COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CSS LIBRARIES IN THE CONTEXT OF RESPONSIVE TEMPLATES DESIGNING - STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECT

The paper presents results of student research work performed under the internet application project. This is an example of transforming typical student project into research work.

The paper includes a comparative analysis of currently the most popular CSS libraries on market. The analysis was divided into several stages. Seven the most popular libraries were considered. Three of them were selected and analysed in details. This analysis was performed in two stages. The first one covers time of loading applications developed based on specific libraries. The second one checks the correctness of their displaying on mobile devices. The paper covers also an extensive summary presented with the discussion on obtained results. The research was conducted by team of teachers and students from Lublin University of Technology.

The aim of the analysis is to indicate which CSS library dedicated to designing responsive websites is the best choice for designing internet applications. Currently at the market there are numerous products which enable faster and more pleasant internet applications designing while cooperation between programmers is more effective. Products available on the market not always fulfil programmers’ expectations. The analysis was done to indicate the best product for programmers considering different needs and expectations. The analysis also show which of tested CSS libraries is the best choice for designing internet applications adjusted for mobile devices.

The analysis is divided into two parts. The first one is preliminary analysis consisting in choosing three libraries among seven the most popular at the market (Bootstrap, Foundation, Semantic UI, Pure CSS, Materialize, Material Famework and Gumby). The criteria used in this part of analysis covered such aspects as product updating, popularity, documentation, support, capabilities. The second part of the analysis is detailed comparative study performed on three chosen libraries: Bootstrap, Foundation and Semantic UI. In this part of analysis evaluation criteria were described and divided into two levels: theoretical and practical. The theoretical analysis describes documentation, users’ support, library content, offered elements and modules as well as supportive elements. The practical examination was based on the dedicated test application. This analysis covers two tests: particular elements loading time and displaying designed applications on mobile devices. Results of these analyses are shown by graphs and subjective conclusions.

Test results did not indicate explicitly which of products is the best for production of internet applications. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages. All in all with the objective point of view, library Bootstrap was the best one.