Content Management Systems are software programs that are used to manage the creation and modification of digital content. While they are used to create websites they can also be used for things such as ecommerce and remote linking to make updates from anywhere in the world. Most content management systems are pretty flexible nowadays. While there are some that focus on a specific uses most of the popular content management systems can be used to create essentially any type of website.
Building a website using a CMS vs coding it by hand are two different worlds. For one a CMS can be used by pretty much anyone and does not require much knowledge if any of coding at all. It keeps costs down by not having to pay someone to code and keep the webpage up to date while also giving the user quite a bit of different style options and choices on how they want their webpage to look. The biggest drawback is that you are limited by the preset styles, colors etc that the program provides so you get what you get when it comes to building your site.
Coding a webpage by hand requires a lot of knowledge on different types of languages and techniques to be efficient. Coding a website allows you to make the website exactly how you want it. You get to choose everything from the font style to the color of the page down to the value. The biggest drawback to coding by hand is that you have to learn the languages and how they coincide with each other. To code a website not just entirely but efficiently as well requires a lot of knowledge and effort to become good at it. When it comes to what the best current practices are to making a website it really just comes down to what is it that you envision. You must have at least an idea as to what you want your site to be about or look like before you start dabbling at the coding process of it.
CMS’s impact the web design industry in both a positive and negative way. For one, it is getting more and more people interested in coding which is always a plus while simultaneously giving industries a reason to not hire someone to do it for them. Despite what I just said I do not believe it is taking away jobs from web developers. While yes CMS’s are fairly easy to use and cheap not many companies go that route because of their limitations. Sometimes it is just easier to employ someone to do it for you so that it comes out exactly how you want it.