title: Rails - Difference between @import and *= require?
body: <p>So I've got a relatively simple Rails app, and I wanted to add some material design styling to it through Bootstrap.</p>
  
  <p>I've added the following gems to my Gemfile:</p>
  
  <pre><code>gem 'bootstrap-sass'
  gem 'bootstrap-material-design'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Now they both work, my question is to why I seem to have to add them to my app in different ways. For vanilla Boostrap I just import it into the view specific (I think that's the right term) scss file like normal.</p>
  
  <pre><code>@import "bootstrap-sprockets";
  @import "bootstrap";
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But for the Material Design gem I have to 'require' it to the root application.css file instead</p>
  
  <pre><code> *= require bootstrap-material-design
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Why the difference, and what is that require syntax actually doing?</p>