<p>{{_i}}Bootstrap is made with LESS at its core, a dynamic stylesheet language created by our good friend, <a href="http://cloudhead.io">Alexis Sellier</a>. It makes developing systems-based CSS faster, easier, and more fun.{{/i}}</p>
<p>{{_i}}As an extension of CSS, LESS includes variables, mixins for reusable snippets of code, operations for simple math, nesting, and even color functions.{{/i}}</p>
<h1>{{_i}}Compiling Bootstrap with LESS{{/i}}</h1>
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<div class="alert alert-info">
{{_i}}<strong>Note:</strong> If you're submitting a pull request to GitHub with modified CSS, you <strong>must</strong> recompile the CSS via any of these methods.{{/i}}
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<h2>{{_i}}Tools for compiling{{/i}}</h2>
<h3>{{_i}}Node with makefile{{/i}}</h3>
<p>{{_i}}Install the LESS command line compiler, JSHint, Recess, and uglify-js globally with npm by running the following command:{{/i}}</p>
<pre>$ npm install -g less jshint recess uglify-js</pre>
<p>{{_i}}Once installed just run <code>make</code> from the root of your bootstrap directory and you're all set.{{/i}}</p>
<p>{{_i}}Additionally, if you have <a href="https://github.com/mynyml/watchr">watchr</a> installed, you may run <code>make watch</code> to have bootstrap automatically rebuilt every time you edit a file in the bootstrap lib (this isn't required, just a convenience method).{{/i}}</p>
<h3>{{_i}}Command line{{/i}}</h3>
<p>{{_i}}Install the LESS command line tool via Node and run the following command:{{/i}}</p>
<p>{{_i}}Be sure to include <code>--compress</code> in that command if you're trying to save some bytes!{{/i}}</p>
<h3>{{_i}}Javascript{{/i}}</h3>
<p>{{_i}}<a href="http://lesscss.org/">Download the latest Less.js</a> and include the path to it (and Bootstrap) in the <code><head></code>.{{/i}}</p>
<p>{{_i}}To recompile the .less files, just save them and reload your page. Less.js compiles them and stores them in local storage.{{/i}}</p>
<h3>{{_i}}Unofficial Mac app{{/i}}</h3>
<p>{{_i}}<a href="http://incident57.com/less/">The unofficial Mac app</a> watches directories of .less files and compiles the code to local files after every save of a watched .less file.{{/i}}</p>
<p>{{_i}}If you like, you can toggle preferences in the app for automatic minifying and which directory the compiled files end up in.{{/i}}</p>
<p>{{_i}}Mac, Linux, and PC app for drag and drop compiling of LESS files. Plus, the <a href="https://github.com/Paratron/SimpLESS" target="_blank">source code is on GitHub</a>.{{/i}}</p>