Carsonified’s Mike Kus on 5 Good Reasons Why Designers Should Code:
Finally learning HTML and CSS in order to code my own designs was the best decision I ever made. Here are five good reasons why I think designers should code.
I’m a longstanding advocate of this generalist approach to web design. I was floored to find out some designers don’t code. Similarly I’ve always been amazed that specialized positions such as Business Analyst or Database Engineer exist. Or why some developers don’t know HTML or Javascript.
Some types of people constantly seek learning and new technology, and other types seek a comfortable and safe place to drop anchor. Similarly, some people will always be prepared for the next wave of opportunities, while others struggle when the rope they’ve attached to their anchor isn’t quite long enough to keep them afloat.
While I agree with the general sentiment, doing a little HTML and CSS and then referring to it as “code” is like a developer saying they “designed” when creating a gradient in photoshop for a background. HTML and CSS are markup languages. And while CSS3 does contain some nice logical selectors they just don’t compare to the complexities with dabbling with a server side language.
To really dive into “code” and better inform the design one should learn basic variable constructs, looping tradeoffs, conditional operators, and even database driven output.
Completely agree, Matt. When I started designing websites, it made perfect sense to figure out how to make it work. That included HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, and then morphed into Python, Ruby, and even Java and C. That’s why it blows my mind that someone would focus on database engineering and not know how to code a project up to interface with that database. I know quite a few Java engineers who literally thought Javascript was a rogue Java library. The generalist mentality is more of a motivation to understand your product and what it takes to create something online.