Comments on: Why Web Designers Should Code by Hand

By: Avinash Arora

Avinash Arora — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:58:48 +0000

Absolutely.

However, there’s a key difference that most (new) coders won’t see: Don’t re-invent the wheel

If you want a blog, don’t script it from the ground up, there’s lots out there that have been developed for years that will be better than anything you can do alone.

Visually though, I recommend doing it yourself at least once or twice before you start diving into the mod-frenzy of taking themes and editing. You’ll never understand someone else’s work like you will your own.

By: Ben Hunt

Ben Hunt — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 21:58:07 +0000

Actually I agree. These days, I would advise the vast majority of site owners to use the “prior art” of pro designers and developers – and use WordPress themes.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:01:09 +0000

Quite arrogant to think that hand coding a website is the Holy Grail. Having said that anyone serious about their craft should also try improve everyday. In the real world clients could care less about how you make their website, as long as it does what they want it to do. Anyone who wants a hand coded site and all the support that must necessarily go with it, have a developer on staff. Try tell a small business owner that his website will cost more because you’d prefer to hand code, and you will be quickly shown the door.

By: Kathy Lammermann

Kathy Lammermann — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:38:53 +0000

I have never written any code or made a website, that is what I am researching and would like to be able to do. I don’t like the idea of some program doing it for me because then I really have no idea what is going on. These articles by Ben Hunt have been interesting and helpful to me. Thank you.

By: Gregg

Gregg — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:46:01 +0000

Well said, Brad! BRAVO, BRAVO! =)

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 01:40:02 +0000

I could not agree more with the author. Content Management Systems, Frameworks etc, can never take the place of true knowledge. You will find that taking the easy route will eventually come back to haunt you and you will lose clients without knowledge. WordPress etc has made people consider themselves developers when in fact all they really do is learn a methodology and a software package. I been in the industry for 15 years and these are the people who come and go. Clients expect results when a problem occurs. What they don’t want to hear is its a “software” bug and I have a call out to see what can be done. DON’T BE LAZY!!!

By: Hugh

Hugh — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:38:55 +0000

Macromedia Dreamweaver? When is this article from? Content management systems get more clients closer to what they really want than standard web sites do. They can easily take over the management with just some basic training. The priesthood of hand building, save for the most advanced sites is simply crumbling. It’s a little hard to believe, but rapid advances in technology are making hand coding pretty much unnecessary for run of the mill web sites. We can sing about purity or we can move on. I’m moving on.

By: Sault Web Design

Sault Web Design — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:53:55 +0000

You make a great point, I do not claim I never use editors or understand every aspect of every language out there but I code most of my stuff by hand. There are too many so called web designers out there now who dont know any code and are simply using editors. Than you get a client who wants something changed they dont know how to do, so they come to you and now you have to understand what these others did.

By: Seb Smith

Seb Smith — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:19:02 +0000

Nice article. Can I recommend (in addition to your suggestions) Bluefish, which is free and open source. It’s a fairly good hand coding tool, with good code highlighting which is handy when coding and bug-hunting!

By: Gregg

Gregg — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:50:01 +0000

Opps… Sorry Ben… I thought it was David that wrote the article… see, the mention of Dreamweaver can mess anyone up!