month, for a small number of users/hits/bandwidth. Choose the right host, and you can scale that up with more traffic.

The main thing is...you have to actually build something useful, and market it to a relevant audience.
Zuckerberg had a good idea, and a captive audience of his peers at Harvard.

 

[galerecon]

The other two posts pretty much summed up how to get your website up and running. As far as the app to go along with the website, it doesn't really matter which one you do first. It all depends what your needs are. If your main selling point is the app, then I'd suggest you develop your app first. If your main selling point is the site, develop the site and make the app as an additional feature to go long with the site. To make your product more stable, and running more smoothly, the site and app should be independent from one another.

Let me explain: You can develop the website with html/css/javascript/etc. and publish it. You can then make the app based off of that website, so that when a user opens the app all it is, is the site converted into a mobile version of the site. This is very useful if your app doesn't provide any additional features besides what the site already offers. But, if you have features like shopping cart, loading/reloading data, accessing the database, etc. then you need to build your app natively in it's own language suitable for it's platform (Swift/ObjC with Xcode for Apple devices and Java with Eclipse/Android Studio for Android devices).

The Facebook app used to be just a mobile version of the website. Recently Facebook developed the app natively for each operating system (iOS/Android) and the apps are running independently from the website. It's allowed the users to experience fluent scrolling and page loading. I believe this is also why they created a separate messaging app but don't quote me on that.

Good luck.