How to Build a Simple Single Page Application Using Vue.js?
Building single-page applications (SPA) will benefit you in many ways. The advantages include speed, great UX and full control over your markups. More and more sites are now using SPA since the process has been simplified to a great extent. Developing complex SPA is now made easy with the help of a few tools and a how-to guide. One of the ways you can develop SPA is by using Vue.js, a new JavaScript framework. If you want to write a simple SPA with a resilient and manageable framework, then using Vue.js is the right choice for you.
What is Vue.js?
Vue is a JavaScript framework that can be used to build better user interfaces. It is open-source and it has adopted some of the most significant practices of React and Angular. However, compared to these frameworks, it is more approachable and easy to use, even for beginners. It is quite powerful and hence provides you all you need to build modern front-end applications. If you want to develop a SPA using this framework, you have got all you need in the setup to get started.
Setting Up a Vue.js Framework
To set up a Vue.js SPA you need minimal configurations and can accomplish this in a short period of time. All JavaScript frameworks come with libraries already installed which possess all the tools needed to build your application. This will allow you to get your page up and running quickly and efficiently but it can have some negative side effects.
A Few Issues with Vue.js
- It leaves no room for you to properly understand the settings
- The framework is known to leave pages with a bloated configuration
- Sometimes Vue will not play nicely with other DOM-manipulating toolkits unless they are completely segregated
- Importing Vue.js according to the official guide to use it as an inline template for your component will often leave you with a blank page
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Installing Vue-router
Despite a few issues, the Vue.js is a very useful tool. It has a smaller size, is easy to understand if you want to develop applications and requires simple integration. Furthermore, it comes with detailed documentation to help beginners write their first applications.
To install the framework you will need to get Vue-router, which is the official set up for Vue. It is good at integrating deeply with Vue.js to make SPA creations breezy and stress-free. Its features consist of:
- A nested route and view mapping
- A more component-based router configuration
- Simple route prams, queries, and wildcards
- Transition effects that can be viewed and powered by the Vue.js system
- A steady and fine-grained navigation control
- Links with automated and active CSS classes
- More customizable scrolling behavior
What to Look Out For
Code Performance and Optimization
This correlates with the function of your application and the intensity of tasks being performed. Some apps do not pay much heed to code performance because they are mostly concerned with the display of data, but others will most likely process complexity in visuals. This can have a high influence on performance so it is better that you improve it.
The User View
Your users will perceive your page or website in a certain manner. This “perceived performance” is associated with the loading time of a site, amongst other factors. The site must be smooth, fast and have relevant content for this to have a good impact.
Size of the Code
Code size plays a big role in overall performance. The more code you add, the slower your site will get, especially with JavaScript frameworks like Vue.js. This may take 3.5 more seconds to analyze, accumulate and deliver on a low-end mobile device.
Building Your SPA
Step 1 – Create an Index.html file
While you will be doing most of the work on JavaScript, your index.html file will remain the same without any alterations. You can create a project with any name you like and serve it from a stagnant file server. Once this is done, you can then create an index.html file. Then you will add HTML, head, and body tags, then include the Vue.js between your body tags.
Step 2 – Your App Entry and Integration of Vue
You will then import Vue as an ES6 module so all your components can utilize it. In the directory, you will choose a single file, the index.html you built. Then follow the next few steps:
- Create a main.js file
- Then create a Vue.js file
- Select vue.esm.browser.js
- Copy and paste the JavaScript code into the Vue.js file you just created
- Go to main.js and enter the code
- You will see that most of the code looks quite familiar now
Step 3 – Adjusting Your Templates
You will now find an empty array that you can easily populate with the API response. When you have done this, it will re-render the view of the page automatically. You can repeat an element from the template with a slightly altered content for final adjustments.
Step 4 – Adding Different Components
Now is the time when you can add your components. All you need to do is open the main.js file, and replace the block that holds the routes steadfast with a different one. For example, in existing projects, you can import a default “hello component” with one that will handle your root path. You will see these changes once you reload your page.
A Brief Summary
So far, you have acquired the basic skill of building a SPA using Vue.js. A summary of what you need to do is as follows:
- Installing the Vue-router
- Adding Vue.js to an application
- Creating and adjusting multiple components and templates
- Styling your new components
Final Steps
You will now need to monitor all aspects of your data to create a form element in any desired shape. Binary states will make do with simple checkboxes but if you have multiple states, you can choose a dropdown or an to autocomplete search field. Whichever adjustment you make, you will have to also make the change in your database query.
Conclusion
These few steps will ensure that you build a SPA with Vue.js in a matter of minutes. It is very easy to begin a new project with Vue components as you will receive maximum scalability and flexibility. Since the main focus of the framework is UX, it will integrate easily with existing projects as well as sophisticated SPAs if you combine it well with modern tools.