Do you know how coding works to make a website function? Has it ever crossed your mind or maybe your new to web development and are not sure how each language supports each other. Let’s explore this subject and see what really makes a webpage click.
I know when you first here the title of this post it can be quite daunting or intimidating because there are so many coding languages that make up the world wide web. Today I mainly will be focusing on the topic from a front end web developer. What is that, well not only can you check out more info here at my other post, but essentially it’s the 3 languages, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, that make up how a website will look and function.
From a front end developer, I have learned how these languages actually work together and to me I think it’s one of the coolest things you can do as a developer or building websites. I’m going to speak as if you know what each coding language is or does, if not you can check out my post about them here for more info:
HTML CSS and JavaScript.
Although as I write, it should make sense on how the 3 languages work to support each other. So, without HTML there literally is no website. HTML is the start or the foundation of building your website without it CSS or JavaScript has no purpose. CSS and JavaScript interact with the HTML document to give it life and spunk. Depending on how you link your CSS to your HTML file, best practice is an external file, again if you don’t know the different ways you can link a CSS file you can find out here. Linking your CSS document to the HTML file now gives your webpage some splash, or simple design on however you want your page to look. Along with some basic animated functions.
Speaking of animated functions we now turn to Javascript. Ever wondered how or what JavaScript is used for? Well you guessed it, interactivity. Javascript is filled with a plethora (a lot) of functions and abilities to give your site some funk to it. From progress bars to animating words and whole pages, it’s all up to the developer’s ideas. I speak on this with only seeing a few functionalities that JavaScript has to offer. Want to make a game on your site or make your site the actual game. You can do that with Javascript. How that works is similar to CSS, you need to link your JavaScript file to the HTML document and set your functions to specific classes or ids in HTML for it to interact. For me this all made sense when I read the book “Javascript for kids” (great book for beginners)…
When you understand how javascript begins to work as a developer, I know for me I became excited, because I get to make cool things and see a lot of potential to a site I want to create.
Therefore, this is how all 3 languages support each other. The HTML creates the content for the site, CSS makes the elements on the HTML file look pretty, and JavaScript can move or change the applied CSS of the elements on a page to give a whole new fresh approach to your site having visitors comeback for more.
There you have it Front End Web Development at its core. For me this makes web development fun and exciting, to be building something from scratch. If you are interested in becoming or learning more about Front End Web Development check out Team Treehouse for more