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Haden Butikofer
617 PointsAdobe DreamWeaver vs. Manual CSS Coding
Just a stupid little question about coding with CSS. I understand that there is a program out there by Adobe called DreamWeaver. I am wondering if it is better to create a design from there, or if (even though it takes longer) it would be better to start your actual CSS coding from scratch. I understand how CSS works and everything behind it, but will it make it a much better experience if you build your code block-by-block? Thanks.
Regards,
Haden B.
5 Answers
Ernest Grzybowski
Treehouse Project ReviewerI would say that Dreamweaver is a popular and very good tool, but I know a lot of web developers and designers that do not use it. Most of them (and myself included) prefer to just use a plain text editor. That being said, most of us do a lot of our debugging and changing of CSS styles in the developer tools provided by the web browser. I will almost never make a change to the actual .css file without first trying it out in a developer tool.
I use:
Firefox: Firebug
Chrome: Ctrl+Shift+I
Internet Explorer: F12
Haden Butikofer
617 PointsThank you so much. Very much appreciated!
Ernest Grzybowski
Treehouse Project ReviewerNot a problem. Keep in mind that this is a very "opinionated" response, but from the professional work I have done, this seems to be the standard. Dreamweaver can be used to create and edit websites as a whole, not just CSS, which makes it a valuable tool because of it's graphical interface to markup websites. My best advice to you is to download the Dreamweaver trial and explore it, and see if it is a useful tool for you!
JD Richards
4,601 PointsI echo @Ernest that most professionals I know use a text editor over a software like Dreamweaver. I personally find it faster and more reliable to hand code css or html etc. rather than having to deal with the little bugs and nuances of a software like Dreamweaver. However, If you are an absolute beginner Dreamweaver may help you get a site up and running quicker than trying to code. Good luck!
Joe Cochran
18,249 PointsApplications like Adobe Dreamweaver have a tendency to over complicate rules and add unnecessary styling which leads to larger files and trickier debugging should things go wrong. I personally do not know a professional web designer who uses dreamweaver to generate their css, and I have only met one who used it as a code editor to hand code their css. I would definitely recommend taking the time to understand css and use an editor such as Sublime Text 2.
Haden Butikofer
617 PointsYes, I used to use Notepad++, but from the tutorials online, <b>Sublime Text 2</b> has been absolutely amazing. I love it and it helps me write code so much faster. But thanks for the explanation. It's just been a topic that I've been looking over for quite a while. I would much rather write the code by itself because it leaves a better understanding of the whole site in general. Thanks.
Rick Rakin
6,531 PointsI'm gaining a growing impression that such lullaby software is the De Facto standard software being used to teach web design in most United States colleges and Universities. Someone please prove me wrong. This is good news for those learning it the long way (by hand with a text editor) in terms of job competition I'd think.
Haden Butikofer
617 PointsI'd say yeah. Programs that write the code for you are for people who don't know how to actually write any code besides basic HTML, if even that. I think that the ability of writing it would make it a better job competition. Plus, if you know how to code it, chances are, you probably already know things like PHP and Javascript, which help you out a ton on building an interactive site.