Easing Into Coding

What does a web designer/developer do? What skills do they need to be successful at their job? What kind of background do you need in order to get the job? Do you need to know binary code? All of these questions came to my mind when I first learned about web design and development, and for a long time these questions scared me away from the field.

When I was in the 11^th grade I got a taste of what computer science was like, and even though I thought it was fun, I found it too tedious and confusing because math is not my strong point. At that moment in time I had only been exposed to binary code, and so I just figured it was not for me. 

When my sophomore year of college came, I took more technology-based courses and I ran into coding, but in a different form. A classmate of mine was talking about an assignment he had to complete, and I said to him “I don’t see how you can understand all of the numbers, that’s a true talent.” He looked at me with a confused expression, and then he pulled out his laptop to show me what he was talking about. To my surprise, instead of there being a bunch of ones and zeros on the screen, there were words. I asked him about why there were words instead of numbers, and he informed me that coding for HTML5 is very different from coding for computer programming.

I found this exciting because I always thought I didn’t stand a chance at coding because I don’t do so well with numbers. I kind of felt like I had been deceived, but I also never looked into coding and thought Web Design had more to do with colors and style more than anything. 

What I Learned

I wondered what a Web Designer does, but I never looked into it. Then the COVID-19 Pandemic happened, and I suddenly had all the free time in the world since I wasn’t in school and I worked from home.

The idea of coding popped up in my head again, and I finally researched the job field. The first thing I learned is that I was looking for web development, not designing, though the two fields can overlap.

Web developers deal with a greater amount of coding, but both require that you have some knowledge of HTML5 or Javascript. The main difference is that web designers look at the layout and how to put the site together, meanwhile developers look into making the site an actual reality. (targetjobs) I then wondered what the needed skills were for a web developer.

I researched the job skills needed in this career field, and I found that a lot of the needed skills involve a combination of communication, flexibility, and memory. A main factor is that you need to understand HTML5 and CSS along with Javascript. I think that everything else is truly learned through experience like analytical skills, which means you are tentative to your work, and responsive design skills, which means that you can create a versatile website that works for many devices (indeed).

Moving Forward

Now, I know for a fact that my goal isn’t to become a web designer or developer, but as a technical writer, I think that it would be helpful if I knew a little about the fields I could work with and understand what they did. I also thought that diversifying my skill set would help me be more marketable in the long run. I read a little about HTML5 and it seemed interesting, but I still did not know what any of it meant. Lucky for me I was taking a class this fall semester called “Writing on the Web” because it taught me all about coding for HTML5 and CSS, and we started with the basics on a website called Codeacademy.

I recommend this website for anybody who is remotely interested in web design or web development because this site teaches you about all of it, for free. That’s right, for FREE. There is a version called “Codeacademy Pro” that you can pay for to unlock bonus content, but if you just want to experiment with coding the free lessons work great. I suggest coming here first because you don’t have to invest thousands of dollars for classes and program material before you discover if you want to go through with this career or not.

Some Coding

To sum up some of the basic tags you’ll need to use for every assignment, I have created a chart with the tags and their meaning/use.

I honestly struggled with learning the codes, and a huge part of that is because I over thought everything. Coding is very straightforward and it’s consistent like a math equation, each code has a specific function and it does the exact same thing every time. The only things that change are the variable or in this case words that are applied between each set of opening and closing tags.

Despite having a bit of a rocky start, once I got into the coursework and continued to practice coding it became natural to me. I’m not the most tech-savvy person either. You will need to give yourself some time to make mistakes, you won’t get everything on your first try, but the more you apply yourself, the easier coding becomes. Organization is also another key factor when coding. The standard for organizing code is referred to as “nesting” (codeacademy). This is usually done by spacing everything under the main tag two times before you start typing until you reach the closing tag. Once you have done it a couple of times it starts to look like an actual bird’s nest.

Life Lessons

Something else that can be hard is trusting your instinct when it comes to something new, especially if you aren’t as experienced as those around you. Remember, I started this my junior year of college and I did so in a higher level course that had a wide range of expertise in the subject. It can be very intimidating, but if you love to put things together and like concrete information, then this is the career field for you. If you love to learn as you go, this career is for you since HTML does change every so often, and you may have to learn a couple of new tags.

Overall, I have enjoyed simply learning about coding, and this has led me to make Information Technology my minor next semester. I would have never done this if I wouldn’t have tried, failed, and tried again. It doesn’t happen overnight, but as you practice it will become second nature to you. Remember, the best way to find out how you feel about coding is by starting.