HTML & CSS proficiency requirements as a Web Developer

Question

I’m wondering how much knowledge is needed when working as a web developer. Will learning HTML and CSS be helpful for individuals who are looking to be a web developer? Or are companies revolving more around web development platforms such as WordPress and SquareSpace as a method of creating websites?
Thank you for your feedback.

Answer 1

HTML and CSS knowledge is a really basic requirement for web development. All websites use it so if you're any good at making them, you better know those languages.

WordPress, Laravel, ReactJS, Angular are very popular tools/frameworks that are highly in demand for recent job postings. It is unusual and generally a bad choice to avoid using an existing framework in a new web project so it is good to get familiar with at least one.

I haven't used Square Space but it appears to compete with Wix by helping people build websites without touching any HTML, CSS... These website builders tend to be used by small businesses and entrepreneurs who don't want to hire anyone. I've never seen a Square Space development position advertised.

WordPress is incredibly popular but there is so much functionality pre-made for them in existing plugins, WordPress developers tend to spend most of their time configuring and troubleshooting updates/changes without touching code. WordPress developers are in strong demand but the work doesn't seem as fun in my opinion because of the pressure to reuse everything that already exists. The people that like WordPress the most tend to be more into graphic design, SEO, and marketing than programming.

MVC frameworks like Laravel, ASP.net MVC tend to let you make things however you want and guide you to specific folder structures, template languages... Development with these will involve finding third party libraries but, unlike WordPress work, you will be mostly in charge of the code(not just a tech-savvy end user).

Single page application frameworks like ReactJS and Angular are also in high demand. If you really like front-end development with lots of JavaScript programming, getting familiar with one of these would be a great help at eventually getting a job you like.