I'm trying to put together a HTML & CSS tutorial, I'll use this information to put more emphasis in the most difficult parts.
Note: learning how to position elements sing tables does not count ;)
Thanks.
Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
1–10 of 11 posts
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#2The differences in the DOM of IE and Mozilla.
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#3* The box model. Specifically how padding doesn't behave like most people expect. Be sure to include or point to a good illustration.
* The difference between inline and block display of elements – and how you can change them with css.
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#4Simulating table based layouts without tables (before there were frameworks for it).
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#5I've seen a lot of people fail to grasp the specifics of float.
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#6How to make it look the same in IE (6, 7 and now 8), FF (2 and 3), Opera and Safari...
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#7Page layout using DIVs... of course, you could always use TABLEs :-)
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#8Why not start off with how to use Blueprint CSS (http://code.google.com/p/blueprintcss/) and then show how to extend it? Blueprint gets the basics very right indeed, and allows your readers to become productive quickly. Then you can move on to how to create your own page elements, how to modify Blueprint, etc.
WRT your question, when I was building my own tiny websites I couldn't understand how CSS would help me be productive. The larger the sites, of course, the more obvious that became.
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#9How to make it look the same in IE (6, 7 and now 8), FF (2 and 3), Opera and Safari...
I'm giving a second to the cross-browser compatibility.
Re: Ask YC: What was the hardest thing to learn in HTML and CSS?
#10position: absolute vs relative
I've had to look up the rules several times now for how the parent box is chosen. I still don't know if I'm making more intermediate divs than I have to.