Re: Dinosaurs

Steve:

Are you going to become a dinosaur?

The short but incomplete and unfair answer is -- yes.

However, at least for some time to come, the knowledge of HTML is still very
valuable. Although I am an advocate of WYSIWYG editors, not one of them--so
far--is capable of doing EVERYTHING.

Just like you still need Microsoft Publisher because even though Word is
really super, it is still not a page layout program. So too, does one find
that most HTML editors come up short in some areas.

However--more and more web design/authoring shops are going to WYSIWYG
simply because hand coding is just too darn slow. I know this will cause
someone on this list to infer that he or she can type hand code faster that
I can make a couple of mouse clicks.

but - -

They are just kidding themselves. Remember word processors all started with
hand coding too. Does anyone STILL use Superscript or Word Star or the old
Compugraphic hand coding. Would you do word processing in NotePad? [placing
your Postscript printer commands in brackets] That would be silly. No one
could afford the time.

So--in a few years--HTML editing will become as simple and as common place
as using Word to type a letter. It is inevitable. Its the way the world
works.

However, just as you still need spelling and grammar skills to write in
Word, having a good solid base in HTML theory will be valuable for some time
to come. After all, as great as WYSIWYG editors are fast becoming, they are
still just tools.

A Skill saw may have pretty much rendered the hand saw to rest but one still
needs to know where to make the cut.

Now I suggest everyone back off to one side as this area may soon be full of
flames.

Best wishes to all
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
www.temercraft.com/
www.newsredding.com/


> Hi all,
>
> I've just had an un-nerving experience.
>
> For the past couple of years I have become very familiar with the latest
> specifications of HTML and as a result, been able to hand code HTML and
fix
> others' code fairly efficiently.  This has become a source of pride and
> enjoyment for me and a great advocate of W3C's efforts.
>
> However...... I recently was able to convert a Word Perfect document
> DIRECTLY to HTML using Microsoft Word. Then I ran TIDY on the code and had
> it clean it up to XHTML 1.0 standard.  I then ran it through the W3C's
> online validator and it validated perfectly the first time!  I never
touched
> the code!
>
> Then a couple of days later, I attended a free Macromedia seminar in
> Philadelphia where they showed what their product can do.  I was very
> impressed.  They have very powerful tools that definitely expedite the
> development process and let you do things that would take forever any
other
> way. All this and the user doesn't seem to need to know any code but has
> access to it from within their tools if you want it.
>
> Between these powerful tools and the TIDY program, I'm left wondering if
> their is really any need for people with the knowledge to hand code web
> pages.  If I continue with my present track will I become the way of the
> dinosaurs.  Any thoughts?
>
> Steve Antonio
> santonio(at)delanet.com
>
>

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