Why Learn HTML?

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"But I Don't Wanna Learn HTML! I Just Wanna Make Web Pages!"

Well, you could do that. I know many who just use an HTML editing software and never learn any of the coding that goes into making a web page, and there are a lot of people who do indeed make web pages like this. But I wouldn't recommend skipping the process of learning at least a little HTML for a number of reasons:

• Knowing HTML Will Enable You To Take Better Advantage of HTML Editing Software. Trust me on this: understanding HTML is invaluable to understanding HTML Editing Software. A little HTML knowledge can go a long way with this software, but if you don't understand HTML at all, you might be lost with most of the decent editing software.
• All kinds of different things on the web assume basic HTML and/or CSS. For example, you don't have to know how to use HTML or CSS to set up a blog, to include links in an email message, or to do some basic work with things like emuonline. However, all of these things presume some HTML and CSS, so if you know the basics of code, you will be able to use these tools easier.
• HTML editing software is not foolproof. Depending on the software package and what you are trying to accomplish, HTML editing software often won't let you do certain things or it will force you to do other things in a strange way. If you know even some basic HTML, you will usually be able to deal with problems that come up. But if you don't understand anything about HTML, you are completely at the mercy of the machine.
• "Raw HTML" Is Available Everywhere. If you have an older computer or if you use the computers in the labs around campus, you might not have easy access to a decent HTML editing software. But the only software that you need for working with HTML is an ASCII text editing software: TextEdit (for the Mac), NotePad (for the Windows PC), or even something like MS Word (as long as you save as "text only"-- more on that in "Lesson One"). Now isn't that easy?
• "Raw HTML" Is Easier. I've had many students who never use editing software because they like the ease and control they get from working with just the code. So try it-- you might like it.