HTML/CSS: Where to Start (Part 1)
Whether your career goal is to become a web developer or an SEO specialist, mastering the basic skills of HTML/CSS will serve you as a perfect starting point of your IT journey. These are the tips that will help you along the way.
Preparation
Don’t be afraid of failure
Although oftentimes (or even always) code do seem confusing, there’s not magic behind it. Everything is explainable. And the beginning phase of HTML/CSS is not an exception. It will also help you to not worry about the second aspect of preparation.
It Will Require Patience
This feature of character is necessary for any type of craft. But the reason it is essential for a beginner, is because coding process requires a big amount of iterations. And whenever something is not working as good as you need, finding a little mistake can take time. So it is good to prepare yourself for a struggle in advance.
Coding Software
All you will need at the beginning is a free Code Editor software that you can find in the internet. In my experience I have always had two main go-to programs. Whichever you prefer, each of them will serve you as a functioning “machine-tool” if you may. It all comes down to your personal preferences. Description can even make you want to install and tryout both of them
Sublime Text
Very simple to use. Minimalistic. Contains default settings. Perfect for a beginner who wants to start coding right away and has no stylistic preferences for a software. Works fast despite computer characteristics.
Atom
Offers a lot of options. Multifunctional. Perfect for a beginner who wants to customize the theme of the program and go deep into details and nuances of productive coding. May work slow if hardware of computer is outdated.
Sources of Knowledge
Live courses
The greatest advantage of joining an IT school is the ability to ask teachers about anything. Whichever struggle you may have in your sheet of codes, a good professional will always help you to find the mistake, explain it to you or will hit you the direction to focus on, so you could find yourself. It in a privilege you won’t have studying alone. And that is why I would strongly recommend to join courses of exclusively IT school with high reputation.
Free online courses
There are at least a few websites that can offer you a free online study program of the basic HTML/CSS material. Not only you can find the information you need, but you can also code within the page of the website. However, if you prefer free usage, your access to lessons will be limited. Whenever you struggle with whichever course you choose, you can always get programming help from professionals online.
W3schools
It is a website that can serve you as Wikipedia, but only reliable. It focuses on small details and will serve you as a directory where you can find the example of how little things work.
YouTube
Over the years I took a lot of lessons from dozens of programmers on YouTube. And without any hesitation I can tell that The Net Ninja is the best of all of them. He makes you feel comfortable by not being pompous or annoying and gives you the knowledge in a simple and non-excessive way. He also has separate playlist of courses for HTML and CSS on his channel.