1. Web Development Perceptions
  2. HTML History
  3. CSS History
  4. Web Design
  5. Out of the Box
  6. Tables vs.CSS
  7. Specificity

Web Development Perceptions

I have definitely opened up my brain to the world of “Technical Terms” in these first few weeks of class!! This has been a great way to become familiar with understanding the tools in which we use every day. I learned new things such as the difference between the Internet, (which is a global network of computers that are linked together by high-speed data lines and wireless systems), and the WWW,(a service provided by the Internet). I had always thought these were the same. I also learned the terms of HTML & XHTML and the fundamentals of the language,( or syntax,) in which to build a Web Site. I thought it was interesting to learn about the W3C and how they have an entire “community” developing new standards of web languages.

I am sure it will take practice to be completely familiar with all of the elements that create the structures on a Web page, and the tags that represent the element in XHTML, but I am excited to have it become part of my everyday language. Knowing now what a Web page looks like in the RAW is completely amazing. I think it is great that when you are done building a site you can verify it with the W3C for free.

When I look at Web pages now, I honestly become intrigued to learn more. This is my first class in my Web Developer degree checklist that I have taken and I can’t wait to go on!! I had never thought about how Web pages were created and I really had no knowledge in the subject before this class. I am very excited to become a part of the “new technology world”, and as a designer, developer, or the technical term “devsigner” I feel like I will be able to be succsesfull in anything. There are many possibilities with my decision in this field. I could work for a private company, I could also work for a huge firm developing their sites, or I could stay local and work on small businesses private Web sites so they can increase their sales.

Right now with having a family the main goal for me is to increase sales at our “small business” and to create more Web Sites for local small businesses. I know that when the time comes to market myself as a Web Developer and Designer I will be OK, I am constantly looking now at what business has a Web Site and which one NEEDS a site!! I think it is funny how the creative portion of my brain has just been ignited again!

I really can't wait to continue on to the next lesson!!

HTML History

In this tutorial I learned a lot about links. When surfing Web pages I really overlooked how many links were actually on a page, also all of the thought process someone had to put into the position of the links. I learned how to link to the top of the page, to an id on the same page, linking to a different page within my files, linking to different Web sites, and creating links to e-mails. I really found it interesting how to link to a map, and how hotspots are used and how the area element is used to make up those hot spots. I learned what a target and refering page is, and how you must include the complete URL of a Web site. I am still a little confused about the exact coordinates for the link, I am sure the more I use it the easier it will be to obtain from graphics software.

When I researched for the History of HTML I was very intrigued about Tim Berners. In 1989 he invented the Web with HTML as its publishing language. However he first invented it on his own computer in 1980, he named this, Enquire. Over the past 22 years of the Web being public there were changes not only for the users, but the developers. There were problems with bugs, validation, e-mails, tags, you name it they had it. I researched a few different web sites and the list went on and on. Throughout the years there have been many groups working on the make up of HTML and the four revisions, I found the WHATWG interesting. This group worked together to come up with solutions for both users and developers. They combined Web Applications 1.0, Web Forms 2.0 and Web Controls 1.0 to what is collectively known as HTML5. This was an article from 2007. This is to replace all XHTML 1.1 and HTML4.

There are so many articles about HTML that my head is currently spinning. I am still getting use to all of this code talk and when I read through these articles I feel as if I am reading Spanish! I can grasp what they are talking about a little bit, but it is still pretty Greek to me. I just thought I would be honest since this is a Learning Jounal!

CSS History

Hypertext Markup Language, also known as HTML is used to create structure for web pages. Cascading Style Sheets, also known as CSS are used for the presentation of web pages. CSS provides greater consistency to web pages, easily modified code, more flexible formatting possibilities, and greater functionality. Before CSS, editing web pages were more costly and time consuming having to enter each HTML document and changing stylistic elements. With CSS you are able to have an external style sheet that can make site-wide-changes is seconds.

Starting in the 1970’s Cascading Style Sheets were developed for creating a consistent approach to providing HTML with style for web documents that were originally only to be used for exchanging of information. However, it wasn’t until 1996 that W3C released CSS level1 recommendation. This gave web developers what they needed for the visual and user friendly web pages. Throughout the years CSS has developed the internet into one of the leading commercial and robust platforms available, whereas before it was a simple protocol to transfer information.

Like HTML, CSS has also gone through a lot of changes over the years. After the original recommendation in 1996 the W3C has updated CSS 1, to CSS 2, CSS 2.1 and now CSS 3. Although the revisions made to CSS 2.1 were published W3C Recommendation on June 7 of 2011, they also published as a W3C Recommendation CSS 3 Color Module on the same day. Unlike CSS 2 which defines all features in a single, large specification, CSS 3 Color Module is divided into several separate documents called “modules”. In class, we are currently using CSS 2.1, which is supported by most modern web browsers.

These last two tutorials have been very interesting. I love being able to transform color, font, text, margins, line spacing, ect. I guess going into this course, it is fair to say I definitely did not know what to expect. This is the first time I have even looked at the make -up of a web page in the raw. I can say now, I love it! It might take me a while to get use to coding and to be able to be as fast as some people, but so far I am really glad that I chose this as a future career. I think without CSS, creating, and developing web pages would be quite boring. When I finish each chapter, I can’t wait to see what is next.

Web Design

Well, to be completely truthful, I have put off this assignment until I could not put it off any longer. I was dreading another reading/research journal assignment. In the history of HTML and CSS I felt like I was reading stereo instructions written in Spanish. It took me a good few hours to contemplate on what I needed for each journal entry without sounding like a “nimrod”! Oh how wrong I was with this reading assignment! It was awesome! He wrote in complete layman’s terms from start to finish. The Principles of Beautiful Web Design, by Jason Beaird had to be one of the best assignments so far in my first semester at CSI. My brain seemed to sponge everything in and I just could not stop all of the ideas from flowing. I am so glad that I read this before starting my midterm web page!

There were a few things that I am definitely going to be using from this article, starting with the pad of paper. I thought this was a great idea when meeting clients and discovering what they do to be able to jot down ideas without making them feel intimidated or distracted. I have always felt like communication with people has been a strong point of mine, and to know now this is a key in good design process, awesome! I also thought it was a wonderful idea to create morgue folders. I really think this will be helpful when I am stuck. This will have many different ideas of the same layout, such as left –column navigation, right –column navigation, three- column navigation, and a folder for oddball. There were a lot of different web sites that I have already saved for ideas.

I know I will be getting stronger and more confident for both developing and design the further I go in school, so there were a couple of things mentioned in this article that I really don’t know anything about. Fixed Width vs. Liquid Width, I don’t think I have ever heard about this, and also, Variable Fixed Width Layout. I think I might look both of these up later when I really get more into design.

All in all it was a pleasure to read this article. I know just like everything else in this class it will just take time and practice. I am still feeling strong about my decision for web developing, however, I am more excited now than ever to look more into the designing of web pages along with the developing.

Out of the box

I really liked the article Breaking Out Of The Box written by Jina Bolton. I think that it was a basic way of saying that all web sites do not need to be the same. I agree with the visual appeal that she talked about in her article, and how she wrote about building a web page with the same tools but learning how to manipulate the code so it is not so boxy. I don’t know if I would have considered it a waste of time, however she did kind of put in unnecessary information. I know as a web developer/ designer we are never going to be looking at the web pages the same as before. Even now when I open a link, or a site, I am constantly looking for the wow factor. As far as using it in my own web site, maybe I will look back through it and find a few techniques about the gridline and see what I can do with my own, or maybe check out the other web sites that she mentioned that she liked. I am excited about the designing of the Web pages and I know the trickiest part for me will be getting the codes correct for the gridlines, and which layout I am going to choose.

Tables vs. CSS

I found the article Table vs. CSS a Fight to the Death written by Sergio Villarreal very interesting. I wish he would have showed both of the codes with the end product. It would have been nice to see the length of the Table code vs. the length of the CSS code. I found myself a few times laughing out-loud at his comments. It was amazing to see how it took him two hours less to use CSS code instead of using Tables to create the same design. As an elementary developer / designer, when I read some of these articles they use code or language that I am not use to, so I am excited to move on and learn more. I am sure if I had to create the same web page using HTML and CSS it would probably take me ten hours instead of four, so I can only imagine how long it would take me to get it presentable using Tables. In the end I found this article to be hilarious, it is funny to think that when I am creating a web page, or doing my homework, I am not the only one that gets frustrated with the way things are not coming together just right.

Specificity

The article Get Specific with Your CSS Styles was very informational. I had to read it a few times to grasp some of the codes that he wrote. I am sure throughout my future as a web developer this article will become useful. The table was definitely more understandable than his first example. I really like it when the authors of these pages put what they are trying to explain in layman’s terms.

This is my last journal entry for this class, so I would like to take a moment to do a quick overview. I have found this class to be tough at times, but as I worked through all of the assignments, I have found that practice makes it easier. I am excited to move on and work hard so I can become a great and efficient web developer.

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