The Two Great Things About Validation/Conformance
Published on Jan聽30, 2009 (updated Oct聽20, 2024), filed under development, conformance. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon or on聽Bluesky.)
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There are two great things about validation: Validating helps technical understanding as it contributes to awareness of the underlying specifications, and writing valid code is a sign of professionalism.
Put another way, developers who don鈥檛 validate miss important opportunities to learn, and invalid code can in most cases be considered unprofessional.
However, invalid code doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean inaccessible or unmaintainable code. That鈥檚 a myth. You can invert that statement, too, though: Valid code doesn鈥檛 mean accessible or maintainable code, nor efficient or fast code.
From my comment on Valid sites work better (?). Revised.
About Me
I鈥檓 Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I鈥檓 an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I鈥檝e worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you use every day (like Google) and companies you鈥檝e never heard of, I鈥檓 an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O鈥橰eilly and Frontend Dogma.
I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also with respect to politics and philosophy. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my experiences and perspectives. (Please share feedback: Interpret charitably, but do be critical.)