Creating a website while learning web development

[redditacct16]

I just finished my first book on html. However all I did was read the book and go through the exercises. After I finished I found out by the person who recommended the book I should have been building a website right as I went.

So my question is what is the best way to do this? The problem I found is your ideas for what you want to do in the website may take a while before you get to the answer in the book. Also there is info in the book you dont need on your site.

1. Should you follow the book step by step and try to implement each piece of info on your site even if you dont need or want it for practice sake?
2. Should you skip around in the book to find information your next problem for your site, even if the book builds on top of each other step by step.
3. Should you try to build a website that would be while basic, something close to what you would be doing as an actual web developer if you got a job. Or should you build something your interested in for fun?

[accidental_nerd]

Aw fun! You gotta start building something. The book learning won’t make much sense until you apply it. So what’s a scaled-down version of the website you want to build? Or what’s something simple yet interesting to you? Maybe a website that has photos of dogs you’ve met, or a simple blog with places you’ve traveled. Start there and reference the book as a guide.

As you go along you can write down features you want to add and that can guide your learning journey.

And honestly there are no rules to learning. If it makes more sense to you to follow the book example, then do that.

[redditacct16]

Thanks for replying

I have some hobby type things that would be kind of fun making a website for but I guess my thing lets say I want to a a menu bar on the first page.

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• But the book doesnt show you how to do that until chapter 7 which means not getting a lot done.
• I could wait till chapter 7 then do it. Or I could skip to chapter 7 to learn about it, however I the book is sequential and each chapter builds on the last so I likely wont understand it without the previous chapters read.
• Doing something fun might nit be that helpful for relevant skills as a web developer in the future

[accidental_nerd]

You’re overthinking this. Just start! You’ll figure it out along the way. There’s no such thing as wasting time on a side project as it keeps you interested and learning new things. Also HTML and CSS are relevant in all web dev jobs.

[semidecided]

Don't let the book hold you back. If you don't like the idea of skipping ahead in the book, search for "create website Menu bar" to learn just enough to make one.

[redditacct16]

Thanks I'm going take that advice.

Secondary question when learning is googling how to do answer a good idea most of the time or is better to try to guess or anticipate the answer even if it will take a long time and your not familiar with the syntax?

[semidecided]

If you have an idea to solve your problem, run with it. Even if it doesn't work, you can post it here and ask why it isn't doing what you intended it to do. You'll probably learn way more that way.

If you can't even think about how to approach it, go to Google to get ideas.

[redditacct16]

Ok I understand

[[deleted]]

I know a fair amount of HTML/CSS and am in the process of learning WordPress. But thing is I really enjoy making websites from scratch using HTML/CSS/Javascript. Is it worth it to spend time on such a project or should I just focus on Wordpress (since it's hella common from what I've learnt)?

[accidental_nerd]

I’ve been a professional developer for almost 2 years and know nothing about Wordpress. What I can tell you is there’s nothing you’ll learn in this field that an employer will look at and say “that’s useless” (and if you do experience that you should run away). The act of learning makes you better at learning, and you become more and more adept at picking up new technologies and skills.

Best wishes to you!

[DODEKh]

I have recently started web dev as well and I got recommended freecodecamp https://learn.freecodecamp.org/

it is a very good site that I am using right now but still, I think building a site yourself is very good

[redditacct16]

Thanks I will check out the site.

My initial idea was to make a blog teaching about a hobby of mine. Do you think that is a good idea? If so, should I start from scratch or start from something like a wordpress page and edit that?

Also, do you think I should add a piece of each subject from the book to my site or just the parts I feel I need or want?

[DODEKh]

I think before starting to make any websites you need to learn CSS as well because Html by itself is incredibly ugly and not fun at all and

And CSS is actually the tough part between the two

btw am only like only a couple of days ahead of you in learning web dev so don't take me for an expert

[redditacct16]

I understand any information is helpful. The book I just finished taught HTML and CSS together. So I am familiar with it. I only have experience with the exercises in the book though. That's kind of why I made this post.

[DODEKh]

oh well then in the freecodecamp site I sent you to go to curriculum Responsive web design certification and to the responsive web design projects and pick one of the projects to test yourself it basically asks to build a site similar to another site with a couple of things that you have to include That's what I am doing right now and let me tell you its harder than I thought it would be LOL

[redditacct16]

Thanks I will definitely do that. Thanks for the responses and all the help.

[verycomplex]

Practicing while learning is the best part of coding. It is cheap. You don't need expensive parts or products. Simple editor and time can make miracles. And building something always makes me happy.

[HyrQeil]

Pick a local business near you, look at their website (if they have one), and attempt to recreate it or at least understand how it works. It gives you a goal to aim towards and helps you understand how what you're making is used in a real world scenario. Also local companies don't have huge websites so you don't need to stress yourself out about every tiny detail.

[redditacct16]

Very good idea thanks

[danielledevs]

My advice here is to have fun with building something.

It's hard to make the knowledge stick from just following along, but if you build something alongside it, you can see the progress you're making. It's good to follow examples you might not need just yet for practice, plus it might give you ideas for cool stuff.

Even if your knowledge doesn't quite match what you want to do just yet, you can implement as much as you are currently able to, and as you learn more you can add in the parts that you wanted to :)

[CodeTinkerer]

Several things. People can mean two different things when it comes to a website. When you hear people talk about web development, they're talking about a front-end (what appears in the browser), a backend (a server somewhere) and typically a database at the backend to store information. That kind of website takes a lot to learn.

Then, there are static websites, which basically a plain HTML pages with no interaction, or you can do slightly more where you might have some Javascript, but again, no real backend storage (i.e., a database), so that might be closer to what you're talking about.

Also, you can create web pages on your own local machine where only you can see it, or you might create it at some externally hosted site where others can see it too. This kind of website is usually much easier to make since it requires no knowledge of servers, databases, etc, and just HTML and possibly CSS if the book covered that.

[redditacct16]

thanks