Bootstrap is one of the most popular open source tools for website designers and developers. This open source framework is increasingly being used for developing web interfaces using responsive design. It enables all levels of developer and designers to create powerful web interfaces. You can be a beginner and still use it with dexterity. In this guide I will explain why this opensource tool has become so popular in such a short span of time.
Bootstrap uses JavaScript, HTML and CSS and supports HTML5 and CSS3. The main reasons why you should also be using it are listed as following:
Faster Development
The first reason it is so popular is because it enables faster development. So if you want to complete your website or application faster, you should be using Bootstrap. It provides you pre-made blocks of code so that you don’t have to code everything from scratch.
It can further help minimise coding because of its compatibility across multiple browsers and CSS-free functionality. There are pre-made Bootstrap themes that can be modified according to your needs. So it will not be wrong to say that it is designed for everyone. You could use it without concern for your level of skills and the size of your project. If you have a large project, it can make development easier and faster.
Create Mobile-Ready Websites
Bootstrap makes it easy to create mobile-ready websites. Its fluidic grid layout is dynamic and adjusts to different screen resolutions. In fact, you will not have to do anything extra to ensure that your website is responsive.
The importance of responsive design has grown significantly in the last few years. Even Google has made it official that mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor for it. The pre-made classes in Bootstrap allow you to mention the number of spots you want a column to occupy. You could then mention the point at which the columns should stack horizontally for proper display on different screens.
Bootstrap’s grid system makes it possible to scale just one website design from the tiniest mobile screens to the highest definition displays. It will divide the screen into 12 columns allowing you to determine the screen area to be taken up by each design element. So your website or applications can scale across any device with just a single code base.
Customisation
The opensource tool also provides several ways for customising the default design. This is also a great feature. You can change how its standard JavaScript and CSS behave. Another good thing is that it offers options for Sass and Less customisation. The options will allow you to create a custom template to meet your specific needs.
It may come with CSS, but its source code uses Sass and Less, the most popular CSS preprocessors. This means you will be able to start immediately with precompiled CSS, thus saving more time.
Open Source
This advantage should have been mentioned in the top, but like all things that carry more weight, it trickles down the list. Bootstrap is an open source tool. It is one of the main reasons why so many designers and developers are using it. When you use it to create sites or applications, you don’t have to deal with any kind of licensing issues.
It comes with elegant and extensive documentation for CSS components, common HTML elements, custom HTML components, and jQuery plug-ins.
Author Bio:
Adam Ostopowich is an experienced Calgary web designer with more than a decade of experience. He has been providing consultative web designing services recently and likes to share his knowledge with his audience and clients by writing and posting useful articles frequently. He is also well aware with Calgary SEO services.