An Ode To W3Schools
jonkuperman.com
An Ode To W3Schools
1–10 of 66 posts
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#2100% agree. I learned so much off W3Schools. Yeah, it's sometimes inaccurate. But the information is a million times better than reading some WC3 specs or Mozilla's developer guides.
Often I see people link to MSDN or Mozilla's developer network when asked for how to learn web development, and all I think to myself as I see that is that if it were me, I would just quit. The content is explained in a way that's just not user friendly for someone who wants to learn for the first time.
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#3I disagree and I don't think he really responded to any of the criticisms, just sort-of acknowledged them.
> They Appear Affiliated With The W3C
> For those in the know the W3C is the World Wide Web Consortium, it is an international organization that governs the web. W3Schools rides off the notoriety of that name despite being unaffiliated. Is that really a complaint? How many _Java_Script developers are out there that think this is an issue?
I think this is my biggest issue with W3SChools and he just kind of brushes it off.
Masquerades of this kind have always been a pet peeve, such as how all Blue Moon materials try very hard to present it as a microbrew, when its a Coors product. People think they're supporting some small company, and Coors is intentionally duping them.
JavaScript, by the way, was a name change based on a mutual co-marking deal. W3School's name is not.
> [about Wikifying] Again, I’d love to see it happen – but that doesn’t mean it should happen.
Funny, I just edited the MDN today. It is a far better resource, wiki-fied, with no ads, and Mozilla is always looking for helpers. If you'd love to see it happen, help it happen.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/
"It's the Web. You drive."
(In traditional HN fashion I'd like to write an Ode to the MDN post, alas I haven't got the time tonight!)
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#4I love to hate W3Schools as much as anyone these days, but here's a dirty little secret: when I was making the transition from nights-and-weekends coding enthusiast to professional programmer, I needed something (anything) to put on my resume that might suggest to HR that I can do the work. Two W3Schools online certs later I landed the gig that started my development career.
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#5No. By visiting their site, you say that this is all okay. On top of these things, W3Schools has also engaged in some sketchy SEO tactics. (http://www.itworld.com/software/261486/w3schools-hubbub-over...)
I refuse to use the site. This behavior should not be encouraged. If you would like an alternative, I highly recommend the Mozilla Developer Network. (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/)
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#6100% agree. I learned so much off W3Schools. Yeah, it's sometimes inaccurate. But the information is a million times better than reading some WC3 specs or Mozilla's developer guides. Often I see people link to MSDN or Mozilla's developer network when asked for how to learn web development, and all I think to myself as I see that is that if it were me, I would just quit. The content is explained in a way that's just n…
Thank you. A lot of people forget what it was like to be a newbie, confused by denser sources of information, and just looking for something that presents the basics in an accessible way.
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#7Learning to append MDN to all my searches helped me out a lot. MDN is just a much better resource. And before I caught on I did assume a certain credibility and relationship between W3schools and W3C.
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#8I disagree and I don't think he really responded to any of the criticisms, just sort-of acknowledged them. > They Appear Affiliated With The W3C > For those in the know the W3C is the World Wide Web Consortium, it is an international organization that governs the web. W3Schools rides off the notoriety of that name despite being unaffiliated. Is that really a complaint? How many _Java_Script developers are out there t…
I've got to be honest, I've never made that connection.
To me, W3 is simply a popular abbreviation for WWW, like "dub dub dub". When you think about it, at 9 syllables WWW has probably the highest word-length to syllable ratio out there.
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#9100% agree. I learned so much off W3Schools. Yeah, it's sometimes inaccurate. But the information is a million times better than reading some WC3 specs or Mozilla's developer guides. Often I see people link to MSDN or Mozilla's developer network when asked for how to learn web development, and all I think to myself as I see that is that if it were me, I would just quit. The content is explained in a way that's just n…
I would argue that http://htmldog.com/ or the MDN (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/) are much better resources for even the newbie. Correct information always trumps easily accessible information. It isn't like the MDN is hard to navigate or anything, anyways.
For comparison sake:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/HTML/Element/articl...
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_article.asp
With the exception of the "try it yourself" link, the MDN page has everything the W3School's page has, and then some, as well as being more accurate as it contains version numbers, links to the spec, as well as related usage notes.
Re: An Ode To W3Schools
#10Whatever man.
Acknowledging the fact that a website which is so common teaches people to program the wrong way has responsibility.
I'm sure they make a shitload of money from ads, and the authors of the website don't even bother to read emails.
The problem is that they have a high SEO ranking, because most programmers are dumb and they don't know what's good for them. That's where the word responsibility comes in.