Programming vs templates

It depends on what your goal is for learning to code.

If you are in business involving the web in some way, whether it is selling design or development services, or even internet marketing, you are held fast by whatever templates are available for you to download or buy, unless you learn what makes them work, and how to make them work better for you. Your particular purpose may to produce a one-off site. Perhaps learning to code is not necessary for your particular situation.

BUT...

If you want to customize any of these templates for you or for others, you will need to know how. Also, if you learn even the rudimentary aspects of programming, you are less at the mercy of those people and companies who designed the templates in the first place.

If your goal is to help other people in some manner through a web site or web app, then think of how much more versatile your solutions could be, if you could design whatever solution you could imagine. That is why most of us continue to learn to program.

Somebody else had an answer here to a similar question that I really liked, so I'm going to steal it and use it here.

"Why hire a photographer when you have a camera".

I do not think templates are the future. They will have a section of the market. The human element is so important in many things design-wise. In photography, product, graphic, web design, there is an element of human emotion that makes a good design great, and computer generated code and templates can not do that. It's too linear.

Just my .02

I also don't think templates are the way of the future, at least not ones that are used OOB and not customized. I am all for utilizing existing resources and not reinventing the wheel so I don't think a site always needs to be coded from scratch. However, I do think that every purchased template should be customized to ensure the site has a unique look suitable for the niche. To do that, you either have to learn to code or find someone and pay them.

For example, I just got my first gig on Guru.com. The guy asked for a specific project scope but after reviewing his site I suggested a major template change. Rather than custom coding a template from scratch, I'm using the template structure from a trusted source and changing the graphics, colors, and layout (a bit) to make it really fit with the feel they're looking for. By using an existing resource and customizing it, I'm saving both of us time and my client a lot of money and he's getting something unique that is within his budget. :)