Intro
Vue (pronounced /vjuː/, like view) is a progressive framework for building user interfaces. Unlike other monolithic frameworks, Vue is designed from the ground up to be incrementally adoptable.
The core library is focused on the view layer only, and is easy to pick up and integrate with other libraries or existing projects.
On the other hand, Vue is also perfectly capable of powering sophisticated Single-Page Applications when used in combination with modern tooling and supporting libraries.
It’s super easy to learn
I’m not going to advertise myself as a full-time programmer or anything (I’m not), but I do have a history with Vue.js. The one thing I can unequivocally tell you is that it’s one of the easiest frameworks to learn and master. To get started, you only need a few lines of JavaScript, with a hint of HTML.
But the best part is that a compiler is optional. To work with the framework, you only need to know a few basic technologies, and you’re good to Go. It’s a great place to start for beginner to intermediate developers, especially if you want some hands-on experience.
It’s crazy fast
Okay, admittedly, most front-end JavaScript frameworks are fast — well, most of the newer ones anyway. But to get a better idea of how responsive Vue.js is compared to others out there, take a look at this detailed Medium article.
The official Vue.js team also compared the framework’s performance to similar options, such as React. If you couldn’t guess, Vue.js tends to be faster. This is because — like React — it relies on a virtual DOM. It’s much lighter-weight in comparison, though, especially during rendering. Furthermore, any dependencies are tracked during render, so the system knows what components need to re-render for state changes without additional dev input.
That’s all before you take into account the fact that Vue.js works with native HTML and CSS, albeit through the use of templates.
Official CLI at the ready
Even though a compiler is not necessary, a CLI is offered by the official Vue.js team to help get developers into the trenches faster. It also provides a more modern and convenient development environment, for those used to working with them.
It comes bundled with different template options out of the box — including Browserify — but they’re easy to integrate on your own, too. If you need to scaffold applications promptly but don’t want to deal with boilerplate code, there’s no better place to be.
As a bonus, you’ll be pleased to know the jump from 1.0 to 2.0 didn’t change much when it comes to working with or writing in Vue.js. Some deprecations happened, but I’d argue they were necessary and improved the framework. That’s important because it means that you can expect the same support from future updates going forward. No, it’s never guaranteed, but it is a good representation of the design philosophies of the official team, which happens to be one guy in this case.
The community is huge
When you’re working with a language or framework, what can really make or break the experience for you is the surrounding community. Are they supportive and knowledgeable? Can you find resources to help achieve your goals? If you can’t, are there community members you can ask for advice? How responsive are they? These things matter when you’re working in the industry, as you no doubt know. Sometimes, it’s just good to have like-minded folks who understand the field you work in to chat with.
Vue.js has an ever-growing presence on GitHub, an incredibly active forum, international conferences and a large swath of educational resources and guides. Perhaps more surprising, Evan You, the creator of the framework is remarkably active in the community, too. In fact, if you ask a question or post a discussion on the official forums, you’re likely to see a response from him.
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