Tech Tuesday!

Guest post from my husband, computer super hero. He has recently started a very basic beginners series on HTML/CSS. He initially wrote this for my computer savvy children but I thought it would be great to post it on here.

HTML & CSS: Lesson 1 – Setting up your box.

Before we can start pounding out code and creating awesome web sites we need to do a little setup.  Artists need paints, writers need pens, and web developers need an IDE. So what is an IDE?  An IDE is an Integrated DevelopmentEnvironment.  Basically, it is a program that helps you  write code.  Word helps you write papers by helping with spelling, grammar and formatting.  An IDE does the same thing – more or less. “Where do I get this IDE you speak of”, you may ask.  There are many good IDEs.  Fortunately, Microsoft provides a free version of Visual Studio (IMHO the greatest IDE ever).  Download Visual Web Developer Express and install it on your box.http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-web-developer-express.  This install can take a long time. So be prepared for a lot of waiting.  The installation process is mostly self explanatory.  Just take all of the default installation options and answer the questions. The next thing you need to install is a modern web browser.  For development the best browser is Google Chrome.  The developer tools are a must.  Download and install it – https://www.google.com/chrome. Not bad for our first lesson.  You now have your work environment setup.  Time to do some work.  In our next lesson we will walk through setting up a project and creating our first web page.