Front-end Web Development
Front-end Web Development
A free, weekly class on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript taught by Jeffrey Carl Faden
What
Learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript - and put them to good use! This free class is aimed at beginners who are interested in web development, as well as seasoned professionals looking to brush up on the latest and greatest.
Front-end web development is all about making code that runs in the browser (versus code that runs on the server). This class focuses on writing interactive web applications, taking designs and turning them into code, and much more.
Who
This class is for everyone! Computer users unacquainted with programming, as well as experienced developers, are welcome at any time. If you're new to the class, consider coming to the lecture at 7:30 for a recap.
The space and the class are entirely free to attend. You do not have to be a Noisebridge member. Upon arriving at Noisebridge, state that you're here for the class and you'll be allowed in as a guest.
If you appreciate this class and the space that enables it to be taught, please consider donating to Noisebridge.
Please bring any kind of laptop.
When
Lectures start promptly at 8pm on Mondays and go for up to two hours. There is a half-hour recap starting at 7:30pm. Please try to arrive early as physical space is limited.
Labs start at 7pm on Thursdays and end two hours later.
This class runs in a weekly series, and the curriculum takes about 6 months from start to finish. Don't let it discourage you if you're starting from the middle - attend recaps and labs and you should be able to catch up!
Where
Noisebridge, 2169 Mission St., San Francisco, 94114 (at 18th St., near 16th St. BART station). Getting Here
The lecture is held in the Church classroom, which is in the back of the space.
The lab is held in the Turing classroom, the room past the wood shop.
Read up on getting in to the space. Again, you do not need to be a member!
Next Series
Remember that you can start coming to class at any time during the series! You can catch up by watching videos from previous classes, doing assignments, or attending lab.
Keep Informed
Join one of the above lists to be notified of upcoming classes via email.
If you can't make it, subscribe to a mailing list to be notified when you can watch a live stream of the lecture! If you missed it, previous lecture streams are available for viewing on the Previous Classes page!
Get Set Up
-
Get a web browser
Most web browsers keep themselves up to date. You'll have to take extra steps with the built-in browsers.
- Download Chrome, Firefox, or Opera
-
Safari users:
- Make sure you are running OS X 10.11 El Capitan
- Go to the Safari menu > Preferences > Advanced > Show Develop menu in menu bar
- Internet Explorer users: either upgrade to Windows 10 and use Microsoft Edge, or upgrade to Internet Explorer 11
-
Get a text editor
There are a number of great free (or free to use) text editors that include helpful features like syntax highlighting and code completion.
- Atom
- Brackets
- Sublime Text
- GNU/Linux users: Text Editor (gedit), Kate, vim, emacs, etc...
- Windows: don't use Notepad or WordPad
- OS X: don't use TextEdit
-
Get Git
In order to save your work and put it on the web, you'll need to set up Git, a version control system.
- OS X: Open Terminal and type
git
to begin installation - Windows: Install Git for Windows with all default options
- Sign up for a GitHub account
- OS X: Open Terminal and type
-
Get the class materials
The lectures and labs have some materials and assignments, all of which can be found in the fwd repository.
- Run
git clone https://github.com/JeffreyATW/fwd.git
in your terminal- Windows: use Git Bash as your terminal
- Create a separate folder in which to do your own work
- Run
Lecture
Weekly classroom-style presentation on HTML/CSS/JS. The lecture starts every Monday at 8pm. We also have a recap starting at 7:30pm, where we'll cover last week's material.
Class for 2015-11-30: Working from professional mockups
We'll take the knowledge we gained from looking at the CSS box model, floats, positioning, and CSS3, and work off of this mockup and its annotated version to make a site that could pass as a professional design. Image assets can be found here.
This class will require the use of Middleman, as we'd like to make this as realistic of a project as possible. As a bonus, we'll learn how to use preprocessors like Sass to help us with our code.
Intro presentation
Previous Classes
Lab
We also meet for a weekly lab/workshop where we work on an assignment that covers the material learned in the lecture earlier in the week. Those working on their own personal projects are also more than welcome to come and solicit help. Every Thursday at 7pm in the Turing classroom.