My first experience with HTML was on a myspace like website call Blackplanet.com. I first started by searching for specific codes that were already built to perform a function. I would just copy and paste the code into my profile and there you had it. Of course I grew an interest in decoding these pre-made HTML codes, so I began to dissect each input. I would erase and add certain things to see the effect and quickly began to realize what each input meant. From there I would visit my local library and check out self help books on HTML and website development.
That’s about as far as I am at the moment, but I must admit, just these basic skills have gotten me further than I would have imagined. Until now, I was unfamiliar with CSS and how it functioned.
The relevance of Web standards is most obvious when we consider emerging technologies. In these times of tremendous growth, the Web needs guidance in order to reach its full potential – and standards can serve as the perfect guides to help realize that potential. Thanks to HTML structuring elements, text documents interpreted by browsers can display their contents according to specified formats. HTML is one of the main reasons why the Web has become so popular over the years. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a mechanism through which changes in appearance and position can be assigned to HTML or XML elements, simply by declaring specific styles to them. The overall appearance of entire sites can be so defined with the use of CSS, allowing it to be remodeled in a matter of seconds. This Standard was brought forward to create a simpler and more structured World Wide Web.
But how is HTML and CSS significant to the present and future??
The use of standards automatically makes every page you build genuinely cross-browser and cross-platform. Anyone who’s been active in Web development for more than 15 minutes knows how time-consuming and complicated it is to double-code for different browser versions. Standards help you avoid such headaches.
With the arrival of new hardware like mobile phones and hand-held devices, coding 100% compatible Web applications will only get harder, if not simply impossible. Using this standards is the most efficient way to achieve a better, more stable Web, where applications we can only dream of today can be turned into the reality of tomorrow.
Web standards offer a set of rules that every developer can follow, understand, and become familiar with. When one developer builds a site according to standards, another will be able to pick up where the former left off as easily as if he had been the one designing it in the first place.
I know that I have only begun to understand the beginning of a more complex form of coding. I realize that HTML and CSS are important aspects of web design now and in the future. It is remarkable the amazing results one can get from using web standards such as HTML, CSS, AJAX and Java. But having a strong understanding for the standards must come first before great works can be created. I hope to gain enough knowledge about these markups to turn it into a business for myself.
More complex form of coding? Nah it’s easier than it looks. Even if you haven’t even done coding in your life I still would submit to you it isn’t that hard. You’ll see next quarter what I’m talking about.
The secret is as Mr. Sims says: Don’t die. Just take your time with it and don’t let it overwhelm you.
I think the most valuable, yet destructive, tool to use while learning HTML/CSS is “copy paste”. There’s so much I’ve learned by simply copying code, popping it into my own template, and then tinkering with different tags until I get it to change into what I want. At the same time, I have relied on it too much at times – sometimes I inherit flaws in code that don’t appear until specific tags are called upon later. In fact, I think it’s a big deterrent to learning how to create streamlined, efficient code.
And yes, trying to accommodate different web browsers is made so much easier by the standardization of HTML and other code. When I started building web material, I would always specify my table down to the pixel. But as I learned the intricacies of different web browsers and display sizes, I was forced to become more standardized in my own practices. A good thing to, considering the growth of mobile devices.
I think something was missing from the praise for standardization though. At what point is standardization harmful, or to slow? How are we sure that the groups setting the standards are deciding what’s best to rely on? It’s something I am actually pretty in the dark about, so I’m going to look into it myself…
with html and css i started pretty much the same way you did but on a differnet site but similar. i would mess with it all day everyday. hey i had to do something to keep me busy and entertained haha
Great insight! After reading your blog, I am going to start doing some of the things you did in the beginning to learn HTML. It seems like a great way to start. Practice I believe is the key. I am also impressed with your ambition and drive. Working with fellow students like you will help me to realize my potential and get me going on the right track. I appreciate it, keep it up.
most everything i have learned was on my own threw online tutorials… I fell in love with the web design concept in high school but my teachers didn’t teach anything on flash!!! So i took it on by myself and started doing every other flash tutorial on the web… custom toolbars, drop down menus, advance pre loader, full WEB SITES in flash… so i can relate a lot to what your going threw… learning and exploring all that Interactive Media and Web Design have to offer!
most everything i have learned was on my own threw online tutorials… I fell in love with the web design concept in high school but my teachers didn’t teach anything on flash!!! So i took it on by myself and started doing every other flash tutorial on the web… custom scroll bars, drop down menus, advance pre loader, full WEB SITES in flash… so i can relate a lot to what your going threw… learning and exploring all that Interactive Media and Web Design have to offer!
That’s why I like W3Schools. Their tutorials are quick, easy, and simple. I learned a lot about HTML from W3Schools. I haven’t spent too much time with the CSS Tutorials, but I’ve given them a quick skim and it doesn’t seem too terribly difficult. Should be easy to learn.