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CSS

Posted by Kathryn Crawford
Kathryn Crawford
6,324 Points

Bootstrap with Flexbox

So I started a website out with Bootstrap 3, then did some tutorials with Flexbox and decided I wanted to use that as it was easier to position things. My problem is I'm not really sure how to mix the two. I know Bootstrap 4 (which is in alpha now) will have Flexbox support, but how do the two mix together? As far as I can tell, they pretty much replace each other, so I can't imagine why I would want to combine the two. Especially with the grid system and positioning in general, I see flexbox being a much better alternative, so what elements of bootstrap would I want to keep?

1 Answer

Marc Schultz
Marc Schultz
23,356 Points
Marc Schultz
Marc Schultz
23,356 Points

I came across the same questions in the last weeks. So I asked myself, why I'm learning CSS at Treehouse and instead of using my new skills, I replace everything I know with a outdated library like Bootstrap 3. The alternative would be to use Bootstrap 4 and ignoring the beta status, but why I should do this? Why should I use Bootstrap at all? Because it is a popular library? Bad argument. Because it makes styling of websites faster? In most cases you want to modify the Bootstrap styles to give your website a unique look. This can often lead to a situation where the Bootstrap structure and/or behaviour is broken in some ways. So why struggling around with customizations of Bootstrap? When the time has come that you understand the structure of Bootstrap then it is a good solution for bootstrapping. Wait what? Too obvious? It means you can use Bootstrap to build a fully designed website without caring about your own styles and structures. But if you have to create a unique design then you might be better off doing it without Bootstrap from scratch. Team Treehouse showed us how (S)CSS works and it is pretty easy and fast enough, so no other CSS libraries are necessary.

Shawn Benn
Shawn Benn
8,070 Points
Shawn Benn
Shawn Benn
8,070 Points

I second that very true. Looking forward to bootstrap 4 and also curious how flexbox will integrate!

Secondly would either of you all be interested in starting a "slack" group together. It would be great to really work with other upcoming developers to kind of figure out this stuff together. Thats the only element separating treehouse from any type of "dev bootcamp" situation.

slack - https://slack.com/

Kathryn Crawford
Kathryn Crawford
6,324 Points

Yeah, I tend to agree wholeheartedly. For client sites, I have no issue with using Bootstrap 3. They're basic and structured, highly utilizing the grid layout and Bootstrap elements. For a personal site, I have more of a mind to just forget bootstrap all together, use flexbox, and provide a simpler grid like layout for IE 9 and below. I guess we'll have to see what Bootstrap 4 gets up to. It'd be nice to be able to switch easily between bootstrap styles and flexbox styles on a regular basis, depending on the work being done.