The Two Great Things About Validation/Conformance

Published on Jan 30, 2009 (updated Oct 20, 2024), filed under development, conformance. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon.)

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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’t validate miss important opportunities to learn, and invalid code can in most cases be considered unprofessional.

However, invalid code doesn’t necessarily mean inaccessible or unmaintainable code. That’s a myth. You can invert that statement, too, though: Valid code doesn’t mean accessible or maintainable code, nor efficient or fast code.

From my comment on Valid sites work better (?). Revised.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies (e.g., Google); I’m an active web and tool developer (code optimization, digital defense), a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and a book author (O’Reilly, Frontend Dogma).

I love trying things—in web development and engineering management, but also in politics and philosophy, where I hold to one idea in particular: that we can only be well if we take good care of everyone. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my perspectives and experiences. (Interpret charitably but be critical—and share feedback and advice that makes my work better.)