If you are a programmer or web designer, you are probably overwhelmed with the amount of options you have when it comes to using languages to express pixels on the web. More than that, there are actions behind the scenes you need to take care of as well. However, it doesn’t have to be so confusing. If you understand how the basics of web programming create the pages and apps we use, you can know which one to lead with:
HTML
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. The funny thing about HTML is that it’s actually not a programming language at all. It’s a markup format, like XML.
HTML is useful for laying out pages. You can create entire site structures in HTML using a tagging system. For example, the title tag is used to differentiate the heading of a page from a simple paragraph tag. By wrapping the various pieces of a web page in HTML, you can tell the browser how it needs to interpret it.
HTML dictates everything from the actual words on the page, to images, to formats, layouts, and even the sequence in which other software loads on the page (which we’ll get to later).
CSS
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. The name is self explanatory. The different style sheets that dictate what the HTML website looks like are contained in a .css file. This indicates the size, color, and behavior of various elements.
As a programmer, you can insert various forms of logic into the CSS to get your page to respond in certain ways. You can also call to outside sources like a font repository to load certain types of text. In general, use CSS when you want to go a step beyond what the HTML is doing for you, like expert David Lubbat does.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a language that resides within the browser. It is what is called an interpreted language. Because of this, it needs to run through the browser and the desktop before it finally is read by the machine.
JavaScript is known for slowing pages down, but it doesn’t come with a lack of features. JavaScript is essentially what powers the web today as we know it. JavaScript allows complex manipulation of the DOM (Document Object Model). What this means is that instead of manually typing and changing the HTML to change the words in a paragraph, for example, you can use JavaScript to do it for you.
JavaScript fetches resources live and allows you to use traditional object oriented programming principles to deploy pieces of code like programs and methods. This way, you don’t need to repeat yourself when doing the same task over again.
PHP
Only backend programmers usually need to worry about PHP. Howver, that does not mean that you shouldn’t understand its place in front end programming. Whenever you want to use the server’s resources, PHP is a nice fix.
Bringing Them Together
So how do you know which to use? The answer is: all of them. Each one has its unique abilities and differences. Sometimes, you need power and speed so you use JavaScript. Other times, in-depth changes might require diving into CSS or even HTML. Be sure to evaluate your project to determine which is best for you.
Unless you’re someone like David Lubbat you might not know everything about developing on the front end. There are a lot of issues to take into account before you are confident in using the right languages. Luckily, you don’t have to sit back and wait. Using this article as your starter guide, you can now enjoy a much better understanding of how to build value with your web programming.