Making Frameworks Work
10 Oct 2024
The Start of a Journey
In the world of web development, there are endless possibilities when it comes to the things you can create. But with these possibilities, how would you even know where to get started? This is exactly how I felt coming into learning HTML and designing websites. Although I found web development to be much more interesting than just basic Typescript that we’ve been doing for the first weeks of ICS 314, it’s definitely a big change that has an extensive library of UI elements, most of which I haven’t dabbled into or even know about. What we’ve made in class doesn’t even scratch the surface of what web applications can do already, and it already feels so overwhelming to a complete beginner. This is where UI Frameworks like Bootstrap come into play.
Bootstrap: What’s the Big Deal?
To keep it simple, Bootstrap is a framework that provides pre-built HTML, CSS, and Javascript components that can be used to create web applications. It aids us developers in making aesthetically pleasing and clean interfaces without having to start completely from scratch. Overall, I’ve found it to be very useful, at least in creating the basic websites we’ve done so far. One of my favorite features was responsive design that saves time coding for different screen sizes. There’s different icons, layouts, and more components that can make a simple, but effective website in minutes. Or at least, less minutes than it would to just use HTML and CSS without a Framework. It honestly annoyed me to implement so much CSS in a different file and I loved trying to use as little CSS as possible with Bootstrap.
However, like many other things, there will always be downsides to using UI Frameworks. In the case of Bootstrap, there’s a lack of ability to get more creative and unique with designs as websites utilizing it tend to look the same and have that “Bootstrap vibe”. It can be hard to make something complex or customized using a specific framework that is built to do certain things.
Final Thoughts
I could think of many other cons to match the pros when it comes to using UI Frameworks like Bootstrap, but for a new developer, I’m so grateful that something like it is there for me to use, and the fact that there are other frameworks out there for me to utilize only gives me even more peace of mind. I’m aware that eventually I’ll have to spread my wings and fly away from the nest that is Bootstrap in order to make the web applications that I envision myself doing, but for now, I’ll appreciate it as the useful tool that makes the beginning of my developer journey a whole lot easier.