The Design Shed

Yeah this is a topic of hot debate, but it should not be. I have seen the sites these self-righteous “hand-coders” make and they are awful (many and most of them). Not all WYSIWYGs are bad. Dreamweaver for example has built one awesome WYSIWYG. Plus, those who are really into web-design will eventually learn “hand-coding”. But to say “hand-coding is the only way one can make a compliant website” is just plain stupid! One should learn HTML and CSS and other languages as well, but should not be hindered by Notepad and slow response times with saving the file then looking at it from a browser and then going back to Notepad and fixing your mistakes then viewing in a browser then going back to Notepad then looking at the file in a browser then going back into… where was I? So do you see how time consuming that is. Sure you have gotten pretty good at it, but it is so much better and productive to view the page as you code or vice a versa.

Once again do not be hindered by anti-WYSIWYG people who hate on you, because you took the time and effort to design your page correctly while they have tons of text and Word clip-art scattered across their site. Take the time to learn HTML and CSS, but do not be a snob. Dreamweaver pumps out compliant HTML and CSS… now if they can only work on their JavaScript the world would have peace, but it is great for now.

Design first, tweak the code second. That is why they call you a web-DESIGNER!