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What's your take on CSS frameworks? Do you use one?
Hey Brent! Thanks for your question. I actually wrote a lot about frameworks in my book: atomicdesign.bradfrost.com/chapter-1
Basically, CSS frameworks are great for a number of reasons:
Frameworks like Bootstrap allow designers to get ideas off the ground quickly, rapidly create prototypes, and launch sites sooner. Because the patterns provided by a tool kit are already cross-browser tested, developers can spend their time on more important tasks rather than beating their heads against a table testing some archaic version of Internet Explorer. And in case designers do get stuck, these frameworks’ communities can provide helpful support and advice.
BUT! There are limitations to these tools. Because they're so widely used, every site starts looking the same. I often say if Nike, Adidas, and Reebok all used the same framework, they would look substantially similar. And that's sort of not what they're going for. Frameworks give us a lot of stuff, but not all of it is utilized, leading to unneeded bloat that's passed on to the end user.
Or they might not go far enough, meaning developers have to end up writing a bunch of custom code anyways.
There's also the issue of naming. I've found in my work with teams that naming things makes a big impact on how components are utilized. Taking the time to establish frontend guidelines (github.com/bradfrost/frontend-guidelines-question…) together as a team may be more effective than blindly adopting a framework's naming conventions.