Visual Studio Code (or VScode) has become popular among developers – the ones who aren’t put off by the fact that it’s a Microsoft product, anyway. Users also indicate that there is a steep learning curve for novice users. Pricing is opaque, but there is a free demo.
A series of webinars, called Foundation Classes is offered to teach new users how to use all of it.
Then, this can be built upon, with ‘Building Blocks’ that get added to the website, including a full screen hero page, a subscription form, a star rating block, and rounded social buttons - the choices are quite expansive and really include just about anything you would see on a web page. They offer a series of HTML templates, each optimized for a specific application, such as a blog, or a real estate website. From the list of sites that use it, there are some serious heavyweights including Disney, HP and Adobe. Foundation takes this approach, offering “a family of responsive front-end frameworks,” that can be applied for website design and emails, and each are customizable to get just the right look. Of course, you could always just use an off-the-shelf CMS or the best website builder to simplify the design process, but both of these offer a degree of limitation that may suit general consumers rather than the most creative web developers and designers.įor standalone websites, freedom to code and build your own design can reap rewards not just in terms of aesthetics but also in terms of security, as you are not relying on third-party software plugins that not only carry a risk of being hacked, but may force you to subscribe to website monitoring or website defacement service to monitor for webpage changes and be alerted if - or when - they are.Īs a general principle, it is often easier to design something once the basics have been laid down. The result is the ability to build and host your own website the way you want it to look. These days, development development platforms are already available to help with every part of the process, from coding to web design itself.
Web development has long since left the grounds of having to individually code pages in HTML/CSS, JavaScript, PHP or another internet language, using just Notepad or simply code-friendly text editor.