The 3 Ground Rules for Writing HTML

Published on Oct 27, 2009 (updated Feb 5, 2024), filed under development (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)

This and many other posts are also available as a pretty, well-behaved ebook: On Web Development.

1. Respect Syntax and Semantics

In other words: Validate your code and use markup according to its purpose. For validation there are validators, and both syntax and semantics are explained in specifications. Many advantages spring out of respecting syntax and semantics. Most notably, avoiding a few accessibility pitfalls and being professional.

2. Don’t Use Presentational or Behavioral Markup

In other words: Avoid presentational and behavioral elements and attributes, avoid presentational and behavorial ID and class names, avoid linking off to too many style sheets and scripts, avoid screwing up file names, &c. pp. Markup changes continue to be most expensive. Separation of concerns is the only option you have to write markup that is reusable and maintainable.

3. Leave Everything Out That Is Not Absolutely Necessary

In other words: Leave everything out that is not absolutely necessary. Question everything. Just using the markup you need sounds easy but, unfortunately, it’s not. It requires experience and expertise. When questioning everything and omitting even more, look into syntactical opportunities, too (protocol-less URLs, optional tags, unquoted attribute values, &c.). Once comfortable with the techniques, welcome not only performance but also maintainability benefits.

Bonus

At the end of the day, however, web development is about finding the right balance. Implementation issues, special accessibility requirements, client pressure, more substantial understandability needs, temporary experiments, and many more things can make us choose a different approach that affects the rules above. For a professional web developer it’s crucial not to go overboard with exceptions, and to keep the rules in mind all the time.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for small and large enterprises, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)