Twitter Bootstrap vs jQuery UI? [closed]
I've been using jQuery UI for some basic page enhancements. Button and input styling and modal dialog boxes. Now I've come across Bootstrap and it looks pretty good.
Has anyone any experience of going from using jQuery UI to Bootstrap? This what I am thinking to do but before I do this I'd like to be aware of what problems I could face.
I have on several projects.
The biggest difference in my opinion
jQuery UI is fallback safe, it works correctly and looks good in old browsers, where Bootstrap is based on CSS3 which basically means GREAT in new browsers, not so great in old
Update frequency: Bootstrap is getting some great big updates with awesome new features, but sadly they might break previous code, so you can't just install bootstrap and update when there is a new major release, it basically requires a lot of new coding
jQuery UI is based on good html structure with transformations from JavaScript, while Bootstrap is based on visually and customizable inline structure. (calling a widget in JQUERY UI, defining it in Bootstrap)
So what to choose?
That always depends on the type of project you are working on. Is cool and fast looking widgets better, or are your users often using old browsers?
I always end up using both, so I can use the best of both worlds.
Here are the links to both frameworks, if you decide to use them.
- jQuery UI
- Bootstrap
Having used both, Twitter's Bootstrap is a superior technology set. Here are some differences,
- Widgets: jQuery UI wins here. The date widget it provides is immensely useful, and Twitter Bootstrap provides nothing of the sort.
- Scaffolding: Bootstrap wins here. Twitter's grid both fluid and fixed are top notch. jQuery UI doesn't even provide this direction leaving page layout up to the end user.
- Out of the box professionalism: Bootstrap using CSS3 is leagues ahead, jQuery UI looks dated by comparison.
- Icons: I'll go tie on this one. Bootstrap has nicer icons imho than jQuery UI, but I don't like the terms one bit, Glyphicons Halflings are normally not available for free, but an arrangement between Bootstrap and the Glyphicons creators have made this possible at no cost to you as developers. As a thank you, we ask you to include an optional link back to Glyphicons whenever practical.
- Images & Thumbnails: goes to Bootstrap, jQuery UI doesn't even help here.
Other notes,
- It's important to understand how these two technologies compete in the spheres too. There is a lot of overlap, but if you want simple scaffolding and fixed/fluid creation Bootstrap isn't another technology, it's the best technology. If you want any single widget, jQuery UI probably isn't even in the top three. Today, jQuery UI is mainly just a toy for consistency and proof of concept for a client-side widget creation using a unified framework.