About me

Working as a professional front-end developer for over 25 years has taught me many things about HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

HTML is the semantic skeleton we use to place content in.

CSS is the icing on that cake, and JavaScript provides the raw power to change everything.

Loving CSS from the moment I started working with it — although very limited at the time — and appreciating all the possibilities we developers received, allowing us to create better and prettier websites.

Starting with HTML 4, adapting to 4.01 and welcoming HTML 5 was a great journey that made my life as a developer a lot easier. Before, the differences between browsers were massive; today the common ground has much improved.

I use JavaScript every day, and it never grew on me the way HTML and CSS did. It grew rapidly and then changed into a multiverse where all the basics of HTML and CSS are replaced by JavaScript alternatives — removing the approachability and clarity of these native languages in the process.

So I’m very happy to see the arrival of Web Platform Status, Interop, and even the yearly “State of…” surveys. They give developers a direct voice in browser priorities and better, more consistent tools.

We need less JavaScript because HTML and CSS cover the most used simple interactions themselves, and the additions keep evolving. Front-end development will still be about bridging differences, but there will be more time for the fun stuff — creating interactions, beautiful typography and excellent accessibility, all packaged in speedy websites.