This is such an old argument/discussion but a heated one in the web community and it’s always interesting to me when it comes up, listening at all points presented and how passionate the debate can become.
Personally, I can hand code. I can build a web page by hand in Notepad but the design process is the part I love, that’s what I feel strongly about and am always trying to learn and improve. And I think there are some advantages to knowing how to code as well as design but I can see where people would also just focus and specialize on the one area alone. Design is not easy, it’s not always the “fun” part. As with anything creative, it’s a struggle at times. Ideas don’t always flow or work out as well on the web as they did in your mind but I really, really love it regardless.
It’s not that I don’t spend as much time coding and building, it’s just because the joy for me comes in the visual creation, the creative solutions I can provide and the joke I’ve now publicly made - to "make things pretty". A term that has been used snidely toward me but also just as a general statement: “Just make it pretty”. I adopted it and now use it for myself because however you look at it, good or bad, I do want to make things visually attractive. I like seeing the art in the machine.
Should all designers have to be able to code? I think it helps but I also think it’s ok for design and development to be two different areas and skills. I don’t think all designers should have to also know all back end coding but of course, knowing some basics is going to be a positive and may even help when working with a developer and understanding what they may need or how things will work on the back end after implement your design.
I’m constantly impressed by developers that seem to be able to bend web sites and make them behave and do their bidding and I’m still working on learning a little more on the development side but for now, I’m a designer that codes.
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