👋 Hey Devs,

Welcome to issue #66!

If I had to start my software engineering journey all over again, I wouldn’t begin with Python or JavaScript like most beginner guides suggest. Instead, I’d focus on the foundations of web development — learning HTML and CSS first.

Today’s topic is one of the most common beginner questions:
👉 Should you learn HTML and CSS before JavaScript?

There’s a lot of advice out there saying, “Just pick JavaScript or Python and dive in.” But the reality is, if your fundamentals in HTML and CSS aren’t clear, learning JavaScript becomes much harder — and your career path in front-end or full-stack development can feel shaky.

The short answer try to learn HTML and CSS fundamentals fast

That’s why I want to break this down and explain why starting with HTML and CSS before moving on to JavaScript can set you up for long-term success as a developer.

When you’re starting out in web development, you’ll constantly hear about HTML and CSS. But what do they actually do? Let’s break it down.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the skeleton and foundation of a website. Think of it like building a house: HTML defines where the walls, windows, and doors go. It structures the page — headings, paragraphs, images, buttons, forms — everything has its place because of HTML.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the design and decoration layer. If HTML builds the house, CSS is what paints the walls, chooses the furniture, arranges the lighting, and makes the space look beautiful. Without CSS, every website would look like plain black text on a white background.

The great part? Both HTML and CSS are relatively simple to start with. In fact, you can build a basic webpage in just a few hours.

But here’s the catch: the real challenge isn’t typing out a few tags or adding some colors — it’s understanding the fundamentals of web development.

At first, these concepts might feel overwhelming. You’ll wonder why your div isn’t lining up correctly or why there’s extra spacing that doesn’t make sense. But once these core principles click, everything else in web development — from responsive design to JavaScript frameworks — starts making much more sense.

That’s why learning HTML and CSS before JavaScript isn’t just about “following tradition” — it’s about giving yourself the right foundation to actually succeed as a developer.

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The truth is, you don’t need months of study to get started. With focused effort, you can learn the basics of HTML and CSS in just 5 hours.

The key isn’t memorizing every tag or property — it’s about learning the fundamentals, then practicing them. Specifically:

Once you understand these, you’ll have the foundation to build nearly any simple webpage.

Now, here’s something that often gets misunderstood in the programming world:

A lot of beginners believe that great software engineers “know everything.”
But the truth is — they don’t.

Even the best programmers:

What makes them great isn’t knowing everything — it’s being excellent at problem-solving and finding solutions.

That’s why my advice is simple:
👉 Learn the basics in 5–10 hours.
👉 Master the fundamentals by building small websites and practicing layouts.

This hands-on practice will do far more for your career than endlessly watching tutorials. Fundamentals don’t just make you a better coder — they make you a problem-solver.

So, you’ve mastered the basics of HTML and CSS. Your website now has structure (the house) and design (the decoration). But here’s the thing — it’s still not functional.

That’s where JavaScript comes in.

If HTML is the foundation and CSS is the paint, then JavaScript is the electricity that powers the house. It’s what makes buttons clickable, forms interactive, and web pages dynamic.

Learning JavaScript is more challenging than HTML and CSS, because it introduces logic and programming concepts you haven’t dealt with yet. With JavaScript, you’ll learn to:

And here’s the key point: JavaScript depends on HTML.
The connection happens through something called the DOM (Document Object Model), which is basically a tree-like structure of your webpage. JavaScript uses the DOM to “talk” to different elements of your page — like updating text, changing styles, or creating new components.

👉 Without understanding how a web page is structured in HTML, you’ll always feel lost trying to use JavaScript effectively.

Now, let me be real with you. For me, JavaScript was brutal in the beginning. I struggled. It took me about 35 hours just to clearly grasp the fundamentals, and then another 5–10 hours per project to reinforce what I learned.

Yes, it’s a long journey. But it’s also one of the most rewarding. Once JavaScript clicks, you unlock the ability to build websites and apps that actually do things — and that’s where the real magic of web development begins.