Hand coding is a programming and coding technique where the user writes all the code manually. When a user creates a website or program, they can code manually or use a generator, commonly known as a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor. An advantage of hand coding is a smaller coding area, which makes websites and programs load quickly and cleanly. Most jobs that hire programmers require them to be able to code manually, because some generators may have limited functionality. The downsides of hand-coding a website or program are that it takes more time and there is a learning curve.
Hand coding can be done to design a website manually.
A programmer who wants to create a website or a program can choose to code manually or use a generator. With manual coding, the user types everything manually; all code is manually typed in a text editor. If a generator is used, the generator will automatically create a large part of the code. For example, if the programmer wants to put an image on a website, he can simply open the image in the generator and the generator will create all the necessary coding to put the image on the website.
Hand coding is a programming and coding technique where the user writes all the code manually.
The main advantage of manual coding is a small coding area; when a generator is used, it usually creates extra code. Some generators add an identification code, so that other users know which generator made the site or program. Other generators add additional code to satisfy several years of coding standards at once, so people with older Internet browsers or operating systems can still use the site or program, but this is usually unnecessary. A hand-coded website or program will typically have much less coding, so load times are much faster. The coding also loads cleaner, which means there is less chance of some part of the program or website loading incorrectly, causing code to appear instead of an image or text.
If a programmer is looking for a career in creating programs or websites, most employers require them to be able to code by hand. Generators can generally handle and create code very well, but generators may not be able to solve advanced coding problems. Knowing about hand coding also requires more coding knowledge, which makes the programmer more adept at the coding language.
There are two main disadvantages to hand coding: time and knowledge. Building a website or program from scratch can take hours or days longer than using a generator. Hand coding programmers should also have a good understanding of the coding language; otherwise, they will need to check the coding references frequently when creating the site or program.
