What is HTML & CSS?

HTML & CSS are the programming languages that tell a web browser how it should display the visual elements of a web page. While basic, they are some of the world's most commonly used programming languages. All modern web pages are built off of a base of HTML & CSS, so anyone looking to develop web applications will need to learn these languages. In this overview, you’ll learn more about what HTML & CSS is, what they can do, who uses them, and how to understand them to add this skill to your professional toolbox.

What Can You Do with HTML & CSS?

Using HTML & CSS, you can design rudimentary web pages and begin the process of learning how to create dynamic and evocative web pages. While most modern web page design programs like WordPress allow novice users to construct more elaborate web pages than with HTML & CSS training alone, learning how to work with HTML & CSS prepares students for complex coding processes using programming languages such as JavaScript, React, or Python.

Learning HTML & CSS is also an essential first step in learning how to code web pages professionally. As more and more businesses, companies, organizations, and groups seek to establish an online presence, skilled Web Developers are in high demand. While any professional Web Developer will also need additional training, learning the fundamentals of front end web development will ensure that students have the foundation to build into a profitable future career.

How Do You Download/Get HTML & CSS? How Much Does it Cost?

HTML and CSS are open source and thus free to anyone. There is no cost to building a web page using these two programming languages. Since they are both simple and essential languages, a great deal of energy has gone into compiling code libraries that new programmers can draw off. These libraries will include snippets of code to define colors, backgrounds, fonts, paragraph breaks, and other essential visual display elements. 

Novice coders will also need to acquire an HTML & CSS editing application to construct a web page. There are many different tools, such as Notepad++, Adobe Dreamweaver, UltraEdit, and Bluefish. The price of these programs will vary, but many are either completely free or have robust free versions. Launching and maintaining web pages will come with a regular service fee.

What Are the Benefits of Learning HTML & CSS?

If your goal is to build web pages, personally or professionally, you’ll need to learn how to use HTML & CSS. While almost all modern web pages use more complex programming languages, such as JavaScript or Python, HTML & CSS are the backbones of the modern website. These are the languages that tell a browser how to distinguish elements of a web page for display, meaning that these are the languages that make more internet browsing possible. Web Developers cannot construct the architecture onto which they build more complex digital elements for web pages without knowing how to use these two languages.

In addition, learning HTML & CSS is a great way to begin down the road of web development training. Today, almost no website strictly uses HTML & CSS, but by the same coin, no web pages function without HTML & CSS. This means that while anyone hoping to work in the field of web development will need more training, virtually all of that training will build off their HTML & CSS knowledge in some meaningful way. For example, when students want to learn how to build interactive elements for their web pages, they will probably want to learn JavaScript, which requires knowledge of HTML & CSS. No matter what a student wants to learn when it comes to building web pages, HTML & CSS will almost certainly be a required prerequisite.

Read more about why you should learn HTML & CSS.

HTML & CSS Careers

Since HTML & CSS are the backbones of modern web pages, any web development role that codes from front end (client-facing) aspects of a web page will use HTML & CSS in some capacity. This includes anyone who designs web pages, elements of web pages or works to develop additional programming languages built off of HTML & CSS, like JavaScript. A few typical jobs that utilize HTML & CSS include:

Web Developers: Web Developers create and launch web pages for clients and firms. These developers will be given a web design document by a client or a team of designers. Then, they use coding languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to turn that design into a functioning web page. Developers will be either front end or back-end developers, with Front End Developers working on a web page's user-facing side. These are the Web Developers who will most frequently use HTML & CSS. Web Developers may also be in charge of testing, debugging, maintaining, and updating web pages.

Visual Designers: Visual Designers will focus more on the kinds of projects they work on. While Web Developers will work closely with designers on a web page project, Visual Designers will work on individual digital elements, such as banners, buttons, menus, or art assets to be included in a web page. Visual Designers will be responsible for the creative side of the design of an asset. While not all Visual Designers will develop their digital assets, many will be responsible for designing a web page asset in a program like Adobe Illustrator and coding it with a language like HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.

Front-End Web Developers: Front End Web Developers overlap considerably with Web Developers regarding skills and responsibilities. For the most part, the difference is that Web Developers will specialize in the client side of web development and likely work on larger projects with teams of other developers. Sometimes, the two titles are used interchangeably in job descriptions, but Front End Web Developers will use many of the same skills as Web Developers. They will be more attentive to one side of the process and must have a greater proficiency with that side of web development.

How to Learn HTML & CSS

Students who want to learn how to code with HTML & CSS have a few options for how they want to learn these languages. They can learn in person or online. They can learn through live instruction or asynchronously. Each course will have different affordances and limitations, so students should consider what option is best for them. Prospective students can compare their HTML & CSS classes using Noble’s Classes Near Me tool.

The most immersive and hands-on way to learn HTML & CSS is through live instruction, which is available both in-person and online. These classes offer students the chance to work directly with an experienced instructor who can guide them through learning HTML & CSS. This can be especially helpful for novice students who are learning HTML & CSS as their first programming language because the idea of coding can be intimidating for new students. In addition, the in-person classes will give students valuable networking opportunities, while the online courses will let students learn critical technical skills from anywhere in the country.

For students seeking more flexibility in their HTML & CSS training, on-demand HTML & CSS courses may be an ideal answer. These courses let students learn at their own pace since they aren’t tied to a specific live instructor’s classroom schedule. These are also the most varied training courses, allowing students to more freely customize their training to fit their learning style better. However, without a live instructor, students can quickly become lost, especially those without any computer science or coding background.

For students who are looking to understand the basics of HTML & CSS without committing to a professional training course, Noble offers free online seminars and tutorials to help ease students into programming. The Web Design and Development playlist on Noble’s official YouTube channel provides students with video instructions on how to get started with web development skills like HTML & CSS. Noble also provides a free Intro to Front End Web Development course on their free seminars page. Finally, students looking to learn more about the process of learning HTML & CSS can consult Noble’s Learn HTML & CSS page to look over the free articles and resources they have available to them.

Read the full guide on how to learn HTML & CSS.

A Brief History of HTML & CSS

HTML was first developed in the late-1980s as part of an internal system that would allow CERN scientists to share documents. The language was initially released to the public in 1993 by the Internet Explorer Task Force, which sought to standardize HTML specifications and define the language’s grammar. Despite going through several changes and updates, HTML 2.0 was released in 1995 and quickly became the standard language in which modern web pages are written. In its 5th significant iteration, HTML remains one of the most essential parts of internet infrastructure.

CSS was developed in 1996 to separate visual presentation information from HTML, as the growing number of different web browser options made uniform styling of web pages more difficult. CSS was an attempt to solve this problem by creating a unified style sheet that would ‘cascade’ by hierarchizing various formatting rules if multiple rules were applied at once. This would give web pages a more uniform appearance across different browsers. While its adoption took time, CSS has become the standard language for defining visual styles on the World Wide Web.

Comparable Applications/Programming Languages/Fields

Students who want to design web pages from scratch will have no choice but to learn HTML & CSS. As the skeleton of modern front end web development, these skills are necessary for aspiring Web Developers. However, the shift to Web 2.0 has brought several services built to make launching web pages more manageable and less time-consuming. Particularly, WordPress, whose infrastructure undergirds approximately 40% of all web pages, has become a go-to tool for individuals who want to build their own websites without needing to learn how to code.

While knowing HTML & CSS will significantly expand the scope of what one can do with a WordPress site, the platform's main selling point is its accessibility and ease of use. Since no one builds web pages using only HTML & CSS on the modern internet, using WordPress allows users to build complex, functional web pages without learning HTML & CSS, let alone more complicated languages like JavaScript or React. The flip side of this is that without knowledge of the coding languages that support these WordPress templates, users will be far more limited in the kinds of things that they can add to their web pages. They will almost find themselves wanting to add elements to their designs that they simply lack the tools to build.

Since the skills have complementary functionalities, learning HTML & CSS and WordPress is also an option for students. This pairing will help novice Web Developers ease themselves into more complicated designs and streamline their workflow as they can bring in WordPress assets without having to build them from scratch. Ultimately, the choice of what to learn will come down to how much additional training an aspiring developer seeks and how much of a stomach they have for coding.

To learn more about WordPress and the course options available through Noble for students with and without HTML & CSS knowledge, visit the WordPress page on Noble’s website.

Learn HTML & CSS with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Students looking to learn HTML & CSS can find several specialized training courses through Noble Desktop. These courses, available both in-person at Noble’s Manhattan campus and through live online instruction, will provide students with in-depth training in HTML & CSS and many programming languages built off of HTML & CSS. Regardless of the course they enroll in, students will benefit from being able to work directly with Noble’s experienced instructors. Even online, class sizes remain small to ensure that students aren’t competing for their instructor’s attention. As a bonus, all of Noble’s courses have an option to retake the class for free within a year of enrolling, giving students extra opportunities to get hands-on HTML & CSS instruction and experience.

Noble offers an introduction to web development bootcamp through their Web Development with HTML & CSS and Advanced HTML & CSS courses. These courses are designed to give students a taste of front end web development by teaching them the essential practices of coding web pages using HTML & CSS. These courses are ideal for students with no coding experience who are interested in learning the fundamental processes of learning the syntax of a programming language and translating that knowledge into the construction of a practical project. Students will learn the basic principles of using HTML tags to differentiate between elements of a web page and how to use CSS tags to apply fonts and styles to text. In the more advanced courses, students will learn how to build multi-page websites that link to one another.

Most students with aspirations of learning web development aren’t going to be content learning how to design web pages that look like they were last updated in 1997. These students may wish to enroll in Noble’s Front End Web Development Certificate program. This course will teach students the vital HTML & CSS skills they need to know to build web pages. After mastering those skills, students will learn how to use programs and languages built on top of HTML & CSS to design more complex, interactive web pages. This course will teach students how to use JavaScript, one of the most popular front end programming languages, to add interactive elements and seamless animations to their web designs. Students will also receive training on how to utilize and build WordPress templates. Nearly 40% of all modern web pages use WordPress in some capacity, so learning these skills is an ideal way to start down the path of a career in web development.

Students interested in learning more about the HTML & CSS classes and bootcamps available should consult the web development section of Noble’s website (which they can easily view and navigate thanks to developers with HTML & CSS training).

Key Insights

• HTML & CSS are the two programming languages that tell a web browser how it should display elements of a web page. HTML defines the difference between web elements, such as what is text and what is a title, and CSS tells the web browser how to style those elements visually, such as telling it what font and size to print the text you are reading.
• HTML & CSS are the backbones of modern web page development. While they are limited in their functionality, web pages, as we understand them, would look very different without HTML & CSS.
• HTML & CSS are both open-source and have an extensive library of free resources to help new coders develop web pages. Users may need to pay to edit applications or host their web pages.
• The development of HTML & CSS dates back to the early 1990s, and the standardization of both languages coincided with the development of the public internet.
• Students looking to learn HTML & CSS coding skills should consider looking at the in-person and live online training options available through Noble Desktop.