We have many options to chose from if we want to save some time of developing new web page and go with some framework. Are these frameworks the ways we should go or should we avoid them as fast as possible? What are their pros and cons and are they suitable for someone who never saw HTML code before?
First and foremost, no. These frameworks are definitely not for someone who doesn’t know what HTML and CSS is. These people are not the main audience for which are frameworks created. The target audience are web designers and developers living out there crunching code from early morning to late night. Frameworks are created for these people to make it easier for them to get their job done. With use of framework, you can focus on things that are more important, like client, design of the page or some particular functionality of the page. It is also easier to write code that is valid by latest standards and also responsive. Responsiveness is often mentioned pros when it comes to choosing framework rather than coding everything from scratch. Make page fully responsive and looking good across all the devices is sometime (maybe most of the time) the toughest part of design or development process. It can cause serious headaches so any help is welcome. Frameworks are like white knights (or knights on white horses?). Since all of the them, at least all I know, are made fully responsive, this is no longer issue.
If it’s all that good, where is the problem?
Some people might prefer to write everything on their own or they just don’t want to be dictated by someone how the code should look like. With frameworks comes predefined code – basic HTML structure, classes, id’s and sometimes scripts. This is what some people in the industry don’t like. I didn’t like it either, but still I can just customize any part of the code I wanted. So, it’s not such a big deal. Bigger reason why some designers and developers don’t want to use frameworks is their styling. Normally they come with basic styles for buttons, form inputs, navigation etc. Imagine that every page would use them. All the web pages would have elements that looks the same! This would be hell. Still, easy solution is customizing the code or restyling them. Just don’t be lazy.
As some frameworks can be more focused on designers and some more on developers, they also provide more or less options to start with or you can pick only the features you want individually before downloading them. No body pushes you to download the default version or to use them at all, it’s your personal choice.
At least to mention some, the top three are Bootstrap created by Twitter, Foundation by ZURB and Skeleton. Every one of these frameworks requires to put some time in learning to use them but in the end, your workflow will speed up significantly.
As I said, it’s upon everyone to choose which to use or to go the other way and everything by their own.
Remember, frameworks are just a tools for saving your time and making your job easier. That’s it.
More:
Foundation (getbootstrap.com), Bootstrap (foundation.zurb.com), Skeleton (getskeleton.com)
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