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Getting started

An overview of Bootstrap, including how to download and use it, some basic templates and examples, and more.

Contents

Bootstrap can come in one of two forms, as precompiled or source code. Learn more about each flavor’s contents and structure below. Remember, no matter the implementation flavor, Bootstrap’s JavaScript plugins require jQuery.

Precompiled Bootstrap

Once downloaded, unzip the compressed folder and you’ll see something like this:

bootstrap/
├── css/
│   ├── jcu.css
│   ├── jcu.css.map
│   ├── jcu.min.css
│   └── jcu.min.css.map
└── js/
    ├── jcu.js
    └── jcu.min.js

This is the most basic form of Bootstrap: precompiled files for quick drop-in usage in nearly any web project. We provide compiled CSS and JS (bootstrap.*), as well as compiled and minified CSS and JS (bootstrap.min.*). CSS source maps (bootstrap.*.map) are available for use with certain browsers’ developer tools.

Bootstrap source code

The Bootstrap source code download includes the precompiled CSS and JavaScript assets, along with source Sass, JavaScript, and documentation. More specifically, it includes the following and more:

bootstrap/
├── dist/
│   ├── css/
│   └── js/
├── docs/
│   └── examples/
├── js/
└── scss/

The scss/ and js/ are the source code for our CSS and JavaScript. The dist/ folder includes everything listed in the precompiled download section above. The docs/ folder includes the source code for our documentation, and examples/ of Bootstrap usage. Beyond that, any other included file provides support for packages, license information, and development.