Lightweight front-end framework?

[PenguinManiac]

Front-end frameworks are a blessing to speed up development time of websites with lots of data to place organically. However, we never manage to use most of the features a framework offers, especially with massive ones like Bootstrap.
So, are there any bare-bones frameworks that won't make me scrap half the code because of unused features?

 

[Novakin]

Hmm, I don't know, I always use bootstrap and almost everyone asks if you know bootstrap for development. But, I am pretty sure there are some naked frameworks out there, don't know how reliable they are though. Anyway, why do you need that kind of framework ?

I Am developing quite some time now with bootstrap, its pretty sharp and light. I usually add my custom CSS for some tweaks and its all good...

 

[PenguinManiac]

PenguinManiac

I like to test out different projects at times, and most times I try layouts that are somewhat similar but with some differences that take up a lot of time. If I used a framework I would definitely cut down those times, but I don't want to overload a supposedly simple page just to speed up the development process. A light framework would be the perfect compromise.
I was thinking about writing my own as well. Time to get familiar with flexbox, it seems.

 

[Mike001]

There are some really good light weight frameworks out there that work quite well. The key is to find a framework that is structurally systematic correct. There are many out there that do not follow "Best Practices", have not kept up with the changes to the SEO search engines, etc.

I have used many of the better light weight frameworks for customer sites and have been happy with quite a few of them. Just remember to go into the framework and check the code to get it as close to compliant with the standards as you can. Especially when it comes to SEO optimization. Many of the bigger ones, and the one that comes to mind most is WordPress violate way too many rules to use commercially.

Here are some good light weight ones to consider.


1. FICTOAN

2. Beauter

3. Vanilla Framework

4. Milligram

5. Furtive CSS - (mobile first framework)

Just a few to consider, there are many more out there, but I have used these personally.

I hope this helps.

 

[PenguinManiac]

PenguinManiac

They sound like great suggestions, thank you! I've found mobile first frameworks to be particularly interesting, since you can save on quite a bit of code by avoiding defining too many rules that are just going to be scrapped anyway. Among the others, I've run into Skeleton as of lately. Do you know if it's any good, too? I'd like to make a broad list before actually choosing one.

 

[Mike001]

Thanks I appreciate the comments.

Skeleton is a very good framework and has been around for quite some time. I have used it a few projects.

The only reason I did not put that one on my list is that it really needs to be updated to stay within the new specifications. It is very light weight, probably lighter than most of the ones that I have already mentioned but unless you are pretty good with HTML and CSS you would probably not want to make the changes needed in the framework to be more compliant with the spec.

If your are comfortable using HTML and CSS then for light weight and portability it is a good choice. It is another one that was developed with a mobile first mindset. And with all the focus lately on mobile responsiveness for SEO, that is always a good choice.

 

[PenguinManiac]

PenguinManiac

Yeah, that's what drew my attention to it in the first place. I'm ashamed to admit that I've always dismissed the mobile first approach until now, but it can save so many lines of code and so much time wasted on optimizing little details that it could be worth a shot.
Still, given how lightweight it is, wouldn't it be even better to create a custom framework with flexbox and stuff like that? You'd get more familiar with the code and you'd be able to navigate through it even faster. I'm afraid of making rookie mistakes that could take away time and might prove to be hard to fix, though.

 

[Mike001]

You are right on target, and what most of the professional developers do.

We make our own frameworks, or take an existing framework, I like to use BootStrap and make the changes needed to make our version compliant with the specifications.

Now I must say that I choose BootStrap because I do so many commercial sites and many of them require a lot of features. BootStrap has most of those features already in the framework. But it took me months to put together a BootStrap framework that was compliant, and I am still tweaking it usually month to month.

As far as making mistakes, we all do, the technology on the web changes so fast that it is hard to keep up. Making mistakes is part of the fun, by those mistakes we learn new things. Anyone that tells you that they have created a perfect site has never taken that site online. With all the different hardware platforms, video devices, display adapters, RAM configurations, computer configurations, browsers, and I could go on and on. Perfection is next to impossible to achieve. But we keep trying, again part of the fun.

We learn new stuff everyday, that is one of the many reasons I enjoy doing this.....