100 Web Development Jokes

Web development comes with plenty of frustration, but it also comes with its own brand of humor. After enough time working with HTML and CSS, certain jokes just start to make sense.

This is a collection of short, easy-to-read jokes and puns where HTML and CSS are the main characters. They are quick, sometimes silly, and very familiar to anyone who has spent time pushing divs around.

Some will make you smile, some will make you sigh, and a few might feel a little too relatable. Let's go!

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1. What is CSS Developers favorite drink?
   :root beer.

   Here aresome alternatives that also work for Web Developers:

   • strong .coffee { filter: none }
   • DOM Perignon
   • FlexBox wine

   

2. Why did the chicken cross the web?
   To get to the other site.

3. I was going to tell you a joke about negative animation-delay, but you didn't get it.

4. Why did the CSS file go shopping for clothes?
   It needed a new style.

5. Dad, when he uses animation-direction: reverse "Ah! This takes me back."

6. What's SVG's favorite TV host?
   Doctor Fill.

7. Why couldn't the Web Developer align the div?
   Because it was positioned off-the-grid.

   

8. Why do Web Developers have trust issues?
   Because DarkGray.

   This one is not funny, but it is true: in CSS, DarkGray is lighter than Gray. Which is interestingly annoying.

   Another weird fact about CSS: the bolder font-weight can be lighter than the bold font weight. Because... CSS?

9. Why are CSS Developers always sad?
   They never float on air.

10. Why did the Web Developer stop going to the lazy river?
    They had to use floats.

11. Why does the CSS file never feel cold?
    Because it always has an extra @layer.

12. Why do people tend to avoid Web Developers?
    Because they are just flexing all the time.

13. How do CSS Developers stay on top of things?
    They use z-index: max(Infinity);

    

14. How many CSS Developers does it take to change a light bulb?
    None. It is a hardware issue.

15. How many CSS Developers does it take to change a light bulb?
    None. They are Ok working on dark mode.

16. How many JS Developers does it take to change a light bulb?
    One. But they'll need 5GB in node_modules, TailwindCSS, their very own implementation of the lefty-loosey-righty-tighty.js library, and the latest MacBook Pro to handle everything. The resulting JS file will be 8MB and only change the light bulb if the room has Chrome in it.

17. Why do Web Developers have a tough time getting a driving license?
    They pass the written or the driving test, but they rarely clear:both.

18. Brains are amazing. they work nonstop 24/7 from the moment you are born until the moment you need to remember if it's align-text or text-align.

    

19. What is CSS Developers' favorite car?
    A vw.

20. How do you make a <div> dance?
    You make its borders groove.

21. Why do Mobile Developers like going to McDonald's?
    Because they have a hamburger menu.

22. How do Web Developers make a component hot?
    They turn it 90 degrees.

23. What is blue and not too heavy?
    LightBlue.

    And an eve more terrible and nerdier version:

    What is blue and not too heavy?
    #ADD8E6

24. Why did the last <div> blush?
    Because it was next to its parent's bottom.

25. Why did the <video> element fail the test?
    Because it didn't have a :cue.

    

26. CSS custom properties are in the :root of all evil (websites)

27. <input type="hidden"> hide-and-seek champion since 1995.

28. Why didn't IE11 participate in conversations with other browsers?
    Because it didn't know how to <dialog>.

29. Why are CSS Developers so optimistic?
    They can never see the glass half :empty

30. Why did the linear gradient fail the test?
    Because it couldn't make the curve.

31. Why do CSS developers only go to national masquerades?
    Because masks can't go outside the borders.

32. Why did the ::before pseudo-element not show up at its high school reunion?
    Because it wasn't contented.

33. Why did the SVG file go to the dentist?
    It lost a fill-ing.

    

34. Where is ::before displayed after ::after?
    In the dictionary.

35. Why did the <img> tag go to jail?
    It was iframed.

36. Why did the A11Y Coach not get the job?
    They failed the background check.

37. What is a CSS Developer favorite dessert?
    Chocolate padding

38. What does HTML wear at parties?
    <address>

39. What is a web developer's least favorite car?
    A bug.

40. Why did the conic-gradient leave college?
    It already had 360 degrees.

    

41. How did the Web Developer become a bold shooter?
    By practicing with a <B></B> Gun.

42. What developers are always throwing people a line?
    Tech <br>os

43. What is CSS Developers favorite clothes brand?
    Gap

44. How do web developers eat for free at restaurants?
    They set the tab-size to 0

45. If CSS were a political party, it would be the GOP.
    It's the party of flow and order.

46. Did you know all CSS Developers are Democrats?
    They think the left is 100% right.

47. I looked for the perfect grayish-purplish color. It took a long time, but I found it in a #DECADE

    

48. Why do <script> and <link> have trust issues?
    Because the other HTML elements don't have integrity.

49. What is CSS' favorite rapper?
    em-in-em

    Other CSS options:

    • Jay Z-index
    • 50%
    • Kendrick Lamargin
    • Mos <defs>
    • Cardi <b>
    • Chance the Wrapper
    • The :roots
    • Gucci <main>

    ...you get the idea.

50. Do you know CSS is into music?
    It just likes to wrap.

51. How does CSS transform light into energy?
    With font-synthesis.

52. What is a Web Developer's favorite US state?
    <main>

    Also acceptable: Indiana (IN), Mississippi (MS), or West Virginia (WV)

53. Be kind to SVG files...
    ...They have fillings too

54. Why did the web developer ghost fail HTML validation?
    It didn't have a <body>!

55. Why are ghosts terrible at web development?
    Because all they ever do is #b00000.

    

56. What is the worst thing that can happen to a web developer ghost?
    Floating into a <picture> while being visible.

57. A headstone is a grave ::marker.

58. Poltergeists struggle with modern web development.
    All they do is float things around.

59. Why does Sleepy Hollow's horseman love HTML?
    Because you can see the <body>... but not the <head>.

60. .witch {
      background-size: coven;
    }

61. Why do mummies prefer Flexbox over Grid for layouts?
    Because it flex-wraps nicely.

62. .ghost {
      visibility: hidden;
    }

63. Web developers have been searching for a good semantic tag to represent content with a caption for years...
    Eventually, they'll <figure> it out.

64. Why did the <li> run away from the cooking website?
    It realized it was on the <menu>.

65. :where(.wolf) {
      will-change: shape-outside;
    }

    

66. Why do children like trick-or-treating at the CSS colors' house?
    Because they get chocolate.

    ---

    And why do their parents love it too?
    Because they get chartreuse.

67. The use of negative translateY() is really on the rise.

68. Why don't skeletons ever go trick or treating?
    Because they have no-<body> to go with.

69. What is an Italian web developer's favorite pasta?
    <li>nguini.

    Also valid <span>ghetti, <main>cotti, <p>enne (or <pre>nne)... and probably the one they hate the most: gridciolli.

70. What will Frankenstein never use to build a website?
    firebrick

    

71. - Knock, knock!
    - Who's there?
    - <nav>
    - <nav> who?
    - Bless you!

72. <head> and <header> imply the existence of <headest>.

73. Why did the web developers use box-shadow:10px 10px #FFC0CB on all components?
    Because a manager asked them to pink outside the box.

74. How do CSS developers laugh?
    Hue! Hue! Hue!

75. The four Cs in CSS: caret, color, clear-ity, and clip-path

76. HTML shocked everyone by deprecating these tags
    They were always <font> and <center>

77. Why did the CSS developer storm out of the restaurant?
    They were outraged by the table layout.

78. Negative animation-delay and I go way back.

79. I wish the W3C removed bold from the CSS standard.
    It would take a weight off my mind.

80. Gen Z CSS developers prefer rem over px.
    No cap.

81. clip() was removed from the CSS standard.
    It just didn't make the cut.

82. What is CSS developers' favorite band?
    REM

    Other options: blur() or #ABBA (more on this, later)

83. What is web developers' favorite musical instrument?
    An #0B0E

84. For how long do CSS developers dream?
    Just 1rem

85. Optimistic: The glass is 1/2 full.
    Pessimistic: The glass is 1/2 empty.
    CSS: The glass is twice as tall as it is wide.

86. Why can't dinosaurs develop websites?
    Because they are extinct.

87. What HTML has the best Kung Fu?
    Bruce <li>

88. People complained so much that CSS had no sense of direction. That it packed its stuff and inline-start.

89. You know Elf on the Shelf ...now discover Grid on a Lid!

    

90. Why did the HTML page not go to grad school?
    Because it could only have one <title>.

91. CSS Developers are great dancers,
    they know all the steps().

92. The prankster meant to #deface the building,
    but only ended up painting the #facade.

93. What is CSS developers' favorite text editor?
    Vi

94. What is the CSS Super Trouper's go-to color?
    #ABBA

95. The junior developer asked how to add movement to their website. I said, "animation." Now they've been googling "imation" all morning.

96. I don't mind HTML tags being acronyms: <br>, <dl>, <li>... but <hr> is where I draw the line.

97. The painter searched for a light turquoise color... but eventually admitted he was #baffed.

98. The web page never understood doctypes.
    They always went over its <head>.

99. What is CSS's favorite dinosaur?
    A 3rex.

100. Never trust border-radius.
     It's always cutting corners.

And that's it! Congratulations! You survived the 100 terrible CSS dad jokes.