What Is Bootstrap and How Does It Help Me?
What is Bootstrap?
Bootstrap is a front-end framework for HTML, CSS and JavaScript that is notable for developing mobile-first and responsive websites. With some basic knowledge of HTML and CSS, you can create Bootstrap forms, tables, buttons, typography, navigation, modals, image carousels and optional JavaScript plugins, by using the premade templates Bootstrap provides you.
Why would I want to use Bootstrap?
We're glad you asked. Bootstrap has a number of favorable features that make it intuitive and pleasant to use. Let’s explore some of these features below:
1. Responsive—Bootstrap's features are responsive, which means they are optimized to fit the size of the screen you're seeing the page on, such as desktops, tablets or cell phones. For example, a Bootstrap form on a desktop site will proportionally change in size when viewed from a mobile phone.
2. Mobile-first—As we mentioned above, part of the core structure of Bootstrap is mobile-first styles as opposed to desktop-first. This means that instead of using max-width in the media queries- like you would for a site designed for desktop- you use min-width. Generally, coding for mobile-first is simpler than coding for desktop. Also, where global styles (outside the media queries) are usually designed to make websites look nice on a large screen, a mobile-first approach focuses on sites looking attractive on a small screen.
3. Browser-friendly—Bootstrap doesn't discriminate, which is why it is compatible with all current browsers, like Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera.
4. Easy-to-use—The best reason of them all! You only need very barebones knowledge of HTML and CSS to begin using Bootstrap.
What is the Bootstrap Grid System?
One of the key parts of Bootstrap's framework is its fluid grid system. The grid systems create page layouts by using multiple rows and columns in which you insert your content. As the device your page is being viewed on increases in size, the grid scales up to 12 columns to fit appropriately, has predefined classes to create your own layout quickly, and uses Less mixins if you want to focus more on the structure of the layout than the presentation. Additionally, the smaller your device is, the grid system
collapses proportionally to accommodate the size. Some things to know about the grid system are:
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Rows are placed within a .container (fixed-width) or .container-fluid (full-width) for the correct padding and alignment. Rows are used to generate horizontal groups of columns.
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If more than twelve columns are put within one row, every group of extra columns will wrap onto a new line as one unit.
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Grid classes apply to devices with equal or greater screen width to the breakpoint sizes, and they override grid classes made for smaller devices.
Bootstrap examples:
Grid- Simbla uses the 12 piece Bootstrap grid, allowing you to easily adjust your site and letting all elements "collapse" in mobile mode.
Button—Bootstrap offers seven button styles (Basic, Default2, Primary, Success, Info, Warning, and Danger) and four sizes, with classes to bring those styles to fruition.
Icon—With more than 250 glyphs at your disposal in font format, icons need both a base class and an individual icon class to perform well.
Simbla’s entire platform is based on Bootstrap3, from the grid, which is the base of all websites, to responsive website templates and other cool features.
As you can see, using Bootstrap allows your site to be flexible and doesn't require much. Thanks to the various features Bootstrap provides you, you can easily design a website that is suited to all of your needs.