Getting Bootstrap
There is some version of the framework, but in this book, we will provide support for the latest Bootstrap 3 version (which is v3.3.5), along with the newest version 4 (which is 4.0.0-alpha). When a feature or component is differently supported by one of these versions, we will point it out properly.
First of all, access the official website at http://getbootstrap.com/ and click on the Download Bootstrap button, as shown in the following screenshot:
Tip
Downloading the example code
You can download the example code files for this book from your account at http://www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files e-mailed directly to you.
You can download the code files by following these steps:
- Log in or register to our website using your e-mail address and password.
- Hover the mouse pointer on the SUPPORT tab at the top.
- Click on Code Downloads & Errata.
- Enter the name of the book in the Search box.
- Select the book for which you're looking to download the code files.
- Choose from the drop-down menu where you purchased this book from.
- Click on Code Download.
Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:
- WinRAR / 7-Zip for Windows
- Zipeg / iZip / UnRarX for Mac
- 7-Zip / PeaZip for Linux
Then you will be redirected to another page that contains these buttons:
- Download Bootstrap: This is the release with the files already compiled.
- Download source: Use this if you want to get the source for customization. This requires knowledge of the Less language.
- Download Sass: Here, you can get the source code in the Sass language.
Click on the Download Bootstrap button to get the framework, since we will cover the full framework using, not Sass, but just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. After the download, extract the files and you will see that the framework is organized in folders.
Tip
Other versions and releases
Check out the official repository at https://github.com/twbs/bootstrap/ to pick up other versions and see the new releases under development. You will also be able to see other features and community activity.
If you want to go hands-on straightforward with version 4, go to http://v4-alpha.getbootstrap.com/ and download it, or enter the GitHub repository and select the corresponding branch of version 4.
After you've extracted the files, you will see some folders. The first one, in alphabetical order, is css. Here, you will find the main CSS file (named bootstrap.css), other files related to the minified version, and a bootstrap-theme.css file, which is a simple theme of using the Bootstrap components.
There is also a fonts folder; it contains the files used for the icon components that we will see in future chapters. Finally, there is a folder named js, where we can find the bootstrap.js file, the minified version, and the specification for npm.
Tip
What is the npm file?
The npm is the most famous package manager for JavaScript. It is set as the default package manager in the Node.js environment.