Bulma vs Semantic UI: What are the differences?
Introduction:
Bulma and Semantic UI are both popular front-end frameworks that offer a wide range of pre-built CSS components and utilities to simplify the process of building responsive and user-friendly websites. While they have similarities, there are key differences between the two.
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Customization Options: Bulma provides extensive customization options, allowing developers to modify various aspects of the framework such as colors, typography, and breakpoints, which makes it highly flexible and adaptable to different design requirements. On the other hand, Semantic UI offers less customization options, making it more suitable for projects that do not require extensive customization.
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Grid System: Bulma utilizes a flexible grid system that uses a lightweight CSS framework called Flexbox, which allows for easy creation of responsive layouts. On the contrary, Semantic UI uses a grid system based on the CSS float property, which may not be as robust or efficient as Flexbox. This makes Bulma a better choice for projects that require advanced grid functionalities.
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Component Availability: Bulma provides a comprehensive set of ready-to-use components such as navigation bars, forms, cards, and modals, making it ideal for developers who want to quickly assemble a website without writing much custom CSS. Semantic UI also offers a wide range of components but may not be as extensive as Bulma. However, Semantic UI has a larger user community, which often contributes additional community-built components.
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Documentation: Bulma has a well-documented website with clear examples and detailed explanations of each component and utility, making it easier for developers to learn and use the framework effectively. Semantic UI also has extensive documentation, but some developers find it less intuitive and comprehensive compared to Bulma.
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File Size: Bulma has a relatively small file size, which means faster loading times and optimized performance, making it suitable for projects where performance is a priority. Semantic UI, on the other hand, has a larger file size due to its extensive features and components.
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Framework Design Philosophy: Bulma follows a "class-based" design philosophy, where developers add classes directly to HTML elements to apply styles and functionality. This approach provides more simplicity and control over individual components. In contrast, Semantic UI follows a "semantic HTML" design philosophy, emphasizing the use of semantic HTML elements with predefined class names for consistent styling. This makes Semantic UI more suitable for projects where semantic HTML structure is a top priority.
In summary, Bulma offers extensive customization options, a flexible Flexbox-based grid system, comprehensive component availability, well-documented website, smaller file size, and a class-based design philosophy. On the other hand, Semantic UI provides less customization options, a grid system based on CSS float, extensive documentation, larger file size, and a semantic HTML design philosophy.
