The Importance of HTML Coding

Almost everyone has had the great opportunity of logging onto the Internet and feasting their eyes upon the infinite number of websites. There is literally a webpage for almost anything one can think of. But how did they all get there? What makes up a webpage? It is amazing to see all of the little things that make up a relatively simple webpage. Most people just see numbers and symbols all bunched up together, but to the HTML person, every symbol has its purpose. The addition of one singal number or letter could change the entire appearance of the website! Of course for students, HTML may seem like a difficult program that requires the memorization of meaningless codes and shortcuts, but to a web designer, it is a language that they understand very well.
I was first exposed to the HTML program during the summer of my seventh grade year. I was in a summer program called PREP and they highly encourage students to learn the methods of HTML. They constantly told us that it was a very important skill that we should possess, and that it would help make life later a little easier. Now , almost 5 years later, I am having to design my very own website, and I am just really glad that I have some background on it. Before it was difficult having to carefully type every code in to make the webpage just the way you wanted. It took a really long time and was quite tedious, but it was worth it once you saw your page come to life. Now, through the advancement of technology, their are programs such as Microsoft Expression Web that do all of the coding for you! It is a really neat program and cuts design time almost in half. There are numerous cons to such a wonderful program, but there are some down falls to it as well. Expression Web works just like a word document. You type in what you want and the HTML code is automatically taken from what you just typed in. The problem with such programs is that sometimes programs have defaults of certain fonts or colors and it makes it the way it thinks it should be. Doing HTML coding yourself, you would be able to choose freely what it is that you are inserting or even catch the mistakes that you have made in coding. Not knowing the HTML language would make this so much more harder for web designers.
All in all, HTML is vital. It is what makes up this very blog spot and other things just like it. Not being able to create webpages on your own could lead to error or even dependence upon programs such as Dreamweaver or Expression Web. The point is that every good designer should know the dirty work of what they are creating and just not rely on someone else to do it for them.