A web page works best when it is interactive. However, it doesn’t seem possible to develop a new webpage overnight.
This is when you might feel the need to have access to a webpage that might be common but could be easily modified via customised codes. This is where Bootstrap comes to play.
Let us begin by understanding how to install Bootstrap in Angular in order to create responsive and vivid web applications on Angular!
Understanding Bootstrap: An Initial Guide
Bootstrap is a front-end framework that offers a combination of tools and components from CSS, HTML and JavaScript to create dynamic webpages. Bootstrap is open source as well as free. While Angular, itself, is a capable framework for building powerful, single-page websites, combining it with Bootstrap further fuels its potency to create responsive and dynamic web pages.
Bootstrap has acquired huge popularity, and around 25.8% of all websites based on JavaScript use Bootstrap, further implying its significance in the market.
Bootstrap: A Glance at Its History
Initially created as an internal tool for the popular social networking website Twitter, engineers Jacob Thornton and Mark Otto decided to publish Bootstrap for the public’s use in August 2011 on the open-source repository GitHub.
Following its convenience and popularity among the public, the creators continue working on generating fresher versions of Bootstrap, equipping it with improved UI components and better support.
Creators Mark and Jacob dropped the latest version of Bootstrap- Bootstrap 5.3.0 in the year 2023.
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Should You Use Bootstrap?
You can arrive at an answer to the question by understanding the slew of benefits this project offers. To begin with, it offers super responsive CSS. This makes it adaptable on desktops, tabs as well as phones. It also has computability across most major browsers.
Add to this the advantage of the least setup requirements, and you get to design a layout within an hour, if not less. Bootstrap is conducive for use because it doesn’t need a user to be proficient with CASS or even HTML unless you need to initiate UI-based alterations.
The most friendly features that make Bootstrap a popular choice for embedding in Angular or for adding Angular Bootstrap install are-
Component aspect
From navigation bars to forms, Bootstrap provides a log of components for applications when you decide how to add Bootstrap in Angular. With the help of these components, designing a site or app creatively becomes very easy. This functionality with Bootstrap in Angular is highly popular among developers.
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Customisation aspect
When you perform Bootstrap install in Angular, you can design custom breakpoints for even a column and insert breaks, too, in sizes as per your need. It further simplifies customisation based on the responsive grid of the framework.
Saving on time
The framework of Bootstrap, when embedded in Angular, leads to big time savings on the timeline bit. Thanks to blocks that are ready-made in Bootstrap, there is no need to begin starting right from the beginning when you install Bootstrap 5 in angular. Simply realigning in-built elements and making these usable with your inputs does the trick and even adds uniqueness to your final product.
Prerequisites for installing Bootstrap in Angular
Here is a checklist of prerequisites for adding Bootstrap to Angular. Ensure you configure the listed tools after installing the same for creating the Angular application.
- Git: This is a distributed version control unit setup to use for syncing the repository.
- IDE– Using an Integrated Development Environment having a graphical interface is vital for developing applications, including Angular.
- Node.js and npm: The former is a JavaScript code software for runtime. While the latter, npm, comes as a package manager used for Node.js. All Angular applications run based on the two, while these also help in library installation.
- Angular CLI: This utility tool is based on the command line for Angular’s base structure establishment.
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Method 1: Installing Bootstrap via CDN
Follow the relevant steps to install Bootstrap on Angular via CDN.
- Locate the ‘src’ folder and open the ‘index.html’ Angular project file.
- Embed the following links within the ‘<head>’ section.
<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.5.2/css/bootstrap.min.css”>
<script src=”https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.5.2/js/bootstrap.min.js”></script>
- The JavaScript and CSS files for Bootstrap are included in these lines of code from the designated CDN URLs.
- Save the final changes to your ‘index.html’ file.
Your Angular project will utilise the Bootstrap styles and JavaScript capabilities the CDN offers once you’ve included these CDN links. You are now ready to leverage Bootstrap components within your Angular projects!
Method 2: Installing Bootstrap via the npm package manager
Installing Bootstrap using npm manager can be done following the given simple steps.
- Open the command prompt or terminal.
- Navigate your Angular project’s root directory.
- Install Bootstrap and its related dependencies by running the ‘npm install bootstrap’ command. The relevant command will download Bootstrap and its relevant dependencies into your directory labelled as ‘node_modules’.
- Post installation, you need to incorporate Bootstrap styles and Javascript by opening the ‘angular.json’ file from the root directory and adding the following entry inside the ‘styles’ array.
“node_modules/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css”
- Further, add the following command within the ‘scripts’ array.
“node_modules/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.min.js”
- Save all the changes made on ‘angular.json’ file.
You are now ready to use JavaScript and CSS classes from Bootstrap in your Angular components and templates.
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Method 3: Installing Bootstrap via the Angular CLI
Here is an easy-to-follow guide to help you install Bootstrap via Angular CLI.
- Open your command prompt.
- Run the command ‘ng new my-app’ to use Angular CLI and create a new Angular project. You can replace the ‘my-app’ with a name of your choice.
- Change into the project directory.
cd my-app
- Repeat the process of Bootstrap installation using npm, as mentioned above.
You have now created a new Angular project using CLI, as well as installed Bootstrap for your project!
Method 4: Installing Bootstrap via Bower package manager
- Ensure that you install both npm and bower globally.
- Run the given command in your command prompt – npm install -g bower
- Once bower gets installed, go to your project folder and type
bower install bootstrap
bower install jquery
The above steps will install relevant Bootstrap installation files in the freshly created ‘bower_components’ folder.
- The final step would be to include the files for Bootstrap and jquery in your project file.
While these are all the steps to install Bootstrap in Angular, keep in mind that bower is no longer recommended to be used for Bootstrap installation.
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Method 5: Installing Bootstrap via a custom build
Here are the simple steps to install Bootstrap via a custom build
- Download your choice of Bootstrap version from the official website along with its Javascript and CSS files.
- Extract the zip file and copy the ‘bootstrap.min.css’ from it.
- In your Angular project, navigate to the ‘src’ directory and create a new one called ‘assets’. Ensure creating another directory within the ‘assets’ called ‘css’.
- Paste the ‘bootstrap.min.css’ within the ’css’ directory.
- Again, in the ‘assets’ directory, create a new directory called ‘js’ and paste the ‘bootstrap.min.js’ extracted from the zip folder within this new directory.
- Open ‘angular.json’ in the root directory and navigate the ‘styles’ array by following the architect > build > options segment.
- Add Bootstrap CSS files by using the following command –
“src/assets/css/bootstrap.min.css”
- Find the ‘scripts’ array in the same and paste the following command-
“src/assets/js/bootstrap.min.js”
- Save changes to the ‘angular.json’ file.
Best Practices to Follow When Installing Bootstrap
While there are several ways to install Bootstrap in Angular, knowing best practices can further simplify the process.
- Ensure importing the right Bootstrap CSS files within the right files and folders in your Angular project.
- While Bootstrap offers a wide catalogue of CSS classes and components, choose only the ones that are relevant to your project.
- Avoid unnecessary components to optimise performance.
- Stay updated with the latest Bootstrap version.
- While Javascript components are available, only use them sparingly. Try to leverage Angular-specific libraries.
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Conclusion
Here concludes our list of some of the best ways to install Bootstrap in Angular for enhanced webpage development. From optimised responsive design to incorporating fresh, dynamic features, knowing how to leverage the right Bootstrap components with consistent practices will help you gain the upper hand in the industry!
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