The Web Builder's Journey

Every website in the world is really just a file full of words. Your web browser (Chrome, Safari…) knows how to read that file and turn it into the buttons, pictures, and text you see. That's the big secret — websites are written, like a story.

HTML is the language you write a webpage in. You use little labels called tags. Tags usually come in pairs — one to open, one to close:

If HTML is the bones, CSS is the clothes, colours, and style. CSS lets you choose colours, fonts, and how big things are. Same bones, totally different look.

Git is like a magic "save game" for code. It remembers every version, so you can never really lose your work. GitHub is a website where you keep those saves online and share them with people.

Sometimes you tell the computer what to do by typing commands instead of clicking buttons. That window is called the terminal. Warp is a modern, friendly terminal that even gives you hints, so it's a great one to learn on.

Right now your page only lives on your computer, so nobody else can see it. A server is a computer that stays switched on all day, connected to the internet, so anyone in the world can visit. Hetzner is a company that rents you a server — a real computer in a big building called a data centre.

A server has a number address (called an IP) that's hard to remember, like 192.0.2.5. A domain is the friendly name people type, like mysite.com. DNS is the internet's giant phone book that turns the name into the number. Cloudflare looks after your phone book and guards your site — like a bodyguard and a speed-booster in one.

You don't always have to write every single line by hand. calm.page is a tool for building and publishing a page fast — great for when you just want something online quickly.

A maker is someone who builds things — and that's you now! InventList is a friendly place where makers show their projects and the journey of building them. When you finish something, you post it so other people can see what you made.

Webpages are awesome. But apps — things that remember you, log you in, and save your stuff — need more power. Ruby on Rails is the tool that grown-up engineers use to build big apps quickly. This is your boss level: a grown-up can teach you Rails when you're ready for it.