Foundation is one of the two famous HTML/CSS/JS frameworks for interface developers. And it’s legitimate. In this article, we’ll tell you what it’s used for.
First, for those who might be writing their own HTML code but have never worked with a framework before:
Frameworks are basically large chunks of pre-written code to help you get started on your projects faster. In the case of client-side code, HTML and CSS, that means you’ll find things like grid layouts, basic button styles, and frequently used interface elements. Large frameworks may also include JQuery plugins.
They are not meant to be used as full templates or site themes, but they are a set of blocks. You take what you need, modify it to fit the project, and use it in your work. Frameworks imply that they need to be customized and tweaked a bit.
Initially, this can be a daunting task because frameworks like Foundation and its main competitor Bootstrap are really huge. Each of them contains thousands of lines of CSS. Before you decide to use any framework for your project, you need to evaluate how much time you’ll gain from it.
However, once you get used to the framework, using it can significantly reduce the time you need to write markup and CSS code.
A bit of history
The Foundation was originally conceived as just a general guide to styles with some commonly used code. The guys at ZURB decided to speed up the prototyping process by taking some of the HTML codes and styles they used frequently, and turn them into a framework. That’s it. That’s usually how good things turn out. Someone needed something, and they did it.
Eventually, the developers decided that their product was too good to use exclusively for themselves, so they introduced version 2.0.0 for general use. They made everything adaptive, polished up the elements, and opened up the source code for all of us. Now designers and developers all over the world are using the ZURB code to do their work faster and perhaps, dare I say it, better.
Since its release on October 18, 2011, the MIT-licensed framework has been in the “big two” and has been used on thousands of websites.
Its popularity is due to its usefulness and versatility. If you decide Foundation is what you need, it won’t let you be disappointed.
Features
Foundation has been under active development for about three years now. Therefore, it is not surprising that the list of its features is already quite extensive.
Essentially the framework consists of CSS files (generated from SASS files, also available for download) and a few JQuery plugins.
The basic download files do not include HTML code (except for a very simple demo page), you get to write it all yourself.
At the same time, each component is accompanied by detailed documentation. Each section of the documentation has an HTML example that you can use and customize as needed.