What you need to start coding HTML and CSS
October 6th, 2008
Everything you need to get started is already on your machine. HTML and CSS are both rendered client side by the user’s browser. This means that you don’t need to install a web server on your development machine. If you were going to create PHP or ASP websites then you’ll have to have a web server installed because the code is processed on the server. We may get into some PHP a little later, but right now you don’t need to worry about a server.
If you’re on a PC then notepad and a web browser is all you really need. There are other applications that will make writing code easier, some of it is free and some of it costs money. Do a quick search for text editors in your favorite search engines and you’ll probably come across many. Most of the ones that cost money offer a free trial. I’m on a Mac, and my editor of choice is Textmate, but I have Dreamweaver installed as well. Dreamweaver has a lot of extras, like a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. We won’t use that, but Dreamweaver has code hinting and code finishing which can come in handy when learning CSS. It helps you with your syntax. We’ll write more shorthand code then Dreamweaver will probably suggest, but you have to start somewhere. E-texteditor claims to be like textmate, and there is a free trial so you can start there, it’s only $35 if you decide to keep it.
As for a browser I suggest Firefox. It’s free, and there are some extensions that can make your life easier. The only one I’m going to suggest for developing CSS and HTML websites is the web developer plug-in.
Alright, my next post will get us started.
Tags: beginning css, text editor
This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 8:40 pm and is filed under CSS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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