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HTML is HyperText Markup Language and is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed online. It is assisted by technologies like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which allows you to make nice looking websites.

What is considered advanced HTML?

Advanced HTML refers to features and techniques in HTML that are more complex and may require a deeper understanding of the language. Some advanced features of HTML include:

  • The <canvas> element, which allows you to draw graphics using JavaScript
  • The <video> and <audio> elements, which allow you to embed media files on your webpage
  • The <form> element and its associated input types, allow you to create interactive forms for users to fill out and submit
  • The <svg> element, allows you to include scalable vector graphics on your webpage
  • The <table> element and its associated elements, allow you to present tabular data in a structured way

These are just some examples, and there are other advanced features in HTML that you can use to create interactive and engaging websites.

What is considered advanced CSS?

Many techniques and features can be considered "advanced" when it comes to CSS, and this can depend on the context and the specific use case. Some examples of advanced CSS techniques.

  • CSS Grid and Flexbox for creating advanced layouts
  • Transitions and animations for adding dynamic visual effects
  • Using the: before and: after pseudo-elements to add content to elements
  • Using CSS variables (also known as "custom properties") for more efficient and scalable styling
  • Using the CSS @media rule to create responsive designs that adjust to different screen sizes
  • Using CSS preprocessors like Sass and Less to write more structured and maintainable CSS code
  • Using advanced selectors to target specific elements on a page
  • Using the CSS: hover: active, and: focus pseudo-classes to create interactive states on elements

These are just a few examples of advanced CSS techniques, and there are many more that can be used to create complex and exciting designs.

In addition to the above, CSS frameworks and preprocessors like bootstrap, Foundation, etc. can be considered advanced usage of CSS as it makes it easy to develop responsive and mobile-first websites quickly.

It's worth noting that many of these advanced techniques involve a lot of trial and error, as well as a good understanding of the basics of CSS. To become proficient in advanced CSS, it's important to have a solid understanding of the basics and to practice using these techniques in various projects.

What projects can you build with advanced HTML? 

There are different types of projects that you can build using advanced HTML. Some examples include:

  1. Responsive Websites: You can use advanced HTML, along with CSS and JavaScript, to build websites that automatically adjust their layout to fit the screen size of the device that is being used to view them.
  1. Interactive Forms: With advanced HTML, you can create forms that include various types of input fields, such as text boxes, checkboxes, and radio buttons, and use JavaScript to add interactive functionality, like form validation and dynamic updates.
  1. Web Applications: By utilizing advanced HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can create web applications that offer users a rich interactive experience. This includes games, data visualization, and financial calculators.
  1. Interactive Infographics: With HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can create infographics that include interactive elements, like hover effects, animations, and data updates in real time.

The possibilities are endless and depend on your skills, creativity, and project requirements.

Image source: Canva Pro (Getty Images)

What projects can you build with advanced CSS?

Advanced CSS can be used to build various projects, including;

  1. Complex Layouts: With advanced CSS techniques such as Flexbox and CSS Grid, you can create complex and responsive layouts that adapt to different screen sizes.
  1. Animated Interfaces: Using CSS animations and transitions, you can add interactive elements and animations to your website or application to enhance the user experience
  1. Interactive Maps: Using the CSS: hover and: active pseudo-classes, you can create interactive maps that highlight regions or display additional information when the user hovers over them.

These are just some examples of what you can do with advanced CSS. With CSS’s continual advancement, the possibilities are endless.

Are advanced HTML and CSS difficult to learn?

The level of difficulty in learning advanced HTML and CSS can vary depending on your prior experience and familiarity with the basics of HTML and CSS. If you already have a solid foundation in HTML and CSS and are familiar with the basics of web development, then learning advanced techniques will likely be less difficult for you.

Advanced CSS and HTML can be challenging to learn, but it is not necessarily difficult. CSS layout techniques, such as Flexbox and Grid, can take some time to understand and master. Creating complex animations, transforms, and 3D effects can also be challenging. But with proper guidance and resources, you can learn these techniques and improve your skills over time.

CSS Grid layouts

CSS Grid is a layout system that allows you to create two-dimensional grid-based layouts using CSS. It gives you more control over the placement and size of elements on a web page, making it easier to create complex, responsive layouts that adapt to different screen sizes and orientations.

With CSS Grid, you can create a grid container and then define grid items that are placed within that container. You can control the size and position of grid items using a set of grid-specific properties, such as grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows. You can also use properties such as grid-column and grid-row to specify the placement of grid items within the grid. Here is an example of a basic CSS Grid layout:

{% code-block language="js" %} grid-container {
    display: grid;
    grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
    grid-template-rows: 100px 200px;
{% code-block-end %}

{% code-block language="js" %}
.grid-item {
    grid-column: span 2;
    grid-row: span 2;
% code-block-end %}

In this example, the grid container is defined using the display: grid property and the grid has three columns and two rows, the size of the column is defined by repeat(3, 1fr) which means, it will have three columns with equal width. We also assign grid-item to span over two columns and two rows.

CSS Grid also allows for more advanced layout techniques, such as creating overlapping grid items and defining areas within the grid. These techniques can be used to create visually engaging and interactive layouts that are not possible with traditional layout techniques.

It's also worth mentioning that CSS Grid works well in conjunction with other layout methods such as Flexbox and the multi-column layout module. They can be used together to create even more powerful and flexible layouts.

Flexbox

Flexbox (short for Flexible Box Layout) is a layout system that allows you to create flexible and responsive layouts using CSS. It gives you more control over the alignment and distribution of elements within a container, making it easier to create flexible, adaptable layouts that respond to different screen sizes and orientations. Flexbox is a one-dimensional layout system, it only works on the main axis (horizontally or vertically), unlike CSS Grid which works on two dimensions.

To create a flexbox layout, you create a flex container and then define flex items that are placed within that container. The container uses the display: flex property, and the child elements use the flex property. Here is an example of a basic Flexbox layout:

{% code-block language="js" %} .flex-container {
  display: flex;
}
.flex-item {
  flex: 1;
{% code-block-end %}

This creates a flex container and defines that the flex items inside it will take the available space proportionally, this flex value can also be specified in a specific unit, such as px, em, rem,%, or vw.

Flexbox is well suited for creating flexible and responsive one-dimensional layouts, such as navigation bars, lists, and form elements. It's also commonly used in combination with CSS Grid to create two-dimensional layouts.

Inline frames

An inline frame (also known as an "iframe") is an HTML element that allows you to embed another HTML document within the current document. It is useful for displaying content from external sources, such as another website, within a web page. The basic syntax for creating an inline frame is as follows:

{% code-block language="js" %}
<iframe src="URL"></iframe>
{% code-block-end %}

Where "URL" is the address of the web page you want to embed. The iframe element has several attributes that you can use to control the appearance and behavior of the embedded content, such as width and height, frame border, and scrolling.

It's important to note that inline frames can be a security risk because they can be used to load malicious content onto a web page. Additionally, some browsers or devices may have difficulty displaying the content inside an iframe. Therefore, it's important to use iframes only from trusted sources and to properly validate any user input that is used to construct the src attribute to avoid malicious inputs.

Plugin play audio (HTML)

To play an audio file on an HTML page, you can use the <audio> element. The <audio> element is a self-contained element that can play audio files directly in the browser without the need for a plug-in.  Here is an example of how you can use the <audio> element to play an audio file:

{% code-block language="js" %}
<audio controls>
  <source src="audio.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
  <source src="audio.ogg" type="audio/ogg">
  Your browser does not support the audio element.
</audio>
{% code-block-end %}

The <source> element is used inside the <audio> element to specify the source of the audio file. The src attribute is always used to specify the URL of the audio file, and the type the attribute is used to specify the MIME type of the file. It's worth noting that different browsers may support different audio formats, like mp3, that's why it's usually a good practice to have multiple sources for the same audio.

Responsive images in HTML

Creating responsive images in HTML is a technique for ensuring that images automatically adjust their size and resolution to best fit the screen on which they're being displayed. This is especially important for web pages that are designed to be viewed on a variety of devices, such as smartphones and tablets, with different screen sizes and resolutions. The following is a technique used among several others to create responsive images in HTML

  • The srcset and sizes attribute: These attributes can be added to the <img> element to specify different versions of the same image, with different sizes and resolutions, that the browser can choose from based on the screen size and resolution. For example...

{% code-block language="js" %}
<img src="image.jpg" srcset="image-small.jpg 320w, image-medium.jpg 640w, image-large.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 320px) 280px, (max-width: 640px) 50vw, 1024px" alt=" responsive image">
{% code-block-end %}

Image source: Canva Pro (Getty Images)

Responsive images in CSS

Responsive images are images that automatically adjust their size and resolution based on the size and resolution of the device or browser window viewing them. This can be achieved in CSS using a combination of the img tag, the srcset and sizes attributes and media queries.

The img (image) tag is used to embed an image in an HTML document, and the srcset attribute is used to specify a list of images and their corresponding resolutions. The sizes attribute is used to specify the image size in relation to the containing element.

For example:

{% code-block language="js" %}
<img src="small.jpg"
     srcset="medium.jpg 1000w, large.jpg 2000w"
     sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, (max-width: 1000px) 50vw, 25vw"
     alt=" A responsive image">
{% code-block-end %}

Converting CSS code to Saas 

Sass (Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets) is a preprocessor for CSS that adds additional features, such as variables, mixins, and functions, to make writing and maintaining CSS code easier. Sass code is written in a syntax that is similar to CSS, but with some additional features, and it is then "compiled" into regular CSS code that can be interpreted by web browsers.

To convert a CSS file to Sass, you can simply change the file extension from .css to .scss (Sass CSS), and then begin adding Sass-specific syntax to the file. Here is an example of how a simple CSS file would look when converted to Sass:

CSS:

{% code-block language="js" %}
body {
  background-color: #fff;
}

h1 {
  color: #333;
  text-align: center;
{% code-block-end %}

Sass:

{% code-block language="js" %}
$primary-color: #333;
body {
  background-color: #fff;
}
h1 {
  color: $primary-color;
  text-align: center;
{% code-block-end %}

As you can see the difference here is Sass uses variables to store values, which can be reused throughout the code base. The $primary-color variable is defined at the top of the file, and its value is then used for the text color of the h1 elements. Sass also has a very similar syntax for nesting selectors (also known as parent selectors) this way you can avoid repeating the same selectors, which is a common problem in CSS.

Building pure CSS

When building a design using pure CSS, it means you are not using any additional technologies like JavaScript or frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation to create the design. You are only using the styling capabilities of CSS to create the layout, positioning, and visual effects of the elements on the page. There are a few key techniques to keep in mind when building a design using pure CSS:

  1. Learn how to use Grid and Flexbox: Grid and Flexbox are two newer layout technologies that were introduced to make building responsive layouts much easier. They provide a way to create a flexible, responsive, and dynamic layout without having to rely on floated elements, positioning, and JavaScript.
  1. Understand media queries: Media queries are a way to apply different styles based on the size and resolution of the device or browser window. This can be used to create responsive designs that automatically adjust to different screen sizes.
  1. Master the CSS selectors: Selectors are used to selecting the elements you want to style. There are several different types of selectors, including element selectors, class selectors, and ID selectors. It's important to understand how each of these selectors works and how to use them to target specific elements on a page.

While building a design using pure CSS can be challenging, it can also be gratifying. By mastering these techniques and understanding the underlying concepts, you can create rich, engaging designs that look great on any device or browser. It's important to note that even though you are using pure CSS, it is always recommended to optimize and test your designs to ensure that they look and perform as expected on all different devices, browsers, and screen sizes.

Do you need to know advanced HTML and CSS to learn other languages?

If you are a beginner and want to start learning web development skills, it is a good idea to start with a course that covers the basics of HTML and CSS, as these are the building blocks of any web page. By learning these technologies, you will gain a deeper understanding of how web pages are structured and how they are styled, and then can progress to the more advanced learnings.

Image source: Canva Pro (Getty Images)

10 HTML and CSS Coding Challenges for Beginners

Here are 10 HTML and CSS coding challenges that can help beginners to solidify your understanding of these technologies and improve your skills:

  1. Build a basic website layout: Create a simple layout for a website that includes a header, main content area, sidebar, and footer. Use CSS to position and style the elements on the page.
  2. Create a navigation bar: Build a navigation bar that includes several links. Use CSS to style the navigation bar and make it responsive so it looks good on different screen sizes.
  3. Create a photo gallery: Build a gallery that displays several images in a grid. Use CSS to control the spacing and alignment of the images.
  4. Create a form: Build a simple form that includes text fields, a text area, and a submit button. Use CSS to style the form and make it look attractive.
  5. Create a card layout: Create a simple card layout using HTML and CSS. The card should include an image, a title, and some text. Use CSS to control the spacing and alignment of the elements on the card.
  6. Create a simple landing page: Build a simple landing page with a header, main content area, and a call to action button. Use CSS to style the page and make it look attractive.
  7. Create a pricing table: Build a table that compares different pricing plans. Use CSS to style the table and make it look attractive.
  8. Create a hover effect: Create an HTML element and use CSS to create a hover effect when the user moves their cursor over the element.
  9. Create a modal window: Build a modal window that can be opened and closed by clicking a button. Use CSS to style the modal window and make it look attractive.
  10. Create a drop-down menu using HTML and CSS. Dropdown menus are a common navigation element used to show and hide content on a webpage. In this challenge, you should use HTML and CSS to create a drop-down menu that appears when the user clicks on a button or link

Conclusion: Advanced HTML & CSS Coding Challenges

These challenges will help you practice the basics of HTML and CSS and give you a chance to experiment with different layouts, positioning, styling, and interactions. As you progress in your coding journey, you can start experimenting with more advanced features and concepts, like responsive design, CSS Grid, Flexbox, animations, and more. Learn more about learning with Microverse!

We have launched an English school for software developers. Practice speaking and lose your fear.

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