Boostrap 4 vs Boostrap 5 :Should you move ? What are the differences?

Also Read: .com vs .net domain extension

Now, let's discuss each Bootstrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5 in detail.

If you want to migrate from Bootstrap 4 to bootstrap 5 we have to know the below differences.

Bootstrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5 Explanation

1 Uses Vanilla Javascript instead of JQuery 🚀

Jquery is one of the most popular javascript frameworks of all time. It was created in 2006. When bootstrap was created in 2010, at that time jQuery was one of the best of the best Javascript Framework and no other framework was able to complete jQuery. So, thinking that bootstrap was created keeping JQuery as the backbone. But later different js frameworks like angular, vue, react came to light people do not like to use bootstrap because it heavily depends on jquery and people do not want to mix two js frameworks for building applications. So, to be secure Boostrap 5 is completely remade using pure javascript. Doing so, it saves around 85 KB minified version of javascript🎉. And in my view, this is good from Google's perspective as well because Google started to keep page speed as a ranking factor, and not using jQuery and other frameworks improves performance.

Also, seriously, because of jQuery I haven't used bootstrap for making these sites as well.

According to Mark Otto, Founder of Bootstrap, they are trying to make this Future Friendly and faster javascript.

Also, bootstrap is mainly considered to be a CSS framework (not JS framework) so adding unnecessary jQuery is useless. Bootstrap 5 does not use jQuery and seems to be faster and lighter than the previous version.

Can we use Jquery with Bootstrap 5?

Ans: You can use Bootstrap 5 components with jquery.Which helps in a smooth transition for the user from Bootstrap 4 and Bootstrap 5.

2 Internet Explorer 10 and 11 Supports

Boostrap decided to drop supports for Internet Explorer because it just has around 3% market share. Also, Microsoft started to give more focus on Microsoft Edge Browser and recommend using Edge Browser. For IE 10, Microsoft supports ends on 01/31/2020 and in near future, it ends for IE 11 on October 14, 2025. I believe, because of commercial deals with major business clients, Microsoft continues to offer internet explorer support. The main problem of Bootstrap was Internet Explorer but because of less market share, they stop support for IE.

Also, Internet Explorer doesn't support any of the latest modern Javascript and CSS standards. So, we have to compile every Js code back to ES5 from ES6. Doing so finally increases the project size. This is also the reason why Bootstrap 5 removed support for IE.

Bootstrap 5 (currently in Alpha) removes Internet Explorer 11 support, but you can easily add support back by adding a CSS file and many polyfills from JavaScript.(source )

Supports properly in the following browser and its version:

• Dropped Internet Explorer 10 and 11
• Microsoft Edge > 16 supported
• Dropped Firefox < 60 Firefox version > 60 supported
• Safari version > 12 supported
• iOS Safari > 12 supported
• Chrome version > 60 supported

3 Boostrap 4 vs Boostrap5: Enhanced Grid System

As we know bootstrap 4 and bootstrap 5 both use the GRID system for the layout design of the web page on various screen sizes and viewport. Monitoring is appearing to be huge so, bootstrap 5 is targeting those screens as well by adding an extra breakpoint called XXL (extra large)

Bootstrap 4 GRID System

//Example 
<div class="container">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-sm">
      //First Column
    </div>
    <div class="col-sm">
      //Second Column
    </div>
    <div class="col-sm">
       // Third column
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

4 Boostrap 4 vs Boostrap 5: Enhanced Icons and Fonts

Icons are one of the important parts of User Interfaces for websites and applications. In Bootstrap 4 we used to use external files for Icons as it lacks my own Icon Library. We used to use FontAwesome, free icons, flaticons for icons. But in bootstrap 5, it has its own inbuild SVG-based Icons so it can be used in both HTML and CSS pages as well as in the image tag. Boostrap 5 icons are open-sourced under MIT. These icons are developed in Figma and exported in SVG formats and have great looks.

Links for bootstrap 5 icons: click here.

Boostrap 5 is providing icons through npm as shown below:

npm install bootstrap-icons

Can we use Boostrap 4 without jQuery?

Ans: Yes we can use Boostrap without jQuery with limited features.

5 Bootstrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5: Shortname for Gutter

The space between the column (via padding) in the grid system is called the gutter. This padding is offset for the first column and the last column in rows by a negative margin. Boostrap 5 comparatively uses a shorter name for the gutter. In bootstrap 4 uses gutter is my default 30px(left + right of column). But in bootstrap 5, the default gutter is 2 rem(left + right of column).

6 Form Elements: Boostrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5

Form elements in the form include dropdown, checkbox, radio button, text field, text area, and many more. In bootstrap 4 we have a browser and OS-dependent looks for those form elements but bootstrap 5 has generic looks for all those form elements and is independent of browsers and OS.So, this brings uniformity which is a good approach.

7 Bootstrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5: Responsive Font Size(RFS)

Responsive Font Size means as the viewport gets smaller, the font size will get smaller accordingly. Achieving this behavior in bootstrap 4 and earlier versions are very difficult. We used to use very hacks like using media queries and the calc method for making text font size responsive which seems to be tedious. This tedious work is solved in bootstrap 5 by adding a default responsive font size.

8 Bootstrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5: Navbar Component Optimization

Navbar is an important part of Boostrap and in every website and application, it is used for making it more user-friendly. And it seems to be more optimized in Bootstrap 5.

• inline-block property of navbar which is present in bootstrap 4 and is removed in bootstrap 5.
• Boostrap 4 has a white dropdown in the default navbar but bootstrap 5 has a black dropdown in the default navbar.

9 Boostrap 4 vs Boostrap 5: Card Desk Removed

In bootstrap 4, the card deck is used to create a card of equal height and width. This feature is removed in Bootstrap 5 because now bootstrap 5 has a more controlled responsive grid system that can be easily used to achieve such things.

10 Bootstrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5: CSS custom Properties

Bootstrap 5 is using custom CSS properties on top of SASS variables. So, this cleans up bootstrap code and improves code reuse. Also, now CSS variables can be accessed inside javascript and can make changes on the CSS.So, we are not relying on the sass variable. This is one of the great features of bootstrap 5. 

In bootstrap 4, the root variable is only available for color and fonts but in bootstrap, we can create custom CSS properties.

In bootstrap 4 using root variable

:root {
  --success: #66CD00;
}


.dropdown-menu > a:hover {
  color: var(--success);
}

Currently, Bootstrap 5 is in the alpha stage, no worries it will adopt more useful features soon.

11 Improved Utility API

In bootstrap 4 we have margin and padding utilities but in bootstrap 5 other utility API is also added. Also, we can create our own custom utilities for example you can add tailwind utilities inside a bootstrap. You can also remove not in used utilities so this helps to make your CSS file smaller.

12 Color Palette

Bootstrap 5 has added more color palettes. It has more than 100 color palette features. Bootstrap 5 has improved color contrast.

13 Bootstrap 4 vs Bootstrap 5: Bootstrap Media Objects

Media objects in bootstrap 4 help to align images and video to align left or right with the textual content efficiently.

In bootstrap 4 we used to do like:

// In Bootstrap 4
<div class="media" >
  <img class="js-lazy-image" data-src="..." class="mr-3  mt-3 rounded-circle" alt="...">
  <div class="media-body">
    <h5 class="mt-0">Media heading</h5>
    Textual Content Here ...
  </div>
</div>

// In Bootstrap 5
<div class="d-flex">
  <img class="js-lazy-image" data-src="..." width="128" height="128" class="flex-shrink-0 mr-3 mt-3" alt="...">
  <div>
    <h5 class="mt-0">Media heading</h5>
    Textual Content Here...
  </div>
</div>

14 Updated Forms 

In bootstrap 5, the .custom class is not in need. The radio button and checkbox are customs by default.Bootstrap 4 used to have custom,custom-control-label,custom-control-input,custom-control but bootstrap don't have those classes.

// Bootstrap 4 radio button with custom class
<div class="custom-control custom-radio">
    <input type="radio" class="custom-control-input" id="room1" name="room">
    <label class="custom-control-label" for="customRadio">Custom radio</label>
</div>


//Bootstrap 5 radio button
<div class="form-check">
  <input class="form-check-input" type="radio" name="room" id="room1">
  <label class="form-check-label" for="radio">Radio</label>
</div>

15 Static Site Generator

Both Jekyll and Hugo are static site generators. Bootstrap 4 is integrated with Jekyll through Sass but in Bootstrap 5 Hugo through Sass is used. Hugo seems to be a lightning-fast, flexible, easy to use, and configure static site generator.

16 Improved Customize Documentation

Bootstrap 5 has improved documentation and has more explanation.

17 Use of latest popper

Popper.js is not required in your projects if you do not need popovers, dropdowns, and modals. In bootstrap 4, it is set as required for better performance and with no errors. This popper is Upgraded from Popper v1.x to Popper v2.x in bootstrap 5.

If you use bootstrap bundle then you don't need poppers as separate scripts in both bootstrap 4 and bootstrap 5 projects.

18 RTL and off-canvas

Bootstrap 5 alpha is not having features like RTL and off-canvas, but according to their documentation they state that they will soon bring Right to Left language support like Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu soon.  

Finally, Bootstrap 5 is not in the alpha version, and now the latest bootstrap supports RTL(right to left language). You can set up with few steps.

Click here for more info.

Offcanvas is a bootstrap 5 sidebar and navbar component that you can use to toggled via javascript to appear from right, left or bottom of the viewport. It is considered to be Mobile friendly Navigation Drawer. You can achieve the same in bootstrap 4 but you have to add an additional plugin for it. But in bootstrap 5 it comes by default.

Should we move to Bootstrap 5?

Ans: Bootstrap helps you to speed up the process of developing websites and web applications. So, I suggest you use it. Currently, we have bootstrap 5 in the alpha stage. There are many templates for bootstrap 5 using currently available features. Some of them are :

• Space
• Fancy
• Appi
• Learn
• Medic

You can go and play with bootstrap 5 features and if you want to build a simple site you can use it. But if you want many features like bootstrap 4 is currently having then just wait for a stable and mature version of bootstrap 5.

Thanks for reading. If you have any suggestions then please free to comments. Your valuable suggestions and advice will be greatly appreciated.