30 Days Of HTML: Introduction

Introduction

Terminologies
Some of the terminologies you may come across in this challenge: client, server, web developer, web
designer, UI, UX, web development, browser, code editor, command lines, Git, GitHub, Version
Control, semantic, accessibility, responsiveness, compatibility, request, response, HTML, CSS, JavaScript,
viewport, blocking element, non-blocking element, tag, opening tag, closing tag, self closing
tag, attribute, style, script, property, value, render, comment, HTTP, path, URL, absolute path, relative
path, landing page, single page application, hero image, HTML element, content, SEO, feature
image, carousel, sidebar, website, web application
Day 1
Introduction
Congratulations on deciding to participate in 30 days of HTML challenge. In this challenge you will learn
everything you need to know about HTML, and in general, the foundation of web development. In the
end of the challenge, you will get a 30DaysOfHTML challenge completion certificate. In case you need
help or if you would like to help others you may join the telegram group.
A 30DaysOfHTML challenge is a complete guide for both beginners and advanced developers. Welcome
to 30DaysOfHTM! HTML is the build-block of the web. There is no website without HTML, therefore, to
develop a website it requires an HTML.
In this step by step HTML challenge, you will learn HTML, the standard markup language for the web.
HTML is used to build the skeleton or outline of any website. The skeleton or outline of the website is
styled(beautified) by CSS(Cascading Style Sheet). JavaScript (JS) can make a website interactive and
dynamic. HTML, CSS and JS are the core technologies to build websites and these are the skills required
to be a web developer. This challenge will focus on HTML but we will use little CSS to make some HTML
concepts more clear to the readers. A 30DaysOfCSS will be a follow up challenge after 30DaysOfHTML.
There are 30 Days of JavaScript, 30 Days of React, and 30 Days of Python by the same author.
Look at the following picture to understand the purpose of HTML, CSS and JavaScript very well.
The image has been taken from medium article, source.
By the end of the challenge:
 You will have a clear understanding of how the web works
 You will be able to develop a modest static website with HTML and little CSS
 You will know what to do next to become a web developer
The main goal of this challenge is to teach the core building block of the web that is HTML. Therefore,
let's get started by understanding some the terminologies in this field such as web development, front
end development, back end development, and full-stack.
⚠️This is not a proof read material. You may find typo, grammar and some technical errors here and
there. The content will be updated now and then. Therefore, do not be surprised you find a typo or a
grammar or other mistakes.
This challenge is easy to read, written in conversational English, engaging, motivating and at the same
time, it is very demanding. You need to allocate much time to finish this challenge. If you are a visual
learner, you may get the video lesson on Washera YouTube channel. Subscribe the channel, comment
and ask questions on YouTube vides and be proactive, the author will eventually notice you.
The author likes to hear your opinion about the challenge, share the author by expressing your thoughts
about the 30DaysOfHTML challenge. You can leave your testimonial on this link
Requirements
The minimum requirement to follow this challenge:
 Motivation
 Computer
 Internet
Web Development
Web development is a process of designing, building, testing, and maintaining a website which ranges
from a simple single page static website to a complex full-stack applications. This field has two broad
categories.
 Frontend
 Backend
Frontend Web Development
A front end(client-side) is a website that a user can see and interact with. It can be also called a client-
side because it is the part that the user(client) can see and interact with. Therefore, anything we see on
any website when we surf on the internet is part of the front end and it includes the colors, fonts,
buttons, images, videos, audios and any other content on the website. The technologies that uses to
build front end parts of a website are called front end technologies. The core technologies to build a
front end are:
 HTML
 CSS
 JavaScript
There are hundreds of JavaScript that allows building a dynamic web applications. Currently, the three
most popular JavaScript libraries are:
 React
 Vue
 Angular
Do not learn learn JavaScript before, HTML and CSS. Do not learn JavaScript libraries before you learn
JavaScript. This the right sequence of learning:HTML > CSS > JavaScript > React or Vue or Angular.
Backend Web Development
Backed(Server-side) development refers to the activities that happens behind the scene. Backend
development consists of backend a programming language and a database. The backend interacts with
frontend and the database using a backend programming language that could be (Node.js, Python,
Ruby, PHP, etc). Look at the following figure to understand the interaction between client. A client send
a HTTP request to the backend and the backend return a HTTP response to the client computer(The
response could be an HTML page, txt, image, or any other form of data). HTTP(Hypertext Transfer
Protocol) is a communication protocol that allow transmitting data between a client and a sever. It is
designed for communication between web browsers(client) and web servers.

Full-stack Web Development

Full-stack is another buzzword that no one agrees on the definition. You can understand Full-stack web
development as a sum of frontend, backend, testing, and including some other technologies. I believe
now you have a big picture of web development.
How the Web Works
By now you should have clear understanding how the web works based on the information you get on
the above two sections. If you want to know more you may also read this article.
Web Development Tools
Tools you need as a web developer
 Motivation
 Computer
 Internet: To access information or resources
 Browser: allows to render HTML code to a human readable output(website pages). Examples of
browsers(Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari, Opera, Brave, etc)
 Design Software: allow to create a design or a prototype of the website. Examples of (Figma,
Adobe XD, etc)
 Code Editor: allows to write code. For example(Visual Studio Code, Atom, Sublime Text, Bracket,
etc)
 Git(Version Control Software): allows to manage different version of our code
Before we start developing a website, it is good to recall the common parts(components) of a website.
In the next section, we will cover this.
Parts of a website
A website can have a couple of features or several features. There is no guideline that tells what a
website should have but most of the time a website has the following common parts(components). For
instance, if you look at the first ever created website, it has just one page and several links. However,
since 1993 to today, for the last three decades HTML has been evolving and with only HTML it is possible
to develop a decent static website.
Let's see the most common parts(components) of a website:
 Website Logo  Footer
 Header/Banner
 Navigation
Bar/Menu Bar
 Carousel
 Sections
 Forms
 Buttons
 Links
 Images
 Videos
 Audios
 Social Links
If you agree that these are components of a website, then you will create these components to build a
website. Actually, once you create a certain feature it can be used in different projects(reusable).
Therefore, whenever you create a certain part try to consider maintainability and reusability. You don't
have to have all the mentioned above features when you develop a website. There is no strict guidelines
what to have on your website.
Exercises
1. What is web development?
2. What is frontend?
3. Mention at least four frontend technologies
4. What is backend?
5. Mention at least four backend technologies
6. What is full-stack
7. What is client?
8. What is server
9. What is HTTP?
10. What is HTTP request ?
11. What is HTTP response?
12. What are the necessary tools for a web development?
13. Mention parts of a website
14. What is the purpose of HTML
15. What is the purpose of CSS?
16. What is the purpose of JavaScript
17. Is it possible to develop using only HTML?
18. Is there any strict guidelines what a website should look like?
19. What are Git and GitHub? Did you install Git? Do you have GitHub account?
20. Do you need a prototype or mockup or a wireframe before you start building the website?
21. First open this website, then right click on the page then click source, after that you will get an
HTML source code. Count the number of the different HTML tag that have been used on this
site.