> Just speaking from my experience. It seems to me that sweeping generalisations such as "Can't write HTML => bad programmer" says more about the speaker than the subject.

I will yield to your experience, and certainly do not suggest that it is impossible to be good without a grasp of the two technologies.

My instinct, however, is that not knowing HTML (which I define as understanding the structure and basics, not complete mastery of XHTML 2 tags or something of the kind) shows an alarming lack of curiosity especially given how dominant web-based technologies have been in the last 6-7 years or so.

Understanding databases and SQL (again, no mastery needed), on the other hand, seems like an exceptionally useful thing to have in your toolbox. How do you evaluate data storage options without having some working knowledge of databases?

They are also both relatively cross-cutting for the field of software development, not specialised niches.

Now, the guys and/or gals you know probably are great programmers: but I think a very small time investment in the two subjects would be quite beneficial.

Edited for grammar and added 2nd last paragraph.