HTML and CSS Course Overview

Sep 3, 2024

Ultimate HTML and CSS Series - Lecture Notes

Introduction

  • Instructor: Mosh Hamadani
  • Series Overview:
    • Build fast and beautiful websites.
    • Part 1: Fundamentals of HTML and CSS.
    • Part 2: Advanced concepts.
    • Part 3: Build a responsive website for "Moshify".
  • Course Audience: Beginners with no prior knowledge of HTML or CSS.

Tools Needed

  • Code Editor: Recommended VS Code.
    • Alternatives: Sublime Text, Atom.
    • VS Code Extensions:
      • Prettier: Code formatter for clean code.
      • Live Server: Launch website in a development server.
  • Browser: Recommended Google Chrome for testing.

Course Structure

  • Learn about web development languages and tools:
    • HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): Structure of web pages.
    • CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): Styling web pages.
    • JavaScript: Adds functionality.
  • Key Vocabulary:
    • URL, HTTP, DOM, etc.
  • Understanding how websites work and network traffic.
  • Importance of validating web pages.

Roadmap for Web Development

Two Main Parts of a Website:

  1. Front-end: Visual aspects seen in a browser.
  2. Back-end: Powers the front-end, handles data storage.

Development Categories:

  • Front-end Development: Uses HTML, CSS, JavaScript.
  • Back-end Development: Uses different tools (not covered in this course).
  • Full-stack Development: Involves both front-end and back-end.

Learning Path:

  1. HTML and CSS (3-5 hours/day for 1-1.5 months).
    • Use hands-on practice.
  2. JavaScript (6 weeks to learn basics).
  3. Front-end Frameworks (React recommended).
    • Learning React takes 1-2 months.
  4. Version Control Systems (Git recommended, 2 weeks to learn).

Important Skills for Front-end Developers:

  • HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Git.
  • Focus on mastering these before learning additional skills.

How the Web Works

  • Client-Server Model:
    • Client: Browser requesting information.
    • Server: Hosts the website and responds to requests.
  • HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): Language for requests/responses between clients and servers.
  • Understanding Requests and Responses:
    • HTTP Request: Message from browser to server.
    • HTTP Response: Message back from server containing requested resources.
  • Document Object Model (DOM): Browser constructs DOM to represent HTML elements.

Chrome DevTools

  • Powerful tool for inspecting network traffic and debugging.
  • Steps to access:
    • Open Chrome > View > Developer Tools (shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + I / Cmd + Option + I).

Creating Your First HTML Document

  1. Create a folder for the project.
  2. Inside VS Code, create index.html file.
  3. Use DOCTYPE declaration for HTML5.
  4. Structure with <html>, <head>, and <body> tags.
  5. Add title and elements inside the body.

Introduction to CSS

  • Add a <style> tag inside the <head> for CSS rules.
  • CSS syntax:
    • Selector { property: value; }
  • Example: Resize an image and add styles.

Validation and Formatting

  • Use validators (W3C Validator) to check for errors in HTML/CSS.
  • Prettier extension for consistent formatting of code.
  • Importance of clean and readable code for maintainability.

Conclusion of Section

  • Next section will cover essential HTML elements in detail:
    • Text elements, lists, images, tables, etc.
  • Emphasis on best practices in HTML.

Additional Notes

  • HTML entities for special characters.
  • Links and navigation techniques in HTML.
  • Videos and audio embedding summary.