CSS Frameworks Like Bootstrap and Skeleton For Web Developers

Using Bootstrap or Skeleton CSS Frameworks Can Make Like Easy For Web Developers

This topic comes from a scenario for which a web developer decides to learn and understand CSS frameworks Like Bootstrap and Skeleton. After 3 years of dominantly programming PHP / mySQL applications and working mostly with static templates at work and some old school fluid templating, I began to build some responsive web applications and a handful of websites that used these frameworks.

Since the css classes were so sensitive, I kept modification of the template simple; such as removing unwanted divs that contained the ‘row’ class.

At first, I was intimidated because I remember someone with weak HTML / CSS skills struggling with it daily. With a quick look under the hood, it was quite different than typical CSS coding and the classes and new tags were unfamiliar and the floating methodology was new at the time.

Although using a CSS framework was a little intimidating at first, a light did eventually go off after coding with them on various occasions. All of a sudden, not only did these responsive frameworks make websites display so conveniently on all devices, but, actually coding a web application with them became easier with them than coding with traditional CSS.

The reason for the simplicity was the modular aspect of a CSS framework and the power of the classes. In many cases, the classes do great work and that minimalizes minor styling touch ups, if not at all. On occasion, you may want to add an id to an element that has a class, add some custom css, then move on.

Suddenly, the layout and each ‘row’ class and its subset of columns was so easy to work with and to use with PHP / mySQL.

Essentially, the bottom line is that using a Framework like Bootstrap or Skeleton can make your web pages look good and clean without taking a lot of time to achieve this effect. Thus, this allows for many instances to bypass any web design extras, asides from spending $5 here and there on Fiverr, Shutterstock and Fotolia for quality images.

Alternatively, using a framework can allow you to know how long a web designer should be able to complete tasks, if you decide to use one.

Some of the built in features to CSS frameworks are Font Awesome and icons. Using special class names will provide you with some extra styling as needed.

Below are some basic links to get you started with Bootstrap.

LINKS

Bootstrap Basics
Bootstrap and LESS Tutorial