I'm just starting my coding journey and going through some online courses and night classes. I've mainly used platforms like Sololearn and freeCodeCamp for HTML lessons, but I'm feeling a bit lost when it comes to coding outside these environments. I really want to practice by creating a small website, but I find the whole process intimidating. I just downloaded VSCode on my Mac laptop, but I'm not sure if that's the right tool or how to make it all work. Can anyone point me in the right direction on where to code my HTML, how to run it, and how to eventually get URLs for my web pages? Thanks!
5 Answers
VSCode is a solid choice! It’s widely used by developers and should suit your needs as you learn. You can create a new project, add an HTML file (like my-site.html), and just write your code in there. To see your work, right-click the HTML file, copy its path, and paste that into your browser to preview it. It's straightforward once you get the hang of it!
Thanks for clarifying! I was worried I might be missing some important steps by starting with VSCode. It's good to hear it's a good option for someone just starting out.
If you're serious about local development, you'll want a web server set up for your projects. For Windows, you can enable IIS. For Mac, try out the Simple Web Server app. These will help run your HTML/CSS locally.
You might also check out online editors like codepen.com for HTML/CSS/JS. They allow you to play around in the browser without any setup, which can be really handy when you're practicing.
For a super simple setup, you could also just use Notepad++ and a compiler like gcc for coding. That’s a basic way many beginners start out on new machines.
You could try an online notebook like observablehq.com. It's user-friendly and has great documentation, which can really help you as you learn. Just be careful with the reactive programming aspect—it can get tricky, but it’s a useful skill to have as you advance.
Exactly! Your browser interprets HTML and renders it for you. When you use local files like this, just copying the file path directly into your browser lets you see your project in action.