Yes, there is a link between no-code tools, like Webflow, and HTML and CSS code.
No, you do not need to know how to code to develop on Webflow.
However, YES, to effectively use Webflow, it is preferable to understand the basics of code.
In this article, I will share a quick introduction to the benefits of understanding the connection between Webflow and code.
Introduction to HTML and CSS
Generally speaking, it is useful to understand the relationship between HTML and CSS when you are creating for the web. A website (WordPress, CMS, no-code, etc...) inevitably uses HTML code.
What is HTML (HyperText Markup Language)?
HTML constitutes the structure of a website element by element: title, paragraph, font, etc...
With HTML code, content had to be tagged line by line. For example, to change the font, color, or size of the text, each line of code had to be updated. One by one. Can you imagine? Updating element by element was extremely repetitive, making it difficult to dynamically update a unique style, such as a family of paragraphs or a uniform font style for your entire website.
Then... a revolutionary feature arrived...
What is CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)?
The acronym CSS comes from the English phrase "Cascading Style Sheet".
CSS takes all the style information that was previously written inline and moves it into a "style database". Each style combination of data becomes a class. Each class has a name, allowing any HTML element to receive a class name to adopt the associated styles.
⚠️ A style change made to this class in the CSS file affects all elements that use this class.
In summary, the HTML code provides the structure - element - and content of a website: Heading, Paragraph, Block, etc. Whereas the CSS code dynamically applies a style (Color, size, etc...) to the content.
The benefits of using a tool like Webflow for creation
Webflow is essentially an interface that edits code for you. This allows you to create more quickly and, most importantly, reduces the risk of errors. Webflow automatically generates HTML and CSS code while you design your website on a visual interface.
The advantages of no-code tools
- Create faster
- Reduce the risk of errors in the tedious writing of lines of code
- Empower clients to modify their own websites without any reliance on a developer
How to explore the details of my Webflow site's code?
2 methods to open the code inspector of a website:
- Right-click and choose Inspect from the context menu
- Press Control + Shift + I (on Windows) or Command + Option + I (on Mac).
Webflow and code: conclusion
The HTML and CSS languages are foundational to website creation. They provide both the structure and the style of your site. It is beneficial to understand these concepts, but as of 2022, we no longer need to manually code HTML or CSS - thanks to creation aiding tools (commonly referred to as no-code) like Webflow.
Want to learn more? Discover how I learned HTML and CSS through Webflow in this blog article!
