[magicink81]

I had the advantage of having a mentor early in my career hold my code to the highest standards with regards to using the semantics of HTML. We were working on a big redesign of a large website for BigCorp, but we were still a small team on a deadline. She would not accept any excuses, and she guided me to think through HTML element selection until we found what we considered the best choice. I was taking the bus to work most days and used the time to read on the bus and at home the thick book "CSS: The Definitive Guide" by Eric Meyer cover to cover.

As you mention, working with HTML, and even more so CSS, can be a source of frustration. The UX of actually working with them is tedious work. However I can write today that all these years later, the high standards that my mentor held me to (and the project required) helped me to master HTML and CSS in a way that made doing that work less tedious, and easier over time. I was being paid to be educated by an expert - I considered it a great opportunity, and believe I have been proven correct.

In the post Vasilis writes that they told their students the assignment "doesn’t have to be semantic and shit". I consider this a missed opportunity to hold them to higher standards and help the students build a strength that can help them for years to come. More broadly, I believe this to be an example of current generations being limited by their mentors and educators lowering standards, and potentially robbing them of opportunities. Impedimentum Via Est.

[itishappy]

I'd argue that the semantics of <bigcorp-career> vs <into-webdev-class> are different enough that it's a bit of an antipattern to apply the same style to each.