We already established a while ago in this post that my top pick when it comes to web development frameworks is Vue.js, but it’s about time we discuss what makes it so great and useful.
A bit of a back story – What is Vue.js?
VueJS is an open-source progressive lightweight JavaScript framework with various optional tools to build user interfaces (UIs) and single-page applications. It was released around February 2014 and it is one of those new software technologies that is widely being utilized by every web app development company across the globe for web advancement. In the age, where javascript frameworks are component-driven, Vue is distinct by its simplicity and execution.
It centers around the view layer and offers a ton of functionality for the view layer and utilized for building incredible single-page web applications. Vue.js utilizes JavaScript ES5 or ES6 while Laravel gives a core library to Vue.js. With the help of the adaptable and extendable stack and browser-independent reactive components, developers can speed up the custom web application development using both default and custom directives.
Features & what they do
Virtual DOM
Vue.js utilizes virtual DOM. Virtual DOM is, essentially, a clone of the principal DOM element absorbs every change intended for the DOM and is present in the form of JavaScript data structures. The changes made to the JavaScript data structures are compared with the original data structure. Only the final changes will reflect in the real DOM, which viewers will be able to see. This is a creative method, cost-effective and the changes can be done quickly
Data binding
This feature helps manipulate or assign values to HTML attributes, change the style, assign classes with the help of a binding directive called v-bind available with VueJS.
CSS Transitions and Animations
This feature provides several methods to apply a transition to HTML elements when they are added, updated or removed from the DOM. It has a built-in transition component that wraps the element responsible for returning transition effect. Developers can with no trouble to add 3rd party animation libraries and make the user experience more interactive.
Template
As already mentioned above, It offers HTML-based templates that bind the DOM with the Vue.js instance data. It compiles the templates into virtual DOM Render functions. A web developer can use the template of the render functions and they can replace the template with the render function.
Computed Properties
A computed property is one of the important features of Vue.js. It helps to listen to the changes made to the UI elements and performs the necessary logic so there is no need for additional coding for this.
Use a computed property when we want to work on mutate a property that is dependent upon another property being changed. Computed properties are mainly dependent on other data properties.
Any change to the dependent properties will also trigger the logic for the computed property. Computed properties are cached based on their dependencies so they will only rerun if any dependency changes.
Watchers
Watchers are applied to data that will frequently change. For example, form input elements. Here, a developer doesn’t need to do any additional events. Watcher takes care of handling any data changes and also make the code simple and fast.
There are three main ways to have components make use of Vue.js’s reactive nature. These are Methods, Computed Properties, and Watchers.
Use watchers when we want to perform some logic as a result of a change that took place on a specific data property. This is most useful when you want to perform the asynchronous or expensive operation in response to changing data.
Methods
Methods are used when we want to change a component’s state or when an event has occurred that isn’t necessarily related to the instance data being mutated. Methods can take arguments but do not keep records of any dependencies.
This creates some difference within the component. Methods will be triggered each and every time when the component is reloaded.
Flexibility and Modularity
It is a flexible, modular replacement to it. If you are among those who don’t find it interesting to code every single part of the app’s interface, then you can use Vue.js web-pack template as it does not restrict access to its advanced feature set like hot module reloading, CSS extraction, linting, etc. It is flexible to add any third party package in vue.js.
Runtime Performance
When we look towards runtime performance, Vue.js has the definite edge as it abstains from e dirty checking. Vue.js clear dependency-tracking observation system with synchronized queueing ensures changes trigger individualistically.
Directives vs Components
Vue.js has a reflective distinction between the roles of directives and components. Here Directives encapsulate DOM manipulations, While Components are self-sufficient elements with their own view and data logic.
Optimization
Vue.js tracks component dependencies during render. This results in that the system already knows which components require re-render when the form changes, which does not. Each component will be able to call shouldComponentUpdate to avoid any kind of nested component warnings.
To sum this all up…
The benefits of Vue.Js are its simplicity & ease of learning. This presents Vue.JS as an ideal choice for startups, SMEs or any development organization that wants to quickly design high-performance web applications with an easy-to-read code.
If you’re interested to learn more about Vue.js, here’s a useful Crash Course to get you started.