Notes from Ultimate HTML and CSS Series: Part 1

Jul 24, 2024

Ultimate HTML and CSS Series - Part 1 Notes

Overview of the Series

  • Instructor: Ash Hamadani
  • Course Objective: Teach web development skills from scratch using HTML and CSS.
  • Course Structure:
    1. Fundamentals of web development
    2. Advanced concepts
    3. Building a responsive website for a cloud hosting company, Mashify.

Getting Started

  1. Tools Required:

    • Code Editor: Visual Studio Code (recommended)
    • Other options: Sublime Text, Atom, etc.
    • Extensions for VS Code:
      • Prettier: Code formatter
      • Live Server: Launches a development server for real-time previews
    • Browser: Google Chrome (recommended)

  2. Learning Structure:

    • Each section covers new concepts leading to a final web page.
    • Topics include: URLs, HTTP, web servers, HTML, CSS, DevTools, etc.

Web Development Basics

Frontend vs. Backend

  • Frontend: Visual part of the website; uses HTML, CSS, JavaScript.
  • Backend: Behind-the-scenes functionalities; data storage, database interaction.

Front-end Development Languages

  1. HTML: HyperText Markup Language - Defines structure.
  2. CSS: Cascading Stylesheets - Styles and aesthetics.
  3. JavaScript: Adds functionality and interactivity.

Learning Path for Front-end Development

  • Learn HTML & CSS for about 3-6 weeks.
  • Follow up with learning JavaScript for an additional 6 weeks.
  • Explore frameworks/libraries: React, Angular, Vue, etc.
  • Familiarize with Git (version control) for collaboration.

How the Web Works

  1. Client-Server Model:

    • Client: Browser requesting data.
    • Server: Hosts the website, sends data back.

  2. HTTP Protocol:

    • How clients and servers communicate (requests and responses).
    • HTTPS: Secure version of HTTP.

  3. Document Object Model (DOM):

    • Structure created by the browser from HTML.

  4. Network Traffic Inspection:

    • Chrome DevTools to monitor network requests and responses.

Creating Your First HTML Document

  • Creating a new folder and index.html as the main document.
  • Boilerplate code includes:
    • <!DOCTYPE html>
    • <html>, <head>, <body> sections.

Structuring HTML:

  1. Head Section:
    • Contains metadata, title, link to CSS files.
    • Important meta tags for character encoding (UTF-8) and viewport settings.
  2. Body Section:
    • Contains actual content displayed on the web page like images, text elements, etc.

Basic HTML Tags for Text:

  • <p>: Paragraphs
  • <em>: Emphasis
  • <strong>: Strong importance
  • Headings: 6 levels (<h1> to <h6>), to be used hierarchically.

Links and Anchors

  • <a>: Anchor tag for hyperlinks.
  • Use href attribute to define link destinations (both internal and external).
  • Include attributes like target="_blank" to open links in new tabs.

Adding Images

  • Use <img> tag with src and alt attributes.
  • Correct sizing with CSS using properties like width, height, object-fit.

Validation of HTML and CSS

  • Importance of validating code for errors.
  • Use validators like W3C Validator.

Conclusion and Next Steps

  • Next section: Explore HTML in more detail including necessary elements for different content types.