Hello, coders! Wanna start your programming career? Then this article is just right for you. HTML developing is not easy, but still remains a good start for a novice. Let’s figure out all the details and make an overview of the steps that you should take to become an expert HTML developer.
What is HTML?
HTML or in other words website layout is a description of the visual component using programming codes. With their help, text and images (including buttons) are distributed on the site. Website layout is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to start your IT career. You can take any HTML course for beginners and it will give you all the knowledge you need to build websites.
Who is an HTML developer or layout designer and what are his duties?
To begin with, you need to figure out what a layout specialist does, so that aspirations do not break down on a misconception about the profession. He starts work at the moment when the web designer finishes his activity. The layout designer converts the finished layout into code that will function correctly. That is, it “revives” the picture made by the designer and adds a little volume to it.
How to close an HTML tag?
In some cases, especially on freelance exchanges, IT specialists combine the role of two specialists – this is possible, but not necessary. In companies, the processes are better established, each employee is responsible only for his own sector of responsibilities, so only web designers can adjust the layout – the rest of the people do not need to be well versed in their work. But the initial knowledge in this topic will still be useful, they will allow you to communicate more effectively with colleagues, communicate in their language.
If we talk about other skills from related areas, then the HTML designer will always need basic JavaScript or backend skills, since this is a logical continuation of his career and a way to achieve a more complete understanding of the work of websites.
What technologies do HTML specialists possess?
- HTML is hypertext markup.
- CSS – style sheets that describe the appearance of a web resource.
- Gulp is a task manager that helps you deploy a project and automate frequent actions.
- jQuery is a JS library focused on working with HTML.
- SASS is a tool for simplifying CSS files.
- Bootstrap is a library of templates for styling web resources.
- Git is a version control system.
- npm is a package manager part of Node.js.
How, after all, to quickly become an HTML expert designer?
Fast is not a specific concept. Let us outline the time frame – it will not be possible to reach the level of a beginner HTML developer from scratch in less than 2,5-3 months. Some newcomers mistakenly think the area is so simple that it will take a week or less to learn. On this basis, companies or individual teachers appear who tell only the basics and pass it off as full-fledged training. Their graduates are able to create only simple web services, while littering the code with unnecessary fragments and breaking nesting. Also, insufficient preparation results in making erroneous decisions – it often happens that a button is prescribed not with a special tag, but with a link, or both elements are used simultaneously. This code turns out to be unreasonably overloaded, and the site itself looks worse than intended.
Self-study often takes more time than high-quality courses, since a person himself deals with all organizational issues – develops a program, looks for a programmer for the role of a mentor, monitors the regularity of efforts. All of the above does not contribute to the rapid movement towards the goal, but only distracts and increases the likelihood of gaps in knowledge.
Regardless of whether it takes two and a half months or three years, the coder will still have to learn all of the above technologies, but that’s not all. In addition to HTML / CSS, a future professional needs to master the methods of creating responsive (correctly displayed on monitors of any parameters) and cross-browser (predictable in any popular browser) websites.
Also useful is the ability to optimize the site, code cleanly, and use an integrated development environment (a set of tools that include a text editor, compiler, debugger, and automated build tools). Plus, during the training period, a certain type of thinking is developed, the habit of structuring everything, using hot keys, paying attention to the nesting of elements and checking how the project is displayed in different browsers.
HTML layout from scratch as the first step in programming
Generally speaking, HTML /CSS courses are an initial step towards assessing whether you like this direction or not. If you are convinced that a career as a developer is right for you, you should also take other courses and build your JavaScript, CSS, and Photoshop skills. Also, to successfully move up the career ladder, a future front-ender will need attentiveness, accuracy, good memory, and great perseverance.
Despite the fact that you can find books and tutorials on the basics of programming on the net, they have a significant drawback: they are incomprehensible to beginners. However, hypertext markup is the basis for building sites and without understanding it, it is impossible to start a developer’s career. It is the course on HTML and CSS with the possibility of live communication with the instructor that will provide all the necessary skills to the future layout designer.
HTML courses for beginners: what they will teach you
The site load speed, the adequacy of its display on different devices or browsers, and the compliance of the page with the requirements of various search engines depend on the specialist in markup and styles.
During the learning process, you will learn:
- what is a development environment and what they are;
- how the text editor interacts with the browser;
- how the validator works;
- learn to handle graphics and use the tag reference.
HTML courses will help you to understand tags, web-palette and typography, understand the logic and structure of the code, and all of these is considered to be the basics that every developer must know As the student, you will receive skills in creating active links and learn about what anchors are and what they are for, you will pump yourself up in working with pictures, tables and lists, learn what frames are, why they are and how to work with them. In addition, you will also master the block layout and find out how it compares favorably with the outdated table layout. In the course, you will learn to work with templates that support multilayer structures and understand the special characters of HTML.
Layout for beginners is not an easy task that will require a lot of thinking and practically living it, because in a certain sense it is an art. You can always apply your old best practices and all the knowledge gained while attending programming courses, but you still have to “keep your finger on the pulse” and follow the constantly updated information about new trends, technologies and techniques. Read specialized literature, thematic forums, blogs of renowned experts in order to always be aware of all the news.
HTML from scratch: conclusion
The network has a lot of web services with a structure of varying complexity, in the creation of which layout is the most time-consuming stage. This fact makes the job of an HTML developer difficult and therefore highly paid. To become a professional in this area, you need to invest a lot of effort and patience, as well as constantly improve your skills in order to increase your value in the labor market.
Many graduates realize that they want to do more creative tasks and are retraining to become designers. An in-depth knowledge of markup helps to prepare easy-to-implement layouts and interact more productively with fellow layout designers. Such graduates can also work on freelance exchanges, creating quality products on their own. Find out what are the current trends in web design in order to choose an occupation for yourself in the IT field. Good luck!
