Saturday, 25 October 2025

Building a Basic Webpage with HTML and CSS – Why It Still Matters

In an age of website builders and AI design tools, it’s easy to wonder whether there’s any point in learning HTML and CSS from scratch. Yet understanding how to build a webpage manually remains one of the most valuable digital skills a student can gain. It teaches the logic, structure, and design principles that underpin everything from professional web development to app design and digital communication.

The Experiment in Code

Students start with a blank text editor and create a simple webpage:


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>My First Webpage</title>
    <style>
      body { font-family: Arial; background-color: #f2f2f2; text-align: center; }
      h1 { color: #333; }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello World</h1>
    <p>This is my first HTML and CSS page built from scratch.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Within minutes, they produce a page that displays correctly in any browser — something they’ve constructed entirely themselves.

Why Learn It?

Modern drag-and-drop tools are convenient, but they hide how web pages work. Learning the basics gives students:

Control: You can edit, fix, and improve what others can’t.
Understanding: Knowing HTML and CSS helps debug layout problems even when using automated tools.
Transferable Skills: The same concepts of structure, syntax, and logic appear in programming and app development.
Confidence: Building something from scratch provides a foundation for learning JavaScript, Python Flask, or other web technologies later.

Adding a Database to a Webpage – Bringing Data to Life

Once students understand how to build a static webpage using HTML and CSS, the next step is to make it interactive — to allow the site to store and retrieve information. This is where databases come in. Adding a database transforms a webpage from a simple display into a dynamic, data-driven application.

From Static to Dynamic

A static page always looks the same: the text and images are written directly into the code.
A dynamic page, by contrast, changes based on data — for example, a login page that checks usernames, a form that saves results, or a shop page that lists products from a database.

Using technologies such as Python with SQLite, PHP with MySQL, or JavaScript with Firebase, even beginners can now connect a webpage to a simple database.

The Basic Idea

A database stores information in tables — just like a spreadsheet, but faster and smarter.
A simple student project might include:

Table: Students
ID
1
2

When a webpage connects to this table, it can:

Display stored data (e.g. a list of grades)
Add new records through a form
Search or filter existing data
Update or delete entries as needed

The Example

Using Python Flask and SQLite, students can create a small web app:

The HTML form collects input (name and grade).
Flask connects to the SQLite database.
Submitting the form stores the new record.
A second page lists all entries from the table.

This simple project introduces concepts used across all major websites — from social media platforms to online stores.

Skills Highlight

Writing and editing basic HTML and CSS code
Understanding webpage structure: head, body, and styles
Linking code to visible design changes
Recognising how automation tools build on fundamental web technologies

Understanding how webpages communicate with databases
Using SQL commands to create, read, update, and delete records
Building simple web apps that store and display data
Linking coding and database design into one functional project

Why It Works in Teaching

Writing your own webpage demystifies the web. Students move from being passive users of technology to active creators. They understand what’s happening behind the page and learn the logic that every digital system builds upon. Adding a database makes programming feel purposeful. Students see how real websites function — collecting input, storing it, and producing useful output. It’s where theory meets practice, providing learners with a strong foundation in data handling and web development.

Saturday, 25 October 2025