CodeClan offers a series of in-depth classes that let students go from novices to professionals ready to take a job in software development or data analysis, but month-long courses arenโt the only options on the table. CodeClan also offers a selection of short courses from one to three days long, for the interested to take a quick look at a topic and walk the first steps toward coding. One of such short courses is the HTML & CSS class, three days of study where you can delve into the basis of web development.
The following is my experience attending this class:
My reason for attending
I was looking for ways to improve my curriculum and I already had a background in tech from university; I then looked at the courses and the short ones seemed exactly like what I was looking for. I could do them in just a couple of days and get a skill Iโd be able to use later on while working, and since it was online it was also quite convenient for me since I was away from Edinburgh those days. All I had to do next was take a few days off and book the course.
The experience
My experience was very positive. The instructor was helpful and the other students were quite friendly.
I started in the previous days by joining a group chat on Slack and downloading Visual Studio. I also decided to check a few online videos to have a general idea of what HTML & CSS was about, but it turned out not to be necessary.
On the morning of the first day of class, I clicked the Zoom link and soon after the class started. Thatโs when I first met the rest of the class and the instructor. There were nine of us and we spent a few minutes doing introductions.
Our instructor informed us of the structure of the course. We would spend the first day on HTML, the second on CSS and the third doing an exercise to bring everything together and answer questions from the previous two days.
The class began with an explanation of some definitions so that we would all be on the same page, followed by how to open the program we would be using and the possible applications of HTML.
As is the tradition in all programming languages, our first exercise was to make a code to write โHello World!โ on a blank page. We then learned a series of useful keyboard shortcuts that made everything that followed much easier, especially the TAB button to write faster by finishing the most likely command.
We then took the first of a series of short breaks throughout the day to rest a bit, go over our notes and stretch our legs a bit.
The rest of the first day was a series of explanations and exercises broken up by the odd break and our frequent questions; by the end, we all had a solid understanding of HTML.
The second day was devoted to CSS. Essentially, if HTML places the text on a web page, CSS alters the page through graphics, fonts and formatting. The structure of the day was much similar to that of the previous, though the questions were more frequent as we struggled to grasp some concepts. Having an instructor to answer our questions rather than going online and wandering around confusing websites looking for a solution was incredibly helpful, especially since often we would share our screens when we got stuck and we would help each other find typos in the code.
The third day was centred around the creation of something for our portfolio. We first spent the morning going over what we had trouble with on the previous days; in the afternoon, we worked on the portfolio by ourselves while the instructor was always available to answer our questions and help us out. It was much harder to code by ourselves, but it was a necessary step every programmer must take; no one can know every command of a language, so searching online resources for what you are looking for is an essential skill. Thankfully, he remained with us the entire time when we got stuck and even gave us a few extra exercises at the end to make sure we had a solid grasp of what we had problems with that morning.
Once the class was over, we received a series of resources to download if we were interested in pursuing the topic further.
Conclusions
Thinking back at the class, I would have liked to have an idea ready for the portfolio before joining the course. On the third day, we created our personal webpage, so I would have preferred to have a good idea for something to work on ready while the instructor was around to give advice.
Still, Iโm glad I went through the class. Web development is a skill that will come in handy in the future.
HTML & CSS is one of our most popular classes. If you would like to enrol in the course, you can find more details here. If you would instead like to look at our other courses to pick up a skill more relevant for your career, discover our courses here.
