To Code a Mockup Bird
To code is to create, to develop.
Behind every color, column, button or image there is code. Whether this code is hand-written, software generated or adapted from something else, it must be flawless.
Adal Design takes pride in writing code that is:
- Appropriate for the specifications
- Optimized at every level
- Free of mistakes and highly browser-compatible
- Standards-compliant
- Simple to read and modify, thus scalable
- Geared towards Search Engine Optimization
The quality of your website’s code can be a foundation for sustainable growth, but if disregarded, a liability in everything you wish to accomplish.
Do it once. Do it right!
What types of code, and for what?
To illustrate the nature and function of different coding languages, let’s compare a fully functional website to a human body…
- HTML [spoiler]This is the most basic language of the web, and the most important. HTML ‘tags’ are placed around bits of content (sometimes empty spaces) to group them and give them ‘IDs’ and ‘classes’. A set of simple rules must be carefully respected for the “grammar” to be correct, and using the correct tag for each piece of content is essential for SEO.[/spoiler]
In the human body, HTML tags would be used to group matter into cells and give them a name. - CSS [spoiler]This more recent language was created to serve a double purpose. Developers use CSS to ‘call’ an HTML tag (or group of tags), then customize its appearance and properties with simple lines of code called ‘rules’. These can range from color to size and positioning. The first purpose of CSS is thus to give developers the same freedom as graphic designers in the creation of their web pages. The second purpose, yet no less important, is part of a global effort to separate content from layout in order to slowly shift towards the ‘semantic web’.[/spoiler]
In the human body, CSS code would be used to organize the HTML cells into functional and well defined organs. - JavaScript [spoiler]Not to be confused with Java, JS is an object-oriented type of code that is supported by the vast majority of browsers and employed in most websites today. Unlike Flash that is used to create a tile of hyper-animated content to be placed on a website’s page; JavaScript can be used to animate and manipulate any element of a page, including something that is not written there. JS can be used in more ways than can be listed here, but overall it can be employed to what CSS is incapable of by offering more freedom for layout, animation and content manipulation.[/spoiler]
In the human body, JavaScript would be used to give the body mobility and even complex reflexes. - Php [spoiler]Of the many server side languages, php is perhaps the most widespread. Created, used and documented by an open-source community, it has many appealing advantages. It is free and ready to be used on most hosting servers. It is extremely well documented, has been improved by custom libraries like phpCake and evolves relatively fast. Created by developers, for developers, php is behind many frameworks such as Joomla and WordPress. Php can be used to perform just about any server-side processes, the most basic being deciding which client side code to send to a user requesting a page.[/spoiler]
In the human body, php would clearly be the brain’s ability to play with ideas, make decisions and adapt to situations. - SQL [spoiler]Intelligence without memory is pointless. This is why php-powered websites are almost systematically coupled with an open-source database technology: MySQL. SQL is the limited-vocabulary language used to read and write on a MySQL database.[/spoiler]
In the human body, SQL is a specific set of rules to access and use long term memory. - XML [spoiler]The fairly recent success of XML lies precisely… in its popularity. Being adopted by an ever-increasing amount of web-applications and software, XML has become the universal exchange markup language it was intended to be.[/spoiler]
If our human lived in the USA, XML would be English: the language he uses to communicate with everyone else.
Whatever the project, whichever the language:
In everything we touch, we leave a trail of well-developed code.
Tags: body, code, CSS, development, explain, HTML, javascript, jQuery, js, php, web, website, xml
You have an interesting and different way of thinking about coding. I’m a designer who’s started getting into some coding. I’m in the process of writing down ideas related to my approach to design work. Hope you’ll take a minute to look at my site.
Alex