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.)
This and 133 other posts are also available as a well-behaved ebook: On Web Development.
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 at various companies (e.g., Google); I鈥檓 an active web and tool developer (code optimization, digital defense), a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and a book author (O鈥橰eilly, Frontend Dogma).
I love trying things鈥攊n 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. (Please share feedback: Interpret charitably, keep it friendly, but do be critical.)