It’s hard to believe how long it’s been since I got acquainted with HTML. When I was in elementary school, I was really into Neopets. I don’t know why it was so appealing to perform chores for an electronic pet, but I sure did enjoy it. The website had a feature where you could use HTML to customize in-game shops and forum signatures. Given that my age was still in the single digits and the topics I was covering in school were things like adding magic numbers and writing cursive, it’s an understatement to say that I was in a bit over my head. I don’t recall being able to do much of interest with HTML and Neopets, but it provided me with some background knowledge that I would carry through the rest of my life.

It was years before I began to consider development as a career path seriously. Up until I did make that decision in high school, I interacted with HTML on a reasonably regular basis. When I learned how the developer’s tools worked, I found myself regularly viewing HTML for pages I visited periodically. I did this out of curiosity more than anything else. I would play around with things like making password fields visible or study the structure of elements on the page. At this point, I didn’t follow any particular guides or courses I just liked to explore.

Once I reached IBM and started to test enterprise-level software through a browser I had to get a better foundation of knowledge in HTML. My favourite resource for HTML is W3Schools. They offer a full range of tutorials that enabled me to feel confident in my HTML abilities in my first job and onward. A combination of W3Schools and constant practice automating web elements at IBM provide me with a firm understanding of HTML. Furthermore, I have been able to demonstrate effective use of that knowledge in school, and in other positions.