Let's Get Down to Business, of Coding
Have you ever thought about coding and what goes into it? Have you ever wanted to learn how to code? I had never thought it was important for myself to learn anything about coding, but boy was I wrong. I have not learned much in comparison to the amount there is to learn for coding, but through a few platforms, I have been able to conquer the basics. Coding is not as scary as it would seem, and if you are still shaking at the word, keep reading on to calm your nerves.
What is Coding?
Let's start off with something simple, the definition of coding. According to Technopedia,
“Coding refers to creating computer programming code. In a more general sense, the word coding is used to refer to assigning a code or classification to something.”
You are able to do really neat things with coding, like build a website and make changes to said site as you please. So with that being said, let me go into some of the basics of what I learned about coding, and try to enlighten you with the same knowledge I now possess.
Let’s get down to the basics
All of my newly found knowledge came from Codecademy, in the course “Introduction to HTML”. Why start with HTML? Largely because this is the skeleton of all the web pages. Codecademy also emphasized that HTML is often the first language learned by marketers because it is the core to front-end development work. Want to see what HTML looks like? Go ahead and right-click on your internet page, choose “Inspect,” and a panel will show up on your screen with HTML.
- HTML (HyperText Markup Language): provides structure on a website, like images, text or videos. Below is a screenshot I took from Codecademy so you are able to see the different elements of HTML and picture dissecting it.
- Adding the right tags: there are many tags that need to be added, like the <head> and <body> tag. The <head> tag will allow you to give the browser you are working on some information about the page itself. The <body> element is used to contain a web page’s content, including hyperlinks, images, tables, and text.
- Linking to other web pages: you can add links to your web page by adding the anchor element (<a>), to give the link a name. Then add in the hyperlink reference, href, to reference the address where the file is located.
Codecademy vs. other coding platforms
I thought Codecademy was a great place to start learning about the basics of coding. It provides information on the new topic and then allows you to follow step-by-step instructions and get a feel of how to perform the actions yourself. If you perform the incorrect action, Codecademy will let you know but marking the action with a red “X”, as seen in the picture on the right. It will also offer a hint for you to use if need be. Something I really liked about this platform was the option to look at the “Community Forum” for frequently asked questions. This helps you look at what other people, who have struggled with the same step, said about it. This will hopefully give you enough resources to be able to figure out the action by yourself, but no worries if you still are not able to. Codecademy provides a “solution” button that will show you what the correct action would have been.
However, there was an issue I had with this certain platforms process. There was a step that I kept getting wrong even though I was sure I was doing it correct. After looking at the hint, community forum, and finally just looking at the solution, I realized my issue was that I hadn’t copied a word down just as they had shown it, I forgot to capitalize the first letter in that word. So my piece of advice for you is to check those little things because Codecademy is picky when it comes to them.
After completing a section within the course, it gave an overview of what you had just learned and even provided a video of experts talking about the information in action.
I also forgot to mention that throughout all the steps you take, there will be a panel on the right hand-side that will display your html content, but in a typical website format, and this is what your users would see.
Another platform I took a look at was Squarespace. This is also a website that is meant for building a website. It is very different from Codecademy. Squarespace provides you with templates you can choose from as your first step towards building a website. You then have the option to change anything you want. I have provided a picture of the template I chose, mind that all of the text on it was just the default provided.
As you can see, there are options on the left to change anything you want, from the titles, to the design itself. Here's a closer look at what options become available when I pressed the "Pages" button.
So similarly to Codecademy, you can build and manage a website. However, Codecademy gives you the knowledge about coding to help you build a website from the ground up, while Squarespace provides you with their templates to begin with.
A third site I checked out was Coursera. They offer multiple courses for an "Introduction to HTML", but it differs from Codecademy because these are extensive courses. They span over a period of weeks and cost money, while Codecademy's can be completed in a matter of hours for free. I would recommend Coursera if you really want to learn about the nitty gritty of coding, but Codecademy will work great if you more just want to get your foot-in-the door!
Why should digital marketers care about coding?
Familiarizing yourself with the basics of coding can be helpful in many ways. When working at a firm, there may be times when the site crashes or something simple goes wrong with the website and it needs to be taken care of right away. Forget about calling an IT worker, you can save the day! Having some basic coding knowledge can be key to standing out from other competitors when trying to land that great job. Also, I know I have discussed about why it is important to be a T-Marketer, being a generalists in a lot of subjects but being a specialist in a select few, and learning to code would allow you to gain that general knowledge needed to widen your range of digital tactics you can perform.
So now that you know a little somethin' somethin' about coding, get out there and increase your knowledge through your own practice!
