I see and hear this a lot, HTML and CSS are not considered ”real” languages.
I understand this is because they only determine the structure of a website and don’t give a set of instructions per say like other languages. When you google this however there are many different articles each giving their own opinion on the subject. Is this all actually a matter of opinion or is there a straight up fact to say yes or no?
I’ve seen many memes about this over time and arguments on social media but never gave it a real thought, it was only when I stumbled across someone posting their CV/portfolio website online that said they know HTML and CSS and someone told them not to, this made me question why? Why can’t someone proudly say they know HMTL and CSS, it’s a skill you learn as a developer, maybe even the first you learn in fact.
They may be basic but you still have to know how to write them correctly, for one reason accessibility and yes correct structure of your website. CSS is also another kettle of fish, there’s so much to learn about CSS! I know there’s frameworks out there that do a lot of this for you but if you’re writing vanilla you need to know your stuff.
What’s your thoughts? 👀🤔
Top comments (6)
HTML is a language, CSS is a language. Neither are programming languages, in the same way that JSON or Markdown aren't programming languages.
You can do some calculations in CSS. You can do clever things in Markdown depending on the flavour, but you're stretching the truth to call them programming languages.
It doesn't matter, though, because they're still things you need to know if you're developing in that sector.
Agree on everything
They are both markup languages which is not the same as a programming language because they don't have complicated logic or require a degree in computer science for example. I do agree that they get unjustified hate for no reason though. You cant build a proper frontend for your website without HTML and CSS its as simple as that 😁
Why would being a "programmer" necessitate a CS degree? One of the main things I've learned in my 26+ years of programming is that CS grads are usually the most incompetent programmers (with a few exceptions, of course) and a long running joke in programming forums/communities. I tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but with CS grads I've seen far too much nonsense for far too long to deny the infection.
It doesn’t it was meant to be partly sarcastic because it is a well known fact that you can get hired even without a computer science degree. And this is quite apparent if you are active on Twitter because so many people have shared their stories and journeys on there after changing career.
My apologies.