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Honestly for most "real" projects, I just use the Bootstrap LESS source files for the normalizer, grid etc. and just compile my own UI components. I believe tha

Honestly for most "real" projects, I just use the Bootstrap LESS source files for the normalizer, grid etc. and just compile my own UI components. I believe that for any app to be unique, it has to have its own visual style and when you use the whole of Bootstrap (or just about any other framework) you just can't differentiate yourself. Don't get me wrong, I love these frameworks. I just think they're good for quick and dirty prototypes / open source hacks.

keithwarren 12y ago
I am still waiting for a customer to tell me they don't like my application because it uses a common UI framework. Not holding my breath. Tech people care about this, but only barely and only very few. A fresh and engaging UI with groundbreaking ideas and techniques could possibly win you lots of fans but for the vast majority of applications (especially lob or ent) this does not make sense.
- wuliwong 12y ago
  Yes, I think web developers are inundated with bootstrap sites but if I am making a site for non-tech people, the odds of them having any clue what bootstrap is, let alone being able to identify its use is very unlikely. At least, that is my calculation.
subsection1h 12y ago
> compile my own UI components [...] when you use the whole of Bootstrap (or just about any other framework) you just can't differentiate yourself. If a person isn't able to very easily customize Bootstrap with a minimal amount of CSS, I wonder if they're able to competently create their own front-end framework that works perfectly in every browser on every platform. As someone who navigates the web primarily with a keyboard, sites that use Bootstrap tend to be more usable than sites that use front-end frameworks that were built from scratch. For example, in my experience, most designers and developers don't use :focus selectors when using :hover selectors because they only think about mouse-based navigation.
- subsection1h 12y ago
  > most designers and developers don't use :focus selectors when using :hover selectors because they only think about mouse-based navigation. I evaluated Picnic CSS just now, and it doesn't use :focus selectors. This is what I'm talking about. In my experience, usually when developers release a solution (e.g., a framework) that's advertised as a lightweight alternative to Solution X, the lightweight alternative isn't really an alternative for developers who understand why Solution X isn't lightweight.

keithwarren 12y ago

I am still waiting for a customer to tell me they don't like my application because it uses a common UI framework. Not holding my breath. Tech people care about this, but only barely and only very few. A fresh and engaging UI with groundbreaking ideas and techniques could possibly win you lots of fans but for the vast majority of applications (especially lob or ent) this does not make sense.

wuliwong 12y ago
Yes, I think web developers are inundated with bootstrap sites but if I am making a site for non-tech people, the odds of them having any clue what bootstrap is, let alone being able to identify its use is very unlikely. At least, that is my calculation.

subsection1h 12y ago

> compile my own UI components [...] when you use the whole of Bootstrap (or just about any other framework) you just can't differentiate yourself. If a person isn't able to very easily customize Bootstrap with a minimal amount of CSS, I wonder if they're able to competently create their own front-end framework that works perfectly in every browser on every platform. As someone who navigates the web primarily with a keyboard, sites that use Bootstrap tend to be more usable than sites that use front-end frameworks that were built from scratch. For example, in my experience, most designers and developers don't use :focus selectors when using :hover selectors because they only think about mouse-based navigation.

subsection1h 12y ago
> most designers and developers don't use :focus selectors when using :hover selectors because they only think about mouse-based navigation. I evaluated Picnic CSS just now, and it doesn't use :focus selectors. This is what I'm talking about. In my experience, usually when developers release a solution (e.g., a framework) that's advertised as a lightweight alternative to Solution X, the lightweight alternative isn't really an alternative for developers who understand why Solution X isn't lightweight.