When I started my frontend development journey, HTML and CSS were my comfort zone. Once I began encountering libraries and frameworks, I’ll be honest—I resisted. Why complicate things? Vanilla HTML and CSS worked just fine, or so I thought.
Everything changed after my Tech4Dev Women Techsters Fellowship during my NYSC year. I realized that HTML and CSS were just the foundation—a glimpse into the broader and more dynamic world of frontend development. I became excited about learning the tools that make modern web applications powerful.
Then came Bootstrap.
At first, I only learned Bootstrap because I had to. I wasn’t exactly impressed. Later on, I discovered Tailwind CSS and fell in love instantly. Its utility-first approach was everything I wanted, and honestly, it made me think Bootstrap had been the problem all along.
But recently, while taking a Udemy course that brought up Bootstrap again, I decided to revisit it with an open mind.
And guess what? I learned a lot.
This article isn’t a Tailwind vs. Bootstrap comparison. Rather, it’s about the lessons I learned from revisiting Bootstrap and working with it on a simple single-page application (SPA). Special shoutout to Fortunate Adediwura for making his awesome design available—check out the Figma link here.
A Quick Refresher: What Is Bootstrap?
Bootstrap is a popular open-source CSS framework originally developed by Twitter. It provides a collection of prebuilt components, grid systems, and utilities that help developers build responsive and mobile-first websites quickly.
Setting Up Bootstrap
You can set up Bootstrap in two main ways:
Via CDN: Just copy the link to Bootstrap’s CSS and JS into your HTML file.
Using package manager: For more integrated setups in modern web apps, you can install it via npm.
Visit the Bootstrap official page for more details on this.
Highlights from My Simple SPA
To test my renewed perspective, I built a simple single-page application (SPA) using Bootstrap.
The design included four main sections:
- A responsive navbar
- A clean hero section
- Multiple content blocks (fictional logistics services)
- A neat, consistent footer
You can explore the full code and structure on my GitHub repository, or view the live version here.
Revisiting Bootstrap through this project gave me a fresh appreciation for its structure and hidden power:
Responsive Navbar
I used Bootstrap’s built-in classes — navbar, navbar-expand-lg, container-fluid, and collapse.
The magic here was responsiveness: the navbar automatically collapsed into a hamburger menu on smaller screens, no custom JavaScript required.
Bootstrap handled accessibility, toggling, and alignment straight out of the box.
💡 Lesson: Bootstrap simplifies responsive navigation so much that you can focus on design instead of device breakpoints.
Clean Hero Section
The hero relied on the Bootstrap grid (row, col-md-*) and utility classes like d-flex, justify-content-center, and align-items-center for layout.
It felt structured yet flexible—perfect for centering text and images elegantly across all devices.
💡 Lesson: Bootstrap’s grid system transforms complex layout work into clean, semantic class combinations.
Multiple Content Blocks (Our Services)
Each service—Air Freight, Ocean Freight, Ground Shipping—was built using Bootstrap’s card component and grid layout (row g-0, col-md-*).
The alternating image-text pattern showcased how easily Bootstrap handles multi-column designs with minimal CSS.
Images stayed fluid with the img-fluid class, adapting beautifully to any screen width.
💡 Lesson: The Bootstrap grid + card combo makes it easy to create polished layouts that look custom-made.
Info Section (Package Forwarding Details)
Here, I used a two-column layout with container, row gx-5, and col.
The list items used flex utilities (d-flex, gap-*, text-start) to align icons and text neatly without writing a single line of custom alignment CSS.
💡 Lesson: Bootstrap’s flexbox utilities make modern layouts intuitive, clean, and responsive by default.
Neat, Consistent Footer
The footer used the Bootstrap grid (row, col) and nav utilities (nav flex-column) to organize links into tidy, responsive columns.
The consistent spacing (mb-2, p-0) kept everything balanced, while custom colors gave it a unified dark theme.
💡 Lesson: With Bootstrap’s grid and nav utilities, even simple footers can feel professional and well-structured.
Revisiting Bootstrap through this project helped me appreciate its structure and power. Here are six lessons I took away:
Lessons from Revisiting Bootstrap
It's Simple and Straightforward to Use
Bootstrap’s documentation is beginner-friendly. Whether you're coding the navbar or setting up modals, it’s easy to find what you need and get going quickly.It Has Helpful and Interactive Components
From buttons to carousels to alerts, Bootstrap offers a wide range of components out of the box. These are not just static — they come with JavaScript behavior that works with little configuration.Responsiveness Is a Built-in Goal
Bootstrap's grid system makes it incredibly easy to build layouts that respond to different screen sizes. I didn’t have to write custom media queries—just use the right classes, and it works.It Ensures Cross-Browser Compatibility
I tested the SPA on multiple browsers, and it worked consistently across all of them. Bootstrap abstracts away many browser inconsistencies, saving you debugging time.Access to a Vast Open Source Community
Bootstrap has a massive developer community. Need templates, UI kits, or troubleshooting tips? The ecosystem has you covered.I Need to Learn More About Licensing
Using Bootstrap made me realize how important it is to understand software licenses—especially when using open-source frameworks or integrating UI kits.(More on this in a future article.)
Final Thoughts
Revisiting Bootstrap was a humbling and enlightening experience. Sometimes, it’s not about picking the newest or trendiest tool—it’s about using the right one for the job. While TailwindCSS remains my go-to for many projects, I now see the value in Bootstrap, especially for rapid prototyping and scalable responsive design.
If you're like me and once dismissed Bootstrap, give it another try. You just might be surprised.
Thanks for reading! ✨
Have you revisited any tools recently and changed your mind about them? Let me know in the comments.
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