HTML For Beginners. Step-by-Step Guide

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Taking into consideration the fact that you are looking to learn HTML, which is the most basic programming language used by web developers, before we start going through this guide, here is a list of nine things you should keep in mind while working for your soon-to-be developer career.

There is no age past which it’s too late to learn how to code

Don’t try to bite more than you can chew. Learn HTML, then CSS, then JavaScript. Learning HTML for two weeks, then Python for another two, then C++ for a month, won’t get you anywhere. Choose one programming language and make sure you know its ins and outs.

There’s no best first programming language to learn, except for the HTML, CSS, JavaScript trio. And then there’s also Python.

Execution matters more than vision and/or perfection

The operating system you use is not that important as some people tend to tell you

The term API is used very loosely in this industry. Be ready for this!

Software Developer is the same thing as Software Engineer, don’t get confused

Soft skills are very important in this industry, make sure you master them. Especially communication

Coding is the most empowering skill you can learn. There’s no limit to what you can build with coding, only your imagination.

 

What is HTML?

HTML was first created by Robert Cailliau, Tim Berners-Lee, and their team of developers. They created this language in 1989. HTML is the acronym of the following syntax: HyperText Markup Language. Let’s see what each of these words stand for:

HyperText – This aspect refers to the website text that contains links to other texts or websites. Each time you click on a highlighted text, a HyperText, you are going to be redirected to the link that it contains.

Markup – Markup refers to special symbols placed inside the body of the text. This will let the browser know how that text should be displayed. Some examples of such markup text are bold or italic. Other examples are the parts of the text which indicate the headings, paragraphs, or titles.

Language – The last word highlights the idea that the syntagm used is standardized. Similar to English, for example, there are certain rules you need to follow whenever you are writing HTML.

A very basic rule would be the following one: Everything that’s opened needs to be closed.

<p> This is a paragraph. It has an opening tag and a closing tag </p>

A short resume of the aspects we highlighted could be the one given by Maximilian Green, CTO of an important essay writing service “ HTML is a programming language that uses unique tags in order to allow you to display text, images, and other elements in the browser.”

Why you Should Learn HTML?

Even though it was created more than three decades ago, HTML is still being the main markup language used by web developers. By using it, you can create basic, static, web pages.

Also, if you add a dash of CSS to that static HTML page you’ve created, you can build unique websites that you can easily edit and update all by yourself. No expensive monthly service fees.

Last, but not least, HTML is considered the first programming language you should learn if you are looking to become a web developer. Every website you visit has its own HTML skeleton.

If you are looking for a six-figure salary as a web developer for a Silicon Valley unicorn HTML will have to be one of your best friends.

The Relationship between HTML and Other Programming Languages

As we already said, HTML is widely used in web development. Even so, HTML is not the only programming language used to create websites or other web applications. As a web developer, here’s a trio you should have a firm grip on HTML, CSS, JavaScript.

If you’d think about these three programming languages as parts of a sentence, HTML is the noun, CSS is the adjective, and JavaScript is the verb.

HTML creates the context, CSS adds a dash of styling to the web page, while JavaScript makes it dynamic.

HTML is the foundation of any site. The HTML code contains the website’s basic skeleton and content. This includes text, links, images, tables, and other such elements.

CSS, which is an acronym for Cascading Style Sheets, is used to make your website more user-friendly. You can resize your elements, place them in various parts of the website you consider appropriate, change the background color of your web page, and, last but not least, you can use it to create a responsive web design.

Even though it is the last programming language we go through, it is one of the most important. That’s because, especially nowadays, websites and web applications need to be dynamic and fast. You need to show your customer the content that he’s looking for, you need to get it from your database by using calls made to the API, then display it dynamically on your website.

For this, you need to harness the power of JavaScript. Keep in mind that there’s a very BIG difference between Java and JavaScript, don’t get confused.

Invented in the 90s by Brendan Eich, JavaScript is, as the name says, an object-oriented programming language. By using it you add dynamism to your website. For example, when you hover your mouse over an image and it automatically changes, that’s JavaScript doing its magic.

Also, apart from adding dynamicity to the website, it eases the communication between the frontend and the backend of your website. Here’s how you can create a basic HTTP request using native JavaScript methods.

What Should I Opt for: Self Study or Classes?

This is a very important question because learning these programming languages, as everything you learned during your lifetime, it’s a matter of perseverance.

If you want to become a web developer and land yourself your first job or client, you will need roughly 6 to 8 months of studying, 20 hours per week. Do you think you are persevering enough to go through these 8 months of studying all by yourself?

If yes, there are plenty of free or low-budget online courses you can go through. A very cool such online course is Colt Steele’s Web Developer Bootcamp. Up until now he had in excess of 500 thousand students enrolled. It has over 46 hours of videos that will take you from the very basic aspects and programming languages to the most advanced. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap library used for CSS, NodeJS (used to create backend applications). During the last part of the course, you will create a full-stack application. Frontend, backend, and database.

This is a good course you could go through if you are more into self-study, rather than classes.

If you are looking for free-content, you can always take a look at the courses found on FreeCodeCamp.

If you are looking to join some classes, where you go regularly for two or three times a week, you should do some research online and ask around during community meetups maybe? These courses depend on the area you live in, that’s why the best approach would be to do your own research.

Conclusion

If you are looking to become a web developer HTML is the first programming language you should learn. It is the most basic one and the easiest one to learn.

It consists of elements called tags that you can include on your website. They will be used to describe the type of content you are looking to render in the browser.

Whether you opt for self-study or live classes, you should make sure you know the ins and outs of this programming language. Then, you should go a step further and learn CSS, Cascading Style Sheets, which, as we already said, is the adjective of a sentence. You will be able to use it to make your website user-friendly and responsive, so regardless of your users’ device, your website will always look pretty.

During the last part of your voyage, you should focus on JavaScript because this language is the most widely used in web development. It will help you add a dash of dynamicity to your applications and you will be able to connect the frontend part of your application with the backend part of it.

JavaScript can be used to be built both backend and frontend of your app. Thus, if you learn this programming language, by using different frameworks, you will be able to build web applications from start to finish.

A very popular JavaScript framework for backend applications is Node JS and Express. For the frontend part of your app, you can use Facebook’s framework, React JS.

Remember, you will have lots of bumps on the road to the web developer job you are looking to land. For you to get past them, perseverance is key. Whenever you will feel down, keep on telling this to yourself: “I’m not the first one doing this! If someone else could, I will also be able to learn these programming languages.”

 

Author Bio:

James Murphy is a full-time app developer and a part-time content creator from New York. Although being an IT specialist, James writes about a wide range of other topics such as social media and digital marketing. James is the father of two lovely toddlers and a dedicated supporter of the New York Yankees.

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