Learn PHP / mySQL

Joomla comes with a few editors. The default editor is TinyMCE. TinyMCE is a good editor, but, FCK and JCK may be more desirable since they are a little more user friendly with inserting images and linking. As far as hand-coding goes, they are all fairly equal.

Hand Coding In Joomla Editor

When working with a Joomla editor, it is not like working with pure html/css or pure php for that matter. The editors may throw in some tags, but, that is marginal. The key is to understand the editor's strengths. The editor's strengths are div, br, td, tr, and span tags. When editing images and text in the source code, these tags stay where they should and work properly. You can style, float images, use tables and work css as you want. Most problems with working with an editor are when you try to edit outside of the source code. In this case, deleting rows and editing text may not do exactly as you expect.