Web Design 101: HTML, CSS & JavaScript – Introduction
Let me start off this book by letting you in on a little secret. If you talk to or read things written by people who make websites for a living, it’s all “HTML this” and “CSS that.” They go on and on about “tags” and “properties” and “collapsing margins” and blah blah blah. It can be more than a little intimidating, so you can easily come away with the idea that crafting a web page is really hard. You may end up believing that creating stuff for the web is a for-geeks-with-CS-graduate-degrees-only business.
Okay, it’s time for that secret I just promised you. Ready? Come closer. Closer. Okay:
*whispers* Learning how to build web pages is not hard.
Sure, it sounds hard; and if you’ve ever taken a peek at some web page code, it certainly looks hard; and, I’ll admit, building a huge and insanely complex site like Amazon or Instagram really is hard. But creating a personal website? Not hard. Fabricating a site to showcase a hobby? Not hard. Crafting some pages for a local charity, team, or small business? You got it: Not hard!
Still don’t believe me? That’s okay, I get it: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — the technologies that enable anyone to assemble web pages — have a reputation problem. After all, so the thinking goes, people have used HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to sculpt some truly sensational sites, so of course such sophistication must come with a near-vertical learning curve. Duh.
For years now I’ve talked to many smart people who believed all that and who therefore wouldn’t even dream of building a web page from scratch. How many awesome websites never got built because their would-be builders thought HTML, CSS, and JavaScript were well beyond their capabilities? Why is no one talking about how accessible these technologies really are?
After asking myself these questions over and over, I finally decided to do something about it. I decided to write this book, the aim of which is to prove to everyone — yes, even skeptical you — that the technologies behind the web are approachable, straightforward, and readily learnable.
