Creatives Who Code
The year 2020 was a storm, to say the least. The beginning of a global pandemic in which people were forced to change, and honestly, are still adapting to a world in which social distancing is the new norm. This change has affected countless careers and perspectives, one of which is the arts. Crowded theatres and concert halls are, for the time being, live-streamed performances, and films are watch parties with video calls. To quote Spencer Johnson, “Who Moved My Cheese?” However, when a storm such as this comes roaring with full force, generations have always adapted to something stronger thus improving our world with new tools and ingenious ways to improve the quality of life.
This storm has upended a lot of us, but for me personally, it has shifted my perspective towards focusing on how everything has led up to this amazing opportunity to yet again create. The similarities between theatre and web development are innumerable, but my favorite one is this: they both allow you to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself. For that, I am truly grateful.
- What excites you about coding? How do you think it can change the world?
I always had a curiosity about coding and knew little to nothing except the references to 1s and 0s. My brother-in-law is in the tech industry, but it wasn’t until the last couple of years that I started to gain interest in his work. My background is in the arts, theatre mainly (and education), and there’s a fundamental process to the art form. It’s creative, but it’s functional and if meticulously designed and executed, the results are effective. Within the last several months, as I’ve dug deeper into coding, I’ve noticed the myriad of commonalities in coding and the arts. They’re both composed of languages, and a semicolon in a script, or a function for that matter, is not arbitrarily thrown in. It has a purpose or it simply will not work. There will be errors. In theatre, you rehearse until you get it right. In code, you test until you get it right. In both, you’ll have concrete evidence that shows you got it right. Coding is already changing the world in significant ways. I believe that it can continue to change the world for good. Whether it’s an app that helps with memorization or to learn a new language, to software that makes your car safer to drive to work, coding is a fundamental component of society. In fact, we’re approaching the point where knowing how to code is synonymous with knowing how to drive. Except, you don’t have to wait until you’re 16 to code.
2. What does doctype do at the top of your HTML file? Why does this need to be specified?
DOCTYPE is a declaration and the first line of code required in every HTML (or XHTML) document, that serves as an instruction to the web browser specifying what version of HTML the webpage is written in. DOCTYPE states from the beginning “let’s be perfectly clear” to the web browser. Clear communication right from the beginning.
3. Explain how a browser determines what HTML elements match a CSS selector.
There’s a gift some artists truly have, and that is they are a triple threat. They can sing, dance, and act, or they can play an instrument, compose a score, and lead a symphony. Whichever the case may be, they all intertwine to create something extraordinary. In web development, that triple threat is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
A browser determines what HTML elements match a CSS selector by having assets tied to them, which are then called into action usually through a stylesheet. A <h1> for example is the largest heading size, but when styled by CSS, it can take on a beautiful font that can be weighted to grab the user’s attention. HTML is the actual “thing,” and CSS comes in to show that “thing” how great they truly look. Finally, JavaScript kicks into gear to show what that “thing” can actually do. A triple threat.
4. What’s the difference between an HTML element and an HTML tag?
An HTML element just isn’t the same without its friends calling them into action. For instance, it’s great to be a paragraph tag I’m sure, but if you’ve got nothing to say, then a <p></p> is all you’ll be. But when you put some substance behind it, or in this case in the middle, you’ve got a pretty cool element.
<p>This is a pretty cool element.<p>
5. In your own words, explain the cascade of CSS.
Cascade in CSS is like an argument, where the one with the last word usually wins. It’s a hierarchy of rules where the usually the last rule wins, telling the browser which one to display. In terms of ownership, the lowest importance is given to the browser default, while the author’s style sheet receives the highest importance. For specification methods, the linked style sheet is the lowest in ranks, and the inline styles sit at the highest rank. Finally, for element selector specificity, the contextual selector depth is at the bottom of the rung, while the ID selector is king.
6. Explain, to someone you know, the 3 ways to link/use CSS in an HTML file to style a web page.
The first way to incorporate CSS into an HTML document is Inline. This consists of including a style attribute within the element itself.
<h1 style = “color: blue;”>This Heading is Blue.</h1>
The second way is by using an Internal CSS. It’s putting the style element right into the <head> or the brain of the HTML document.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
body {background-color: royalblue;}
h1 {color: blue;}
p {color: red;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Finally, the External CSS is by linking the HTML document to a separate style sheet. The link to the stylesheet is still placed in the <head></head> but it links to a sheet that allows for more specificity and detail for multiple elements in the HTML document.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”styles.css”>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
