Creating a responsive website can be achieved by utilizing the ul element or incorporating a div with the CSS

When it comes to responsive design, the choice between utilizing ul and div elements is crucial, especially in regards to the navigation bar.

After observing many other developers, I initially opted for ul but soon realized that for certain navigation behaviors, using the display: flex property makes things much simpler. Here's an example:

<div class="navbar">
    <div><a href="#">LOGIN</a></div>
    <div><a href="#">REGISTER</a></div>
    <div><a href="#">BASKET</a></div>
</div>

CSS:

.navbar {
    display: flex;
    justify-content: space-between;
    border: solid 1px;
    border-style: dotted;
    font: bold 1.2em/45px "Times New Roman", Georgia, Serif;
    text-decoration: none;
    background-color: black;
}

.navbar a {
    text-decoration: none;
    font: bold 1.2em/45px "Times New Roman", Georgia, Serif;
    padding: 20px;
    color: white;
}

Are there any drawbacks to using this approach?

Answer №1

There are no real disadvantages to either approach.

If you're considering the possibilities with CSS or JavaScript, opting for <ul> or <div> elements won't make a significant difference.

The main concern lies in browser compatibility. A quick visit to this site reveals that display: flex isn't supported in IE9 or earlier. There are also numerous bugs affecting its functionality in older versions of IE.

Listed below are some known issues related to Flexboxes:

  • Vertically aligning items with min-height doesn't work correctly in IE 11
  • IE 11 mistakenly focuses on child elements when the parent uses display:flex and has a tabindex set
  • Setting -ms-flex-flow: row wrap in IE 10 won't wrap unless child elements have display: inline-block

The bulk of these problems seem to affect IE10 and IE11.

Since buttons aren't being used, the Firefox issue is insignificant. The only potential concern in other browsers is Chrome and Safari's bug regarding percentage-based sizes.

In summary, sticking with <ul> is likely the safer choice. But if browser compatibility isn't an issue for you, go ahead with display: flex.

For additional resources, consider visiting Flexbugs. It offers solutions to various Flexbox-related problems.

Answer №2

One drawback is that it may not be compatible with certain versions of Internet Explorer and specific mobile browsers. Make sure to test your code using the bootstrap.css navbar, as it also offers responsive design.

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