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Read This If You're Considering Starting Web Development by GeniusHawlah(m): 10:48am On Jul 16, 2022
Everyone needs the basics of everything before jumping deeper into it, at least to ensure a solid foundation; the same rule is applicable to web development. Therefore, this article will give you the deep insight you need before diving into the realm of web development.

Are you considering starting a web development journey? Great! It is a beautiful and rewarding thought. We can both agree that the world is evolving and almost all traditional activities have now been digitized. Before we start, the first thing I'll love you to understand is that, irrespective of whatever you might have heard from people or read on the internet, register it at the back of your mind that nothing is impossible to learn. So far you are ready to sacrifice your time, you're equipped with the major resources like internet connection and the necessary gadgets, and you have an undying passion to learn with the right guidance, you're definitely going to succeed excellently. If you think all those are in place already, you can confidently call yourself a Web Developer. cool

Having decided to give it a trial, the immediate next step is to peruse your stand in the digital world, perhaps, considering the background you're coming from. If you're a little bit techy and digitally savvy, then you're fully fit to dive into the world of web development. However, if you're coming from a technologically naive background with absolutely zero knowledge of how the web works, it is highly recommended that you make some prior research to equip yourself with the basic knowledge of the web and the internet, as it'll be required to cement your understanding in the journey of web development. I suggest you watch few YouTube videos on that to grab the concept first. Having ensued a convincing understanding of how the web works, the next thing is to pick up the popular three musketeers (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript). Let's start with the skeleton of the web contents itself - The HTML. What is HTML?

The shortest answer to this is, HTML (HyperText Markup Language), is a markup language. A markup language is a pre-designed system or mechanism of annotating or labelling a bunch of texts in a document so that a group of texts is identified differently from another. That sounds too jargonistic? Let me bring it down to what you may be familiar with; when you identify some texts as heading and some as sub-heading in your Microsoft Word app, there is a way the computer recognizes them under the hood, it's with the help of a markup language. Clearer enough? Let's continue.

As some markup languages are configured to work behind the likes of MS Word app and other word processors, HTML is designed to handle the contents that are prepared to be displayed by web browsers. Therefore, it is safe to say:
HTML is the semantically structured skeleton of any content displayed on the web.

Below is the basic structure of an HTML page.


<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>One of the six headings. We still have h2 to h6.</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph</p>
There are many others, and they are called tags. 
</body>
</html>


It is absolutely OK if you don't understand the block of code above, it's not a big deal, as you'll later understand it, and even more.

While HTML is important to the contents on the web, the contents don't, by default, appeal the eyes. This is where CSS takes over. What is CSS?


CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) is a stylesheet used to beautify the structured content laid down by HTML. It is used to describe how the contents of HTML is visually presented to the consumers. If you've ever seen a text on the web that has a background color, or some that are more beautiful than others, that's the work of CSS.

The third tool in this group is JavaScript. JavaScript is a scripting programing language used to primarily, automate and handle interactivity on the web frontend. Also, it's now powerful enough enough to work on the back-end and other aspects of programming. You don't need to worry yourself about those for now.


JavaScript has the power to change the state of web contents from static to dynamic due to its ability to programmatically display contents based on users' activities. At this point, there is no need to go into JavaScript details yet, make it a step at a time.

Platforms to start learning web development as a beginner

There are several platforms online where you can easily learn the basics of any of these tools. Based on experience, I mostly recommend Solo Learn and W3 Schools to beginners. They both have mobile apps where you can richly learn the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc. The community and their comments are invaluable as well.

The Major Dos and Don'ts While Learning Web Development


Be Focused and Consistent: Of course, this should be common to every facet of life; it is however vital in web development and programming as a whole. If you're not frequent with it, your progress will be sluggish which will greatly affect your drive and motivation. Ensure you write at least a line of code daily or learn something new daily. Ultimately, all the knowledge will accumulate to mean a lot to you.

Get a Trusted Mentor: Find yourself some professional(s) in the field, either physically or virtually, whose steps you carefully follow. Seek opinions and ideas on why they made their decisions, so you can wisely tailor your decisions too and guide your paths without wasting much time. The journey becomes easier when you're rightly guided.

Be Intentional About Your Decisions: In today's ocean of information and resources, it's easier to drown in vain due to information overload. There are loads of choices to make while choosing stack of tools to use. To some developers, Python is the way to heaven, while some others "can kill" for JavaScript. Instead of jumping on any, it's part of the learning skills to research on the major options available to make an informed decision. There are numerous tools (technologies) out there for different purposes and different people. What I'm saying is that, DON'T LEARN "A" JUST BECAUSE MANY PEOPLE ARE LEARNING "A". Critically ask yourself if you need what you are learning or want to learn. It will occur to you if you need it or not.

Don't Fall for Cheap Frustration: Sorry I'm telling you this late. The undiluted truth is that you will be frustrated several times. You will read stuff and not understand it immediately. You will understand some this minute and forget the next minute. It is not your fault, it is nobody's fault. It's simply the nature of the field. Never see quitting as an escape route when those moments of frustration and annoyance come. Be calm, consistent, and adamant.

Avoid Rushing: I can bet there is a space for you ANY TIME you get there. At the same time, there are a lot of tempting reasons for you to rush yourself. Resist the urge to be intimidated to the point of being rushed. I can assure you that the field is relevant enough to lucratively satisfy all developers. So, don't sprint your way up, because that's the easiest way to miss out on the important basics, and remember that house built on weak foundation... besides, Whatever you miss will most likely hunt you down forever in your career until you go back to fix it. So, it's better you take your time to consume as much as possible before accelerating unnecessarily.

Be Inquisitive and be Ready to Consume Info: It's obvious that the tech field is vast like the universe. You have so many things to know/learn (don't worry, it's not that deep). The fact is that, you have to be inquisitive on how what works and why (there should be some limit though, so that you won't waste much time on the abstracted tools.) A 30-second-read tutorial article can lead you to three days of vigorous research, don't fret or be scared, it's usually interesting. Like I said earlier, make it a step at a time and understand the truth that it will take you close to one year before you start seeing things clearer (your manner and level of understanding applies here).

The list goes on... You can learn more here https://www.geniushawlah.xyz/blog/posts/fundamentals-of-starting-web-development

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Re: Read This If You're Considering Starting Web Development by GeniusHawlah(m): 10:52am On Jul 16, 2022
CC: Mukina2, Lalasticlala

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