CSS Framework vs Custom Solutions: The Better Choice

In the World of Web, there is always a conflict between Ready-to-use Framework & Custom Solution, in most languages. The front-end is responsible for the look and feel of your website, which makes it important to know about a framework before selecting.

Frameworks have some limitations, so you have to identify whether you need it or not. Ready-to-use Frameworks make website creation easier, even for non-programmers also. They can make websites with minimal effort and time.

Examples of frameworks:-

Bootstrap
https://getbootstrap.com/
Foundation
https://foundation.zurb.com/
Pure
https://purecss.io/
Bulma
https://bulma.io/
Semantic UI
https://semantic-ui.com/

Foundation and Bootstrap are two widely used Ready-to-use Frameworks because of powerful responsive design and quick prototype building. Ready-to-use Frameworks give web developers a basic structure, which includes grid, interactive UI patterns, web typography, tooltips, buttons, form elements, icons. This structure helps web developers to start quickly and efficiently when they are designing a website or web applications.

That means developers don’t have to begin everything from scratch. CSS framework will create a solid foundation for them. Besides, developers can also reuse code in various projects that they work on.

Ready-to-use Frameworks

Frameworks will save your time and efforts during the process of building a website. If you are working on some big project and you don’t have a skilled Front-End Developer in your team, then CSS frameworks can save your day. If you come across a small project, then you might not want to use a framework. The framework also needs some customization to match your design — else it will not look unique.

Advantages

• To make an attractive and functional website, you just need basic information about HTML & CSS. You need to know how to use and customize it because it is made by skilled developers.
• The framework provides flexibility because you can use only a required part from the framework and not the whole of it. Your dependence on third-party components will reduce, which will prevent extra coding.
• You can create unique themes from the very beginning. The use of frameworks will teach you a lot, and thus will improve your skills as a developer.

Disadvantages

• Only if you know the use of plug-and-play functionality, you can use it; else first you have to learn how to use it.
• The Ready-to-use Framework has to pass through every single situation faced by the front-end developer. So it will have a lot of unnecessary code.
• The Ready-to-use Framework will also need some changes to fit in your design. If you don’t make any changes then your website will not look unique. Such changes may require additional time.

Custom Solutions

A Custom Solution is made to satisfy your website designing needs. This means that you work with what you feel is essential and discard the unnecessary elements. This way, your website will have a unique look with control over the code and its design implementation. Without unnecessary code, websites will load faster with super-fast performance. The flexibility of your custom solution depends only on you. You can use only those parts of your custom solution that you need for a particular project.

Advantages

• In the Custom Solution, if you complete components once then you can use it in the future. this will save you time and effort because it was built by considering your requirements.
• In the Custom Solution, you are allowed to discard elements that you do not require. This enables high-performance solutions. No unnecessary stuff and no bloated code.
• Websites built with Custom Solution will look different and unique because default themes, of most frameworks’, are similar. You can create many unique themes from custom solutions if you want.

Disadvantages

• Custom Solutions will consume more time and effort

Conclusion

In frameworks, If you do not make any customizations then the website will look like one of the default themes. Therefore, you must customize the framework to fulfill your requirements, which will take additional time.

Last but not the least, as a web developer, you understand the needs of a client. This enables you to visualize a website layout in a hassle-free discussion session. Moreover, Custom Solutions are reusable, so heading with it will make your code more accurate and effective

Originally published at https://www.zealousweb.com on January 30, 2020.