Material Design Lite vs Material Design for Bootstrap: What are the differences?

Material Design Lite vs Material Design for Bootstrap

Introduction

In the world of web design, Material Design Lite (MDL) and Material Design for Bootstrap (MDB) are two popular frameworks that embody Google's Material Design philosophy. While they both adhere to the principles of Material Design, there are several key differences between the two.

1. Design Philosophy: MDL is a standalone library that focuses on providing a lightweight and customizable implementation of Material Design. It offers a set of UI components and follows a "progressive enhancement" approach, allowing developers to easily integrate Material Design into their existing projects. On the other hand, MDB is a comprehensive front-end development framework built on top of Bootstrap. It extends the capabilities of Bootstrap by incorporating Material Design elements and principles into its UI components.

2. Integration with Other Libraries: MDL can be used alongside other libraries or frameworks, such as jQuery or AngularJS, without any conflicts. It provides a flexible integration mechanism that allows developers to choose what parts of MDL they want to use. In contrast, MDB is tightly integrated with the Bootstrap framework and relies on its components and utilities. This makes MDB highly compatible with the Bootstrap ecosystem but may lead to conflicts when used alongside other CSS or JavaScript libraries.

3. Component Customization: MDL provides a set of pre-defined UI components that can be easily customized using CSS classes and Sass variables. It allows developers to change the colors, typography, and other design aspects according to their needs. In contrast, MDB offers a wider variety of UI components, which are highly customizable using both CSS classes and JavaScript options. It provides extensive documentation and examples to guide developers in customizing the components to match their design requirements.

4. Accessibility: MDL places a strong emphasis on accessibility and ensures that its components are accessible for users with disabilities. It includes features such as keyboard navigation, ARIA attributes, and focus management, making it easier for developers to create inclusive web interfaces. While MDB also aims to provide accessible components, it may require additional customization or configuration to achieve the same level of accessibility as MDL.

5. Browser Support: MDL is designed to support modern browsers and may not work as expected in older versions of Internet Explorer. It takes advantage of the latest web technologies and does not provide fallbacks or polyfills for features that are not supported in older browsers. On the other hand, MDB aims to provide backward compatibility and supports a wider range of browsers, including older versions of Internet Explorer.

6. Community and Documentation: MDL has a smaller community compared to MDB but offers extensive documentation, guidelines, and examples to help developers get started. It provides detailed explanations of its design principles and usage patterns. MDB, being built on top of Bootstrap, benefits from the large and active Bootstrap community. It has a broader user base, more third-party integrations, and a wide range of tutorials and resources available.

In summary, MDL is a lightweight standalone library that offers a customizable and accessible implementation of Material Design, while MDB is a comprehensive framework built on top of Bootstrap with a wider range of components and browser support. Both frameworks have their strengths and cater to different development needs, depending on the project requirements.