Let’s Give This Skeleton Some Style

When I first began my first week in UCB’s Coding Bootcamp — I was at a loss. I had never seen or heard this language before. It sounded so foreign, so…mysterious? I couldn’t understand where to begin. What the heck do I write? When I reserved my very first tutoring session, I tried to think of questions that would actually benefit my learning experience. Alas, no words, no questions — nothing.

During the first tutoring session, I was asked, “So, what questions do you have?” I couldn’t believe how speechless I was. It’s just a question, after all. My tutor caught onto this and kindly did an overview. He described it perfectly, “Think of HTML as the skeleton, and think of CSS as the styling. We need to give our skeleton some styling!”

Without some styling, we’re left with a bland page that looks like something straight out of a 90’s movie. Think, “You’ve Got Mail!”

The late 90’s brought us ~style~

No, not that kind of style.

While HTML is written to give the document it’s structure (such as titles, paragraphs, subtitles, and more) — CSS comes in with further structure and style. CSS allows us to align things the way we want, add splashes of color, be playful with font, and so much more.

I like to reference HTML as the frame of the house. Where we build our foundation, put up our walls, and grids. CSS is the paint we choose for our walls, the photos we pick to hang up, and the tile we set down in our kitchen. For example, I’m a fan of the homes in Berkeley, CA that are full of character. Whoever built the homes with stain-glassed windows, wood-bordered windows, and original hardwood flooring — really knew what they were doing. This is our CSS!

The HTML is much like building the frame and foundation of the home, you cannot go on without it! After all, CSS is nothing without that structure, but they are unstoppable together.