Why I Choose Bootstrap

The Bootstrap Framework (http://goo.gl/WBQjOF) is a HTML, CSS, and JavaScript framework originally developed by a Twitter employee as a way to keep consistency across all of Twitter’s internal development tools. It has since became one of the most popular development frameworks for websites.

Bootstrap is a HTML, CSS and JavaScript framework for developing any web based project. Their “Mobile First” mentality is one of the reasons that it is so popular and wide spread. It is also why I use it!

The Grid

When developing websites, developers need to look past the initial design elements and look at how the page is laid out. Underneath it all, there is typically a “grid” of some sort. Some way to group certain elements away from others.

Seeing how this grid is laid out, plays directly into the hand of Bootstrap. The classes defined by Bootstap (http://goo.gl/uU5O6F) allow you to quickly apply these classes to your div’s to break apart your design.

The grid is setup to be up to 12 columns across each row. But you can have as little as one column, or any number in between. You can also specify the column width for different screen sizes. This allows you to make your grid accommodate any combination of different resolutions or devices.

Responsiveness

Bootstrap was developed with the “Mobile First” mentality. This means that mobile devices (phones, tablets, etc) are what should be thought of first.

The grid allows for this to happen by using the specialized row/column CSS classes to allow for reordering or stacking of grid items when the page either is displayed or moved to a different size screen. So, even if you resize your browser, the page can display itself accordingly.

Special navigation has been developed for use with Bootstrap that is meant for mobile resolutions. When on a smaller screen, it condenses the navigation down to a small button, that expands after a press. And once the resolution expands past what was programmed into the grid, it will switch back to the normal site navigation.

It truly knows exactly what device and resolution that it is displaying and finds the best way to display the page.

Customizable

Even though you could just take all of the defaults that Bootstrap provides in their download, it is customizable in every way possible. By using the Bootstrap customizer (http://goo.gl/YSv5t0), you can change any aspect of the framework that you want. And I do mean ANYTHING.

Of course, all of this can be changed by creating or editing your own CSS that is loaded after the Bootstrap CSS. But if you can make it part of the base framework, why not, right?

Conclusion

Whether you are a seasoned web developer or a novice just learning, you can easily pickup their framework and have a working layout in a matter of hours. This means that you don’t have to be an experienced web developer to make designs that work on any platform.

Opie’s Computers, LLC has vast experience developing with Bootstrap. If your website needs a facelift, and you are thinking of going with a responsive design, let us utilize Bootstrap in your next site!