Is it acceptable to build your web development portfolio in Bootstrap, or should I use Sass or pure CSS?

Answer 1

What a great question! I am assuming that this portfolio is to aid you in showcasing your talents in the hopes of securing work of some kind. If that is the case, then I would recommend focusing less on the technologies being used and more on generating interest and intrigue.

Keep in mind: tools are just tools. Everything in IT is ephemeral and imperfect--it will all be replaced soon enough and yesterday's code, so to speak, always ends up looking kinda gross, in retrospect. The technologies used are really only important to the extent that they prove your ability to continually learn new stuff and develop yourself as a person and technologist. There will certainly be something new out tomorrow that no one has much experience with.

My advice: Develop something that reflects you and your unique point of view. Give them a sense of who you are before you even hit the door. If you can create something that demonstrates range as a technologist, all the better. If you can create something that is actually hosted on the Interwebs, connected to a database, services actual human beings, etc., well, then that's ideal!

In the end, portfolios, resumes, etc., are really all about getting your foot in the door. Getting that interview, so that you can ultimately sell yourself. It has been proven time and time again, that people will hire less qualified people that they like and want to work with, so I would just keep that in mind. In the end, people hire people, not a collection of acronyms in bullet-point form. Above all, be you and remember that an interview goes both ways...

I hope that gives you some food for thought. Good luck and all the best!

Answer 2

I suggest to NOT use Bootstrap. At all. Especially for your portfolio site.

The concept of Boostrap is to build something rapidly that is responsive. That's it. Granted, many full blown projects use BS as their main CSS library.

If I see the website of an applicant built in BS, that's a red flag for me. I recommend you create your own HTML and CSS.

Regarding Sass vs. CSS, the question is a bit misleading. Using Sass will yield a "pure" CSS file, just like if someone decides to create a simple CSS file without Sass, they also end up with a "pure" CSS file.

Actually, that "pure" CSS file is practically irrelevant to consider as a point of reference to get a glimpse of how much, or not, a person knows about CSS. That's because that CSS file being used by the portfolio site should be minimized, thus, impossible to read unless someone takes the time to beautify it, which is very unlikely for a hiring manager to do.

If you use Sass, then showcase this knowledge in one of your pages and show snippets in it or something that communicates you do know Sass.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

It is acceptable to use Bootstrap. Because the company might care about your Bootstrap knowledge. However, I recommend to combine it with your CSS skills. For instance, you can use the Bootstrap grid for your grid system and create your own buttons in CSS.

The visitor can't see you Sass files unless you share your code repository with them. If you have a repository for your website then you may want to use Sass to showcase your Sass skills as well.

Answer 4

Honestly, it depends on what sort of skills you want to showcase. But also keep in mind that Sass uses CSS and that even if you style with Bootstrap you'll still end up tweaking something with CSS.

If you want to be noticed for your styling I would go with Sass but if you want to prove your knowledge of Bootstrap then I'd do that. You can also mix them. There are others out there besides bootstrap too if you want to push yourself :) Here's a link to one I've used before:

http://getskeleton.com/

If you want to showcase all three separately you could always do some sample designs as self-projects and use one per design.