Slow at writing code? This tip is for you!

Is Efficient Just a Fancy Word for Lazy?

We’ve all heard it before: “Plan more, code less,” or “Quick fixes will come back to haunt you.” Yada yada yada…

And sure, there’s truth there. Every dev loves a shortcut, especially one that’s fast, clean, and doesn’t blow up in your face later.

Good news: we’ve got one.

What Is Emmet and How It Helps You Code Faster

If you haven’t met Emmet, get ready — this little plug-in is about to change your life.

Emmet is a powerful plugin originally developed by Sergey Chikuyonok, born out of a project called Zen Coding. Its mission? To make front-end developers ridiculously fast at writing HTML and CSS. And honestly, it delivers.

Emmet works by transforming simple, CSS-like abbreviations into full-blown code snippets. You type a tiny string, hit Tab, and boom — instant markup. No repetitive typing, no wasted keystrokes, just clean, valid code in seconds.

Best Text Editors and Platforms That Support Emmet

Emmet works across a ton of editors: Sublime Text, Atom, Brackets, Notepad++, VS Code… even online darlings like CodePen, JSFiddle, and JS Bin. Most of the time, you don’t even need to install anything — Emmet ships with many editors by default.

Here’s what makes it great:

• Speed: Cut down your typing time by 50–70%. Seriously.
• Smart abbreviations: Nest elements, add IDs, classes, siblings, and text content — all in a single line.
• Customizable: You can tweak or extend Emmet to match your specific coding style.
• Wide support: HTML, CSS, JSX, LESS, Sass… Emmet plays well with modern front-end stacks.

Whether you’re building websites from scratch or rapidly prototyping layouts, Emmet gives you Jedi-level control over your code editor.

Emmet Abbreviation Examples for HTML and CSS

HTML Emmet abbreviation example:

.container.container-fluid>(header>ul#my-list>li.item$$*5>a{Item $$})+footer>p{My list}

HTML code expanded:

<div class="container container-fluid">
  <header>
    <ul id="my-list">
      <li class="item01"><a href="">Item 01</a></li>
      <li class="item02"><a href="">Item 02</a></li>
      <li class="item03"><a href="">Item 03</a></li>
      <li class="item04"><a href="">Item 04</a></li>
      <li class="item05"><a href="">Item 05</a></li>
    </ul>
  </header>
  <footer>
    <p>My list</p>
  </footer>
</div>

CSS Emmet abbreviation example:

h1 {
fs12r
fwb
w100p
c#333
lh1.2
p10
ml15
tac
dib
}

CSS code expanded:

h1 {
  font-size: 12rem;
  font-weight: bold;
  width: 100%;
  color: #333;
  line-height: 1.2;
  padding: 10px;
  margin-left: 15px;
  text-align: center;
  display: inline-block;
}

Conclusion: Speed Up Your Code Writing Today

We hope this little trick helps you write better, faster, and with fewer caffeine-fueled all-nighters. Want more like this? Check out our expert article on 3 ways to create a loop with WordPress.

Because let’s face it — the best coders are the ones who work smart and fast.