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If you had to pick one specific part of your job that you like the best what would it be?

I was recently asked this question and I found it difficult to answer. As a Web Designer I do absolutely loads of stuff and to give one single answer was quite challenging. This post will mainly apply to other Front end (FE) developers but I think anyone in the web or design industry could relate to it.

I like drawing in illustrator, writing both FE and Back end (BE) code, I like writing blog posts and taking photos, I like pulling data from somewhere, thinking about UX and even giving presentations/help/advice.

But what do I like best?

My initial answer was FE development as that’s what I specialise in and it’s what I’m best at. However that was too vague an answer for my insistent questioner, meaning I had to narrow it down even further.

As much as I like writing javascript I don’t enjoy it as much as HTML & CSS. My reasoning behind this was the fact that I’ve always leaned more to design than I have BE. I like to visually see what I’ve made on the screen. As an example I get more satisfaction out of using HTML/CSS to create some tabbed boxes that I do making them function correctly with JS.

So HTML and CSS were the finalists and although one can’t really function properly without the other I was still asked to pick just one.

I love HTML. I think it’s really cool building blocks of a website on a screen with neat and well structured markup. I like thinking ahead about how things should be structured and how it can easily be maintained. I enjoy wrapping elements in divs and putting neat little closing tag comments. I find it quite strange how I can get so much satisfaction out of something so simple.

If I love HTML then I adore CSS. I think hands down CSS is my favourite aspect of my job. HTML is like the bricks and mortar of a house whereas CSS is the interior design. The web would be nothing without CSS and you can make stuff that’s more attractive than Countdown’s .
The introduction of SASS to my workflow has made CSS even more fun. I’ve been focusing a lot on the structure and performance of my compiled SASS, specifically with the way I’m nesting code.
Used correctly, CSS is the prettiest thing on the web and it’s my favourite aspect of my job.

What’s yours?