Hand-coding a website refers to the practice of writing the HTML code
line by line instead of using an editor. Though there is a plethora to
tools and automated programs that give you ready made codes in no time
at all, nothing can beat the appeal of writing the code line by line.
However, hand coding is not an easy task. While some support the
process there are others who prefer to use the automated programs. Here
are some advantages and disadvantages of hand coding your website.
Advantages of Hand Coding
Greater Understanding
The prime advantage of writing the code line by line is that you
acquire a greater understanding of what you have done. This helps you
know the intricate details about the support structure of your website
development. Hence, it becomes much easier for you to locate and fix
problems that may arise.
If you don't know how the tags are
labeled or the elements that are used, it becomes extremely difficult
to format the elements. In order to understand the intricate details
you need to go through the whole code. And when you hand code the
website, this is just a natural step.
Efficient Website Development
Apart from letting you know the intricate details of the website code,
hand coding also allows you to develop your website efficiently. You
know what you want to do and you also know how you need to write the
code to achieve that. However, when you use a WYSIWYG editor, you get
lots of extra code that would not even be useful. This creates a bunch
of problems for the developers. The extra code results in slow loading
of the page and other such problems. Eventually, you will need to go
back to the roots, figure out what is wrong and then fix it.
Using New Programs
Web developers are experts at their tasks and have thorough knowledge
of various web development languages. Thus they can cater to the
requirements by using different tools and ultimately achieve the
objective. However, there can be situations where they need to use an
altogether new program that they have no experience with before. If you
are fluent with the coding language, you can just go ahead and create
the website without even having ti use the program.
Disadvantages of Hand Coding
Fluency in Language Required
To hand code a website efficiently, you need to learn the whole
language and be very fluent in the same. This often acts as a major
disadvantage of the hand coding process because it takes a very long
time for a person to learn and develop fluency especially for someone
who has no prior experience with it beforehand. Moreover, one should
have a professional tutor teaching the core of web languages like HTML,
CSS. JavaScript etc.
Loss of Creative Control
Often it happens that developers get so engrossed in the code that they
tend to lose control over the creative aspects of the project. Though
you will acquire a sound knowledge of how things work, you will be less
involved in the design and user interface of the web development
procedure.
Time Consuming
Last of all, hand coding
takes a lot of time. When you write the code line by line, you take too
much of time ans also end up making a few mistakes here and there which
you have to correct alongside.
