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 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
Thanks that's very helpful. I've used Foundation before but the others are at best only vaguely known to me.
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.
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.
Thanks, I will. 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.
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.
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/
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.
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.
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.
