What is Foundation?
ZURB Foundation is a responsive front-end framework that is known for its versatility and feature-rich set of components. It’s designed to help developers quickly create responsive websites and apps that look great on any device. Foundation is widely recognized for its advanced grid system, extensive components, and robust customization capabilities.
- Homepage: https://get.foundation/
- Documentation: https://get.foundation/sites/docs/
- Installation Guide: https://get.foundation/sites/docs/installation.html
Popular Third-Party Addons or Libraries for Foundation
- Motion UI: A library to create custom CSS transitions and animations.
- Foundation Building Blocks: A set of pre-made components that can be easily integrated into Foundation projects.
Detailed Code Sample for Foundation
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html class="no-js" lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Foundation Example</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/foundation.min.css" />
</head>
<body>
<div class="grid-container">
<div class="grid-x grid-padding-x">
<div class="small-12 medium-6 large-4 cell">
<div class="card">
<img src="path-to-image.jpg" alt="Image Description">
<div class="card-section">
<h4>Card Title</h4>
<p>Card content goes here.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<script src="js/vendor/jquery.js"></script>
<script src="js/vendor/what-input.js"></script>
<script src="js/vendor/foundation.min.js"></script>
<script>
$(document).foundation();
</script>
</body>
</html>
What is Milligram?
Milligram is a minimalist CSS framework designed for simplicity and speed. It provides a small set of highly efficient styling utilities that can help developers create clean and responsive layouts. Milligram is best suited for projects where a lightweight, no-frills approach is desired.
- Homepage: https://milligram.io/
- Documentation: https://milligram.io/#documentation
- Installation Guide: https://milligram.io/#getting-started
Popular Third-Party Addons or Libraries for Milligram
Milligram is designed to be minimalistic, and as such, there aren’t as many third-party addons or libraries specifically built for it compared to Foundation. However, it’s worth noting that Milligram can be easily integrated with other web development tools and libraries due to its simplicity.
Detailed Code Sample for Milligram
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Milligram Example</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:300,300italic,700,700italic">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="//cdn.rawgit.com/necolas/normalize.css/master/normalize.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="//cdn.rawgit.com/milligram/milligram/master/dist/milligram.min.css">
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
<h1>Milligram Example</h1>
<div class="row">
<div class="column">
<p>This is a paragraph inside a column.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>
In the first half of this article, we have introduced both Foundation and Milligram, provided links to their respective homepages, documentation, and installation guides, and showcased a basic code sample for each framework. In the next section, we will delve deeper into the comparison, discussing the grid systems, built-in components, customization, performance, and community support for both frameworks. Stay tuned for an in-depth analysis that will help you make an informed decision between Foundation and Milligram for your next web development project.
Grid Systems: Foundation vs Milligram
Foundation’s Grid System
Foundation boasts a powerful grid system that is both flexible and easy to use. It utilizes a mobile-first approach, meaning that it’s designed to work on small devices first and then scale up to larger screens. The grid system in Foundation is based on Flexbox, which allows for more advanced layout options and is highly responsive.
Code Sample for Foundation’s Grid System
<div class="grid-x grid-margin-x">
<div class="cell small-6 medium-4 large-2">Column 1</div>
<div class="cell small-6 medium-4 large-2">Column 2</div>
<div class="cell small-6 medium-4 large-2">Column 3</div>
<div class="cell small-6 medium-4 large-2">Column 4</div>
<div class="cell small-6 medium-4 large-2">Column 5</div>
<div class="cell small-6 medium-4 large-2">Column 6</div>
</div>
Milligram’s Grid System
In contrast, Milligram’s grid system is much simpler and less feature-rich than Foundation’s. It provides a basic 12-column grid that is also built with a mobile-first approach. The simplicity of Milligram’s grid system makes it perfect for small projects or when you need to write less CSS.
Code Sample for Milligram’s Grid System
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="column column-25">Column 1</div>
<div class="column column-25">Column 2</div>
<div class="column column-25">Column 3</div>
<div class="column column-25">Column 4</div>
</div>
</div>
Built-in Components
Foundation Components
Foundation offers a wide array of pre-styled components that can be used to build complex user interfaces. These include navigation, buttons, forms, cards, modals, and many others. Each component is designed with customization and extensibility in mind, allowing developers to adapt them to the needs of their project.
Code Sample for a Foundation Button
<button class="button">Default Button</button>
<button class="button success">Success Button</button>
<button class="button alert">Alert Button</button>
Milligram Components
Milligram, keeping with its minimalist philosophy, offers a smaller set of components. The components included are more basic and cover the essentials like buttons, lists, forms, and tables. This limited selection is by design, to keep the framework lightweight and straightforward.
Code Sample for a Milligram Button
<button class="button">Default Button</button>
<button class="button button-outline">Outlined Button</button>
Customization
Customizing Foundation
Foundation is built with Sass, which makes it highly customizable. Developers can easily change the default styles by tweaking the Sass variables before compiling the CSS. This allows for a high degree of personalization and fine-tuning.
Code Sample for Customizing Foundation with Sass
// _settings.scss
$primary-color: #ff6f69;
$button-radius: 0;
// app.scss
@import 'settings';
@import 'foundation';
Customizing Milligram
Milligram can also be customized, but it doesn’t offer as many options as Foundation does. Since it’s designed to be minimal, the customization mainly revolves around overriding the default styles with your own CSS.
Code Sample for Customizing Milligram
/* custom.css */
button.button {
background-color: #9b4dca;
border-color: #9b4dca;
color: white;
}
Performance
When it comes to performance, Milligram has an advantage due to its small footprint. It’s only about 2KB gzipped, making it incredibly lightweight and fast to load. Foundation, being a more comprehensive framework, is larger in size and may have a slightly longer load time. However, Foundation’s modular approach allows developers to include only the necessary components, which can help mitigate performance concerns.
Community Support and Resources
Foundation’s Community
Foundation has a large community of developers and designers who contribute to the framework. It has extensive documentation, tutorials, and a forum where you can seek help and discuss issues with other users. The framework is also frequently updated and maintained by ZURB.
Milligram’s Community
Milligram’s community is smaller compared to Foundation’s, but it’s growing. The framework’s simplicity means that users can often troubleshoot issues on their own, and there’s a growing number of resources and tutorials available for new users.
Conclusion
Foundation and Milligram serve different purposes and cater to different audiences. Foundation is ideal for developers who need a robust, feature-rich framework to build complex and responsive websites. Milligram, on the other hand, is perfect for those who prefer a lightweight, no-frills approach for simpler projects.
Choosing between Foundation and Milligram will ultimately depend on the specific needs of your project, your comfort level with customization, and the performance requirements of your website. Both frameworks have their strengths, and understanding these will help you make the best decision for your web development needs.