(• Reading Time: 3 minutes •)
Yes, start with HTML
Some sources online advise you to learn JavaScript first then learn HTML and CSS later, whenever you like.
That's nonsense.
Learning JavaScript first is like thinking about purchasing a new home.
But instead of focusing on what the house looks like and how you'll decorate, you say screw that.
Then jump ahead and start learning how to:
- Automatically turn on the lights when you walk into a room.
- Flip the air-conditioner off when you leave the house.
- And play music when you clap twice.
It's not that you can't do all of this.
You can do anything.
But if you want to learn coding like a pro, the order in which you do things matters a lot in gaining mastery.
HTML is like finding a home
A lot of planning goes into what the home should look like.
Should it have two bedrooms? One for you and your partner while the other is for kids? Maybe you want the master bedroom to be really huge that way you don't have to go with a 3-bedroom home.
Or should it be a tiny studio in the middle of a big city?
Perhaps you'd rather have roommates with separate bathrooms instead of one shared bathroom.
HTML is the basics. And you need the basics in place. Trust me.
CSS is like decorating it
But where should I put my bed?
At the center of the room or in the corner? What about my shoes, the color of my bed sheets, my diploma from college?
With CSS, you care about how things look and are arranged.
JavaScript is like making your home functional
You can decorate your home once and leave it that way.
That's right – you can build websites with only HTML and CSS. And leave it as-is.
But that's boring.
You need the power of JavaScript to change things up when you perform an action so your home is a little spiced up.
Note that changing things on websites is referred to as frontend development but these days Javascript is used to do backend development.
But don't worry about that for now.
With JavaScript, you can switch on the lights in a room, have your music start playing immediately you walk into your home, or adjust your thermostat when you leave.
So what order should you follow?
Here's what you should do:
- First, learn HTML.
- Next, learn CSS.
- Finally, move unto JavaScript.
Where should you go to learn these?
I gotchu – here's a list of the top free places to learn HTML, CSS and Javascript.
Remember, you can learn them in any order you want.
You can master the basics of HTML and CSS – you don't have to dig too deep – then move on to JavaScript and spend more time there.
But don't waste your time jumping around blindly.
Work smart.
Thanks for reading
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Heads Up - I love research so I tend to back my advice and approach with concepts from Behavioral Psychology and Neuroscience.