Twitter Bootstrap, known simply as Bootstrap, is the leading open source CSS/HTML and JavaScript framework on the Internet. Shortly after its launch, it was the most popular project on GitHub. It is so popular that Microsoft announced at their Build 2013 conference that all the web app project templates in Visual Studio 2013 will use Twitter Bootstrap by default.
One of the main reasons Bootstrap is so prevalent is that it allows developers, many of whom are notoriously bad at user interface design, to build aesthetically pleasing sites with a relatively small amount of effort. Bootstrap also offers a rich ecosystem of free and commercial templates, third-party components, tools, and an active and helpful community.
Using CSS Frameworks and Bootstrap in particular with ASP.NET MVC is a natural fit. Bootstrap takes care of the typography, form layouts, and user interface components, which allows the developer to focus on what they are good at – writing code. This aspect is particularly valuable for smaller development companies who do not necessarily have an in-house designer.
.NET Core is a new and exciting framework written from the ground up. It can be used to develop a variety of applications, not just web applications. It promises the ability to target different platform, such as Linux and Mac as well as smaller deployment footprints. ASP.NET Core has been built upon the .NET Core and is a rewrite of the ASP.NET platform .NET developers have known for many years.
Bootstrap for ASP.NET MVC walks you through the process of creating a fully functioning ASP.NET MVC website, using Bootstrap for its layout and user interface.
Chapter 1, Getting Started with ASP.NET Core and Bootstrap 4, introduces you to the files in the Bootstrap 4 distribution, creating an empty ASP.NET site as well as providing an introduction to using Bower and Gulp.
Chapter 2, Using Bootstrap CSS and HTML Elements, examines all the various Bootstrap CSS and HTML elements, how to include them in your ASP.NET MVC project, and how to configure and use their various options.
Chapter 3, Using Bootstrap Components, makes you familiar with the Bootstrap navigation bar, button groups, alerts, and introduces you to cards.
Chapter 4, Using Bootstrap JavaScript Components, guides you through creating cascading dropdowns, modal dialogs and accordions.
Chapter 5, Creating MVC Bootstrap Helper and Tag Helpers, teaches you to create a Bootstrap MVC helper as well as a Tag Helper introduced with ASP.NET Core.
Chapter 6, Converting a Bootstrap HTML Template into a Usable ASP.NET MVC Project, converts an open source HTML template and makes it ready to be used with ASP.NET MVC.
Chapter 7, Using the jQuery DataTables Plugin with Bootstrap 4, demonstrates how to use the powerful jQuery DataTables plugin with Bootstrap and ASP.NET in order to show tabular data.
Chapter 8, Creating Bootstrap 4 ASP.NET MVC Sites Using Visual Studio Code, shows you how to use the free Visual Studio Code editor to create ASP.NET projects.
Appendix, Bootstrap Resources, gives you a list of Bootstrap resources available on the Internet.
To get the most out of this book, you’ll need Visual Studio 2015 and a modern browser. All examples have been tested with Visual Studio 2015, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. The book would be beneficial to those with entry-level up to advanced-level experience of ASP.NET MVC development, as well as limited experience in Bootstrap.
This book is for ASP.NET MVC developers who would like to know how to incorporate Bootstrap into their projects. ASP.NET MVC developers could also benefit from the chapters covering advanced topics, such as creating helpers and using the jQuery Data-tables plugin. If you have limited experience with ASP.NET MVC and Bootstrap, this book can serve as a primer to these technologies.
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "Double-click on the project.json file inside the Solution Explorer in Visual Studio"
A block of code is set as follows:
public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
services.AddMvc();
}Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
npm install -g yo grunt-cli generator-aspnet bower
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Select the Empty project template from the New ASP.NET Core Web Application (.NET Core) Project dialog window and click on OK"
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You can download the example code files for this book from https://github.com/Pietervdw/bootstrap-for-aspnetmvc or 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.
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We also provide you with a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. The color images will help you better understand the changes in the output. You can download this file from http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/BootstrapforASPNETMVC_ColorImages.pdf.
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