Thoughts on Twitter Bootstrap
- Thread starter RDB
- Start date
<rant>
They're overused, bloated, and in my experience, have created more problems/headaches than just writing my own code. Your experience may be different, and that's cool, but I've spent more time troubleshooting why something is happening than anything else when I've used a framework. I think we've reached a point where people are getting too far away from code. I'm guilty of it myself. I've been using jQuery so much, I'm pretty sure I'd need a refresher course to write regular JS.
Frameworks also add a good bit of bloat to your code. Most coders don't use half of what's in the framework, which means users are downloading hundreds of kb in code that doesn't get used. "Only ##kb minified and g-zipped!" the sites say. How many front-end coders really use or even know how to use server-side g-zip? I know how, and I've used it exactly once, just to try it out.
</rant>
All of that said, I've never used Bootstrap itself, so I can't speak to that framework specifically. However, I've used a number of others over the years, and they're why I won't bother with them anymore.
They're overused, bloated, and in my experience, have created more problems/headaches than just writing my own code. Your experience may be different, and that's cool, but I've spent more time troubleshooting why something is happening than anything else when I've used a framework. I think we've reached a point where people are getting too far away from code. I'm guilty of it myself. I've been using jQuery so much, I'm pretty sure I'd need a refresher course to write regular JS.
Frameworks also add a good bit of bloat to your code. Most coders don't use half of what's in the framework, which means users are downloading hundreds of kb in code that doesn't get used. "Only ##kb minified and g-zipped!" the sites say. How many front-end coders really use or even know how to use server-side g-zip? I know how, and I've used it exactly once, just to try it out.
</rant>
All of that said, I've never used Bootstrap itself, so I can't speak to that framework specifically. However, I've used a number of others over the years, and they're why I won't bother with them anymore.
I could not agree more!
Brian Angel
Member
Currently tearing it apart, Sassifying it and using what I want and chucking the rest.. thank you twitter,lol
notarypublic
New Member
It's all about purpose. For a web app, Twitter Bootstrap is an excellent start. They've made it challenging for working with Google maps (from my experience), but Google maps is annoying to work with anyway.
If you're working on something that's more function than form, and don't see yourself needing (or wanting) to edit the CSS that much but just want to get something off the ground, it's fantastic. Otherwise, I'd recommend something much lighter for most sites.
Hazey Coder
New Member
I disagree with some of the above posts.
If you're working on a small-scale website, then yes, avoid it. If you're working on an enormous website (e.g. eCommerce site that requires responsive design, some common JS functions, a set of icons) then there's no reason not to use it. It's JS functions help out with a lot of things.
Furthermore, it can almost completely replace jQuery UI. Not to mention, it can now be loaded through a CDN:
http://www.bootstrapcdn.com/
Utilize the resources at your disposal. But first. be sure to understand how they work.
If you're working on a small-scale website, then yes, avoid it. If you're working on an enormous website (e.g. eCommerce site that requires responsive design, some common JS functions, a set of icons) then there's no reason not to use it. It's JS functions help out with a lot of things.
Furthermore, it can almost completely replace jQuery UI. Not to mention, it can now be loaded through a CDN:
http://www.bootstrapcdn.com/
Utilize the resources at your disposal. But first. be sure to understand how they work.