Although Paul Farmer is the president and co-founder of a technology startup in Halifax, he admits he's more of a business and accounting man than a computer guy.

After completing the HTML150 workshop at the Halifax Central Library — a crash course on coding basics — he's feeling more confident in his skills.

"It's actually kind of made HTML and CSS a lot more understandable and less intimidating for a non-techie to get involved," said Farmer, whose start up is called VidSnippets Incorporated.

"I think having that understanding is critical nowadays to move forward in whatever career you're in."

No HTML background? No problem

HTML150 is a one-day course designed to help people from all walks of life understand coding by building their own webpage.

About 100 people attended the event and most people there had absolutely no background in HTML or CSS.

"I think it's probably one of the most important things you can learn in today's society. Everything we do and everything we interact with touches lines of code," said Amy Mansell, HTML150's event manager.

"It's just a new kind of literacy. In the same way that we teach other languages, programming is becoming its own language."

Amy Mansell is the event manager of HTML150. (Steve Berry/CBC)

The free workshop started with a lecture from local software developer Andrew Burke and an instructor from Toronto. Once the lecture ended, people broke off into groups to do more hands-on work with their mentors.

"They're actually applying what they learned this morning and are able to build a landing page, whether that be a personal resume or something for their business," said Mansell.

She said the HTML150 sessions are one way to prepare people to fill tech-sector jobs.