Why learn HTML5?

Interested in design? Whether it’s emails, websites or apps, HTML5 is what you need to code how it looks, how its content is displayed, and how it’s styled (along with CSS). It’s not just for designers however; project managers, start-ups and just about anyone else will find it hugely beneficial to know.

So, how difficult is HTML5?

HTML is where all web designers and developers start off. It’s the ultimate beginner’s tool and is very much geared towards building simple, straightforward projects. If you fancy learning how to design and how to code, it’ offers up the best of both without too much complexity. Most dedicated students can easily create front end web apps and emails within a few weeks.

Since it’s technically not a programming language per se, HTML5 is also a handy opportunity to ‘dip your toes’ into programming concepts before diving into the nitty gritty of complicated programming languages. You’ll very quickly get to grips with syntaxes, or rules, and that’s a core element of every language out there.

So what’s the downside? While HTML5 is super easy to get started with, it’s not so easy to master. To really become an expert, you also need to have an understanding of JavaScript and CSS. All three progress at a fast pace too, so you need to be willing to periodically re-learn to keep your skills up to date.

What about Community Support?

All programming languages have a developer community that has grown up around them as the
language has gained popularity, so there’s always plenty of ways to give and receive advice. The
larger a community, the more exciting and interesting ways you’ll see the language being used and
developed, so it’s a vital component. Considering the vast numbers of web designers and developers in the world, it’s safe to say that there’s a hugely active HTML5 community in existence.

  • StackOverflow:

    HTML is the 8th most used tag on the highly popular programming Q&A site, StackOverflow. CSS and JavaScript are both high up on the list too, which means it’s saturated with information on all kinds of web design and coding solutions.

  • Meetup:

    Meetup.com has a vast network of social groups on virtually any topic you can imagine, programming being just one. There are HTML5 meetup groups all over the world, so if you want to meet other web aficionados to discuss HTML5, you won’t have to go very far.

  • GitHub:

    You might expect there to be plenty of HTML5 projects on GitHub, and you’d be right; there are over 575,000. In addition, over 350 CSS GitHub projects have collected 500+ stars.

How will HTML5 Benefit my Career?

HTML5 is a very valuable skill to have under your belt in a wide variety of jobs. Web design is the obvious choice, but if you’re a digital marketer or an e-business owner, knowing HTML5 eliminates the cost, time and effort involved with getting a developer to make small changes; you can do it yourself with just a few clicks. Knowing HTML5 also makes it much easier to transition to different jobs such as a front end web developer or a UX engineer.

Where is HTML5 headed?

HTML is here for the long haul. Websites wouldn’t exist without it, so there’s no fear of it dying away any time soon! More specifically, HTML5 was released in 2014 and since it’s still a work in progress there won’t be a massive overhaul for another few years. As web technologies become more advanced, HTML5 will have no trouble keeping up – it’s already been doing it for the past decade and beyond. While the range of possibilities HTML5 provides isn’t exactly limitless, it’s an essential component of the web and it’s not going anywhere.

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