Bootstrap for web development

Rikmeister · 22 Mar 2021 at 12:47

Itching to do some web development after a long pause, I've almost certainly decided to use Bootstrap. Before I invest my time and effort I'm checking here for any thoughts on Bootstrap. Is there a better alternative?

GravyMonster · 22 Mar 2021 at 13:56

Bootstrap are about to release v5 which removes the reliance on jQuery, so it's still a very worthwhile framework which is easy to use, configure and extend.

However what's 'best' for your situation is very subjective and use case dependent. If you want to know what else is available, here's a list of alternatives: https://hackr.io/blog/top-bootstrap-alternatives

Rikmeister · 22 Mar 2021 at 14:41

GravyMonster said:
If you want to know what else is available, here's a list of alternatives: https://hackr.io/blog/top-bootstrap-alternatives

Thanks that's very helpful.

I've used Foundation before but the others are at best only vaguely known to me.

john_s · 22 Mar 2021 at 21:04

I do way more backend work than front end, but Bootstrap is my go to option if I do need to stick a quick UI on something.

Rikmeister · 23 Mar 2021 at 00:15

john_s said:
I do way more backend work than front end, but Bootstrap is my go to option if I do need to stick a quick UI on something.

Thanks, that's helpful.

What backend work do you do?

john_s · 23 Mar 2021 at 21:56

Rikmeister said:
What backend work do you do?

Systems integration mostly... APIs, website to/from ERP, middleware, data feeds, etc.

planty · 23 Mar 2021 at 22:03

Rikmeister said:
Itching to do some web development after a long pause, I've almost certainly decided to use Bootstrap. Before I invest my time and effort I'm checking here for any thoughts on Bootstrap. Is there a better alternative?

Depending on your experience, you can't really go wrong with bootstrap. Bulma is very good though, and tailwind is also popular right now, although I haven't used that myself yet.

Rikmeister · 24 Mar 2021 at 18:52

planty said:
Depending on your experience, you can't really go wrong with bootstrap. Bulma is very good though, and tailwind is also popular right now, although I haven't used that myself yet.

Thanks. I've got some experience. Enough to feel comfortable with taking on Bootstrap or similar. I'm not doing anything critical but like to know I'm on the right track before diving in.

McBain · 25 Mar 2021 at 11:30

Bootstrap is still very relevant, go for it.

Rikmeister · 25 Mar 2021 at 17:26

McBain said:
Bootstrap is still very relevant, go for it.

Thanks, I will.

GravyMonster said:
Bootstrap are about to release v5

I thought v5 was still in alpha but I see Beta 3 was released a couple of days ago. As there are unlikely to be any major changes there's no reason not to go with Bootstrap 5 and skip 4 altogether.

Rikmeister · 28 Mar 2021 at 21:19

john_s said:
Systems integration mostly... APIs, website to/from ERP, middleware, data feeds, etc.

Wow. Impressive. What languages/technologies do you use?

john_s · 29 Mar 2021 at 21:16

Rikmeister said:
Wow. Impressive. What languages/technologies do you use?

C# and .Net Core usually. SQL Server mostly for data storage, though have occasionally used other kinds of storage. REST or SOAP services for the integrations. JSON or XML for the data feeds.

Rikmeister · 30 Mar 2021 at 10:07

john_s said:
C# and .Net Core usually. SQL Server mostly for data storage, though have occasionally used other kinds of storage. REST or SOAP services for the integrations. JSON or XML for the data feeds.

That's interesting. Is the XML for legacy apps or ongoing dev?

Deleted member 77746 · 30 Mar 2021 at 11:02

bootstrap is awesome. It's so clean and plenty of code to play with.

Rikmeister · 30 Mar 2021 at 11:54

Bouton Aide said:
bootstrap is awesome. It's so clean and plenty of code to play with.

Thanks. I used version 1 years ago - it's moved on a lot since then.

Deleted member 77746 · 30 Mar 2021 at 12:14

Rikmeister said:
Thanks. I used version 1 years ago - it's moved on a lot since then.

Yeh it has, not be long and version 5 will be out. This is based on bootstrap 4. It's a sig rotator for forums with a control panel.

https://sigrotor.ml/

john_s · 30 Mar 2021 at 20:22

Rikmeister said:
That's interesting. Is the XML for legacy apps or ongoing dev?

Both... It’s sometimes dictated by the system you’re integrating with. Personally, I’d just choose JSON, but it’s not always something you get to choose.

Cooler running · 1 Apr 2021 at 12:06

Rikmeister said:
Itching to do some web development after a long pause, I've almost certainly decided to use Bootstrap. Before I invest my time and effort I'm checking here for any thoughts on Bootstrap. Is there a better alternative?

Bootstrap is the most popular web frontend library, it's popularity is no mistake as it is both powerful and accessible.
The main reason you see for not using it, is that it's too popular. Most dev's can immediately spot the bootstrap without even opening the inspector, for that reason some devs avoid it so their project look "different".
What I personally like is the number of integrations you see from bootstrap into popular JavaScript libraries such as https://react-bootstrap.github.io/ .

From what I've seen Tailwind is currently the hipster choice for people avoiding bootstrap, but I wouldn't pay much credence to the hipster argument personally.

Rikmeister · 5 Apr 2021 at 18:11

Cooler running said:
The main reason you see for not using it, is that it's too popular. Most dev's can immediately spot the bootstrap without even opening the inspector, for that reason some devs avoid it so their project look "different".

I believe customisation has been made easier with version 5

Cooler running · 5 Apr 2021 at 21:39

Rikmeister said:
I believe customisation has been made easier with version 5

Customization has always been a thing with the frameworks as soon as they implemented a SCSS/Less version, the main issue has always been bothering to do it.
Plus Bootstrap is a little more opinionated on it's appearance than the norm, at least in the base version it often assets colours and such.