section: basic
id: intro
description: Why choose ZUI?
icon: icon-heart
filter: shuoming sm
---

# Introduction

## Based on Bootstrap

ZUI is based on [Bootstrap 3](http://getbootstrap.com) but customization and alternation on some components have been made, including 

*   Removed restriction on some plugins and added applicable features , e.g. Popover can be designated to tags existed and Modal can auto use iframe to pop out;
*   Added view components, e.g. Card, Comment, List, Article, Dashboard, Kanban, etc.;
*   Added JS components, including Droppable, Lightbox, Sortable, Local Storage, Image Cutter;
*   Integrated third-party components, e.g. cookie, hotkey, chosen, Kindeditor, ChartJ, DatetimePicker etc.，and unified the styles of those components;
*   Added color sets and themes;
*   Modified the default fonts, including the font set and font size;
*   Replaced the default font icon, removed icons from FontAwesome and added icons to it, which made it easier than FontAwesome;
*   No 'default' Class is required for styles of most components, e.g. class='btn btn-default' , 'panel-default’ is no required in ZUI;
*   Added auxiliary classes, e.g. text background and highlight;
*   Added styles, e.g. Scroll.
*   ……

## ZUI or Bootstrap?

Bootstrap is a great front-end framework, but it is not enough to develop large-scale application. If Bootstrap can fully meet your requirement, use Bootstrap, and use ZUI if you need more. The reasons for using ZUI are as follows:

*   Most of the ZUI methods are inherited from Bootstrap, so it is easy to switch from Bootstrap to ZUI, with low learning cost.
*   ZUI provides more function options, even provides unified style and theme for third-party components;
*   ZUI adopts the on-demand core-independent component loading mechanism, which controls the size of the core content after packaging, no exceed 150k for CSS files (currently 139k and 104k for  minified), and no exceed 100k JS files (currently 73k, and 42K for minified). The minified compilation contains most of the functions with a smaller size. The content of non-core independent components is loaded on demand, and custom compilation is recommended.
*   ZUI is developed for the actual project (including ZenTao ALM, Zsite CMS and Zdoo), and it has been proved effective in practice, and everything in ZUI is for quickly developing your application;
*   More exciting content is being developed...
