If handcoded webpage displays the same as WYSIWYG generated page, what did I gain? Can I compete with WYSIWYG?

Question

My friend uses DreamWeaver to create web pages and doesn't know any HTML at all. I know HTML inside and out and can hand code from the ground up. But our web pages look similar and he can get paid for his WYSIWYG generated sites. What have I gained from learning HTML and hand-coding?

Can I compete with people using DreamWeaver or other WYSIWYG editors? I know that for something like JavaScript or PHP the only way to go is to hand-code the whole thing yourself, no tools can do that for you, but is HTML in the same position?

Answer 1

My friend codes web pages by hand and doesn't know how to use DreamWeaver at all. I know DreamWeaver inside and out and can build great web sites with it. But our web pages look similar and he's getting paid for his hand coded sites. What have I gained from learning DreamWeaver? Can I compete with people who hand code their web pages?

People choose to use tools that work fro them. If you think you would be more productive using DreamWeaver, use DreamWeaver. However, I have a feeling if you chose not to use DreamWeaver for a reason, your productivity might actually fall (as mine definitely would) if you used it.

Vice versa for your friend who uses DreamWeaver.

Answer 2

You get smaller markup that will load faster and is more maintainable in the long run. Code generators, whether they're generating C#, C++ or html, help you get the work done quickly, but when it comes time to hand-edit them, look out!

Answer 3

Yes, you can and always will win that battle too. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but soon the cruft associated with WYSIWIG editors will make maintenance a pain in the butt for him. There is also the case of understanding the language wholly; this will help you tremendously when you encounter the bug that cannot be dealt with by simple drag and drop.

Also consider that you have much greater control of what your site looks like from a data point of view. When developing serious web applications, there is no way you can wing it with a WYSIWIG editor.

--I'm sure others have more to say, but that's my soapbox moment

Answer 4

Sure you can, you can write HTML that does things that a WYSIWYG editor can't. Additionally, you can debug bad markup when it occurs.

You've discovered the challenges in staying competitive in the era of good WYSIWYG editors. Your edge is in dynamic HTML programming. I can assure you that my company definitely has a need for people who know HTML, as we rarely create a new page from scratch but usually just modify existing content to add new features.

PS. Your tale reminds me of the short story "Profession" by Isaac Asimov^*, in which the protagonist is part of a society that educates everyone through the use of tapes. Except he is an unusual and very special individual, where he gets to write the tapes. Who is going to write the next generation of DreamWeaver, or write webpages using the next generation of HTML that the WYSIWYG editors do not support? That would be you. So I'd suggest you learn more programming - javascript, PHP perhaps, and branch out beyond strictly web design. Leave that to the Dreamweaver monkeys like your friend. You are capable of so much more!

*_{The text is available online, but I shall not link it as it would be a copyright breach.}

Answer 5

1. You get cleaner code. That will ease its integration into some scripting language/template engine. Also, the generated code may not work well with different content than it was designed with: again, scripting pros.
2. You get lighter code. It's loading faster, and browsers render it more quickly. Nowadays it's not the case, but still rather important: there are tons of articles written by people struggling for every millisecond.
3. You add ids/classes faster. In WYSIWYG you have to right-click and edit a property. That's ~10 secs. In text mode, you spend <1 sec to add classes. This is important in JavaScript.
4. You can do what your editor can't. Standards for markup are much more powerful than any WYSIWYG editor can handle!

more to come! :)

Answer 6

Well if you are being paid a fix fee for a job then I would say stick with the tool that you know the best and allows you to work the fastest. I've found that even with hourly jobs a quick turnaround almost always results in requests for more features ie more billable hours.

Answer 7

Well, if the results are the same or close enough, perhaps your friend is a better salesperson. And if the buzzword needed to sell the job is "Dreamweaver", well, then it's worth knowing.

As for hand-coding, I prefer html editors like Homesite of HTML-Kit, that make hand-coding more productive. Unfortunately, Adobe discontinued Homesite, so that's now one less option.

And for WYSIWYG, give me Photoshop any day!

Answer 8

I use gvim + Firefox/firebug for coding, and I'm pretty sure it's faster than using Dreamweaver. I'm sure there are faster editors, especially if you want to pay for one, but I don't think an IDE is faster than a good programming editor in capable hands for writing the code. Perhaps for debugging - I don't know how to debug PHP code using vim, so I use Netbeans when I have to do that (I mostly use Linux).

I do have an an old copy of Dreamweaver (CS2), but I never use it, and really should uninstall it, as I hate it when I accidentally double-click on a file in Windows thinking it will run gvim, and Dreamweaver starts up. Takes way too long to start.

Answer 9

It's good to know HTML.

Writing your own HTML gives you total control over the document. Having to work around the limitations (and errors) produced in generated HTML can be a real pain in the neck.

Answer 10

Besides that fact that you can have faster cleaner code, you are in the mindset of a programmer. I tried to learn basic before I had a good handle on html and css and it wasn't going very smoothly. I went back and focused on coding in notepad which led to javascript which led to jquery which led to php which led to a great job. If I had used dreamweaver I would be baffled by these languages.

Answer 11

More complex pages cannot be implemented with a WYSIWYG editor, once you truly know HTML and CSS, the range of things you can do is amazing. Given a complex layout in photoshop (which is generally what will happen in the industry) you need a far finer grain of control than what Dreamweaver will give you.

Answer 12

No matter how good the WYSIWYG, there will be times when it can't cope with tricky CSS/HTML layouts, and you need to dive into the code to fix it (or even to achieve a specific effect). The only productivity gain I've ever had from Dreamweaver is for using it as a glorified word processor, when converting a long document into HTML. For typing big blocks of un-styled content, it's great. For everything else... not so much.

Websites take time to design the graphics, match the look/feel with the content, arrange the content and workflow, etc. The time taken to actually code the thing is the least of your worries as a designer.

Answer 13

I work at a design firm. Recently we wanted to hire a new Designer. One of the qualifications was web experience. During their interview we made them do a test to do a simple hand coded layout in HTML/CSS.

You should have seen how many people look at the screen and say, "I've only been trained in DW."

They were not, of course, hired.