Bootstrap is an open-source, mobile-first interface framework widely used in website creation. It makes it possible to build websites and web applications with dynamic, responsive layouts that adapt more easily to different devices. The current version of the framework is 4.4.1; however, a next major version has been announced for late spring 2020. So we should be getting version 5.0 soon.
See our article on: Bootstrap 4, an innovative CSS framework
Two creators behind the Bootstrap framework
Mark Otto is a designer who worked for Twitter until the end of 2012. Jacob Thornton also worked for Twitter, until 2013. These are the two American developers behind the Bootstrap framework, released in August 2011 but initially named Twitter Blueprint before being presented to the public.
What’s new in Bootstrap
SVG icons
In its current 4.4 version, Bootstrap recommends using the Font Awesome icon library. For the next version, the framework team has programmed its own SVG icon library entirely from scratch. It can already be used by copying and pasting the icon’s SVG code from the Bootstrap documentation. In the final version, a single class will be enough to use the framework’s icons.
More responsive fonts
In its next version, the framework will rely on the RFS (Responsive Font Sizes) model to resize typefaces automatically according to screen width. The unit used will no longer be the pixel but rem.
Gutter control
To allow greater responsiveness, Bootstrap will use the rem unit to size its gutters. CSS classes will be added to control their dimensions. For example, a gx- class will control the width of horizontal gutters and gy- the height of vertical gutters.
Flex and Grid
Bootstrap 5 will continue to use Flexbox but will also incorporate CSS Grid, to make it easier to adapt websites as well as possible to different screen resolutions.
What you will no longer find in Bootstrap 5.0
Internet Explorer 11
The Bootstrap team has decided to drop support for Internet Explorer 11 (whose stable version was released in 2013). The framework therefore remains usable in that browser, but some malfunctions may appear and will not be fixed.
jQuery
Version 5.0 of the Bootstrap framework removes the jQuery dependency in favour of vanilla JavaScript. QUnit, the JavaScript test framework developed to test jQuery, will therefore disappear as well.
It will nonetheless still be possible to keep using jQuery with Bootstrap, but developers will first have to install the JavaScript library themselves.
Removing jQuery has prompted a lot of differing opinions. There are the developers who side with the framework: they think removing this dependency is a good thing. Then there are the developers who are against Bootstrap. For them, this move was pointless and took far more energy than necessary — removing the JavaScript framework did in fact cause several browser-related conflicts that had to be dealt with.
Removing the framework is justified by the desire to be as attractive as possible, and for that you have to avoid piling up dependencies. And jQuery was the library’s largest client-side dependency.
Above all, what Bootstrap is aiming for in its new version is to be as efficient and as flexible as possible. To that end, the framework’s development team is absolutely determined to avoid dependencies, and is doing everything it can to be responsive and adapt as well as possible to the various devices in use. Let’s not forget that Bootstrap is known first and foremost for its mobile-first responsive design.
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