This Is Bootstrap 5

2.1 What Is Bootstrap?

Welcome back to the course. In this lesson, we're taking a closer look at Bootstrap, and see what it's all about. Let's begin. Bootstrap is the most popular HTML, CSS, and JavaScript library in the world. And with it, you can create any kind of responsive, mobile-first websites and web applications. Essentially, it's a framework that has a lot of components and utilities written and tested by some very smart people. And that's one of the big benefits of using a framework like this. Everything just works, as expected. All you have to do is use those components and utilities to create your layout, add your content, and style it. The whole point of using a framework is to avoid repetition. So you don't have to style that button again, you don't have to code that accordion again, you don't have to write the CSS for that grid system again, you get the picture. With Bootstrap, it's simply a matter of grabbing the correct markup from the docs, and you're good to go. All the CSS and JavaScript is written for you. And speaking of components, Bootstrap has a lot of them. Alerts, badges, buttons, models, cards, icons, tables, and so on. If you want to see the full list, check out the link below to the official documentation. Now, of course, you can customize that code to suit your individual needs, but nine times out of ten, you don't have to, and that's what makes Bootstrap so popular. How popular, you might ask. Well, at the time of this recording, which is June 2021, Bootstrap is currently being used in about 27% of all websites whose JavaScript library we know. You can check out this report by W3TEX for more information. That's a big number, and it just goes to show that developers are really happy with Bootstrap. Now, why should you consider using Bootstrap? Here are a few reasons. Number one, it will speed up the development process because there's significantly less code you need to write. Number two, using a framework like Bootstrap will save you the hassle of writing the same code over and over and keeps your code nice and consistent between projects. Number three, Bootstrap is responsive by default so right off the bat, the grid and components will look great on any device. Number four, the Bootstrap code is compatible with all major browsers so that eliminates the need to do browser testing. Finally, number five, Bootstrap has a huge community behind it and that means that you'll find lots of themes for the framework, but also any problems you might encounter will be solved pretty fast because chances are someone already had the problem and found a solution. So with that little introduction out of the way, let's get into the meat and potatoes of this course. In the next lesson, we'll talk about what's new in Version 5 of Bootstrap. I'll see you there.