Are Frameworks worth it?
02 Oct 2022
HTML is easy, yes. CSS is easy, yes. Creating things from HTML and CSS that look amazing is not easy. You might need a specific layout that you would need to keep trial and erroring to figure out. If you’re trying to recreate something things might be a little off. Maybe a little off centered, or too much padding from the top, and you have to adjust for those values. At least thats from my experience of HTML and CSS maybe I’m still not well-versed and thats why I think its so tough.
Learn the ins and outs of HTML and CSS
I personally think that before diving into frameworks you should be a good bit proficient in html and css without any frameworks, if time is alotted. Without learning the in and outs, then you won’t really know what the frameworks are doing that allow them to make your time easier. You don’t have to know exactly tit-for-tat what the frameworks are doing but being well versed in HTML and CSS will allow you to understand what the frameworks provide and tweak them ever so slightly so they can be the exact functions you need. For example you can use the frameworks for buttons and navbars but you should first know how to make yor own first, albeit a more simpler one. If you read the sample codes for their features you will understand what each line means.
Using UI Frameworks
There are many different UI Frameworks that provide different functionalities. With so many out there, there is bound to be at least one that will suit the needs of your current project. With frameworks your sites will be more responsive and will have cross-browser compatability, something that you would need to spend a lot of time on in pure CSS. Time, that is probably the number one thing frameworks provide, is that it greatly decreases the time needed for development. It gives you tools that others have already built and perfected so you don’t have to spend that time yourself.
Overall Thoughts
Frameworks are amazing. I think people should definitely use them. I honestly will use them for any future projects that require html and css but that doesn’t mean you should jump into them so quickly. Learning frameworks is a whole mountain itself aside from learning just HTML and CSS. With the knowledge of HTML and CSS though it will make learning any new UI Framework a lot simpler. If you already have the knowledge down then the Frameworks can reduce the development time of your project. If time is an issue then I’d say dive into Frameworks pretty early but if you do have the time, you should get to a good-proficiency level in HTML and CSS before relying mostly on the frameworks.