The thing is, if you've never written a line of code in your life, you don't have an editor set up. You don't know what an editor or an IDE is. By "entry points", the post is talking about what is the shortest, easiest path to get someone from "has never done anything resembling programming" to "feels good about their experience creating a software thing".
> A basic HTML structure can be achieved in 5 minutes in your code editor.
I'm currently authoring my second book on the web [1]. Each bit of HTML and CSS was lovingly hand-crafted from scratch. I know exactly how quickly you can slap a web page together. I also know how shitty it looks before you spend hours and hours tweaking the CSS, and that's assuming you already know CSS.
A bare bones HTML page still looks like a physics website from the 90s. No person who is taking their first steps in computing is going to look at that and think, "Programming is awesome! I want to do more of this!"
> When it comes to doing interesting polished "modern" things with transitions, nested flexbox layouts, interactivity, and custom light-weight modules, there's no better way to control the quality and details of a web product than with raw coding.
Quality and polish aren't relevant to this discussion. The article is not "what's the best way for a professional to make web sites?" It's "how do people get into making software as easily as possible?"
> A bare bones HTML page still looks like a physics website from the 90s.
No it doesn't. "Bare bones" is a benchmark that has shifted due to easy CSS that can be applied to elements. Beginners are using CSS to make their first pages look nice, from drop shadows to rounded corners. I think you may be out of touch.
> No person who is taking their first steps in computing is going to look at that and think...
If we want to understand what beginners and students are thinking, we should avoid consulting senior software engineers for insight.
> how do people get into making software as easily as possible
Yes, and it's not by giving them a baked cake and the task of icing it. All under the watchful gaze of Uncle Google or Aunty Wordpress.
We're talking about industry entry points, not child learning activities. It's better to reach the point of nice looking page without sign-up to Wordpress-World or "install this collection of mysterious files". The idea with learning is to allow students to get as far as possible ON THEIR OWN, until they naturally or logically hit a wall that requires help from broader tools and services.
Senior software engineer at Google.
> Nobody suggested "notepad".
The thing is, if you've never written a line of code in your life, you don't have an editor set up. You don't know what an editor or an IDE is. By "entry points", the post is talking about what is the shortest, easiest path to get someone from "has never done anything resembling programming" to "feels good about their experience creating a software thing".
> A basic HTML structure can be achieved in 5 minutes in your code editor.
I'm currently authoring my second book on the web [1]. Each bit of HTML and CSS was lovingly hand-crafted from scratch. I know exactly how quickly you can slap a web page together. I also know how shitty it looks before you spend hours and hours tweaking the CSS, and that's assuming you already know CSS.
A bare bones HTML page still looks like a physics website from the 90s. No person who is taking their first steps in computing is going to look at that and think, "Programming is awesome! I want to do more of this!"
> When it comes to doing interesting polished "modern" things with transitions, nested flexbox layouts, interactivity, and custom light-weight modules, there's no better way to control the quality and details of a web product than with raw coding.
Quality and polish aren't relevant to this discussion. The article is not "what's the best way for a professional to make web sites?" It's "how do people get into making software as easily as possible?"
[1]: http://www.craftinginterpreters.com/