Vue CLI 3 Tutorial

Kickstart your Vue.js projects with Vue CLI 3! Learn how to set up, configure, and optimize your development workflow for building scalable Vue applications.

Introduction to Vue CLI Version 3: A Modern Approach to Vue.js Development

This chapter introduces Vue CLI (Command Line Interface) version 3, a significant update to the official tool for scaffolding and managing Vue.js projects. Vue CLI 3 brings a host of improvements and new features designed to streamline the development workflow and enhance developer experience. This chapter will guide you through the key changes and new functionalities, providing a comprehensive understanding of how to leverage Vue CLI 3 for efficient Vue.js development.

Key New Features in Vue CLI Version 3

Vue CLI 3 represents a paradigm shift in how Vue.js projects are created and managed. The most noticeable changes and exciting new features include:

• Simplified Project Creation: The project creation process has been revamped, moving away from template-based generation to a more flexible, feature-driven approach.
• Customizable Presets: Developers now have the ability to create custom presets, allowing for tailored project setups with specific features and configurations.
• Webpack Abstraction with Flexibility: While still abstracting away the complexities of Webpack configuration, Vue CLI 3 provides mechanisms to customize and extend the underlying Webpack setup without direct manual configuration in most cases.
• Plugin-Based Architecture: A powerful plugin system allows for easy extension of project functionality and modification of the Webpack configuration, offering a modular and scalable approach to project customization.
• Instant Prototyping: Quickly prototype single Vue.js components in isolation without the need to set up a full project structure, enabling rapid experimentation and testing.
• Graphical User Interface (GUI): A user-friendly GUI is now included, simplifying project creation, plugin management, dependency management, and overall project configuration.

This chapter will now delve into each of these new features in detail, starting with installation and project creation.

Project Creation: Moving Away from Templates

One of the most significant changes in Vue CLI 3 is the approach to project creation. In previous versions, the CLI relied on templates to scaffold new projects.

Templates: In the context of Vue CLI (prior to version 3), templates were pre-configured project structures and build configurations that provided a starting point for different types of Vue.js applications (e.g., webpack-simple, webpack, browserify). They dictated the underlying tooling and setup of the project.

In older versions of Vue CLI (version 2 and below), creating a project involved using the vue init command followed by a template name and the project name. For example:

vue init webpack-simple my-project

This command would initialize a new project based on the webpack-simple template. This approach, while straightforward, had limitations. Developers were locked into the configurations provided by the chosen template and customizing the underlying build process could be more involved. The old CLI offered a limited number of pre-made templates, each with its own pre-defined Webpack configuration.

Vue CLI 3 introduces a more flexible and customizable method using the vue create command:

vue create my-app

With Vue CLI 3, templates are no longer used directly. Instead, when you execute vue create, you are presented with options to choose from presets.

Presets: In Vue CLI 3, presets are predefined configurations that bundle together a selection of features and settings for your Vue.js project. They offer a starting point that can be either a default configuration or a custom setup tailored to specific project needs.

You are given two primary choices:

• Default Preset: This option provides a quick setup with a basic set of features, typically including:

  • Babel: A JavaScript compiler that allows you to use next-generation JavaScript features in your code while ensuring compatibility with older browsers.

  Babel: Babel is a JavaScript compiler that transforms syntax that is not yet widely supported into a backward-compatible version of JavaScript that can run in older browsers or environments. It enables developers to use the latest JavaScript features without worrying about browser compatibility.

  • ESLint: A tool for identifying and reporting on patterns found in ECMAScript/JavaScript code. ESLint helps maintain code quality and consistency by enforcing coding standards and identifying potential errors.

  ESLint: ESLint is a popular static code analysis tool used primarily for identifying problematic patterns found in JavaScript/ECMAScript code. It helps developers write cleaner, more consistent, and less error-prone code by enforcing coding standards and best practices.

• Custom Preset: This option allows you to handpick the features you want to include in your project setup. This provides greater control and flexibility, enabling you to add specific functionalities tailored to your application’s requirements. Examples of features you can add through custom presets include:

  • Vuex: A state management pattern + library for Vue.js applications. It serves as a centralized store for all the components in an application, with rules ensuring that the state can only be mutated in a predictable fashion.

  Vuex: Vuex is a state management library for Vue.js applications. It provides a centralized store for managing application state, making it easier to handle complex data flows and component communication in larger Vue.js applications.

  • Vue Router: The official router for Vue.js. It enables navigation and routing within single-page applications, allowing you to build complex, multi-view applications with Vue.js.

  Vue Router: Vue Router is the official routing library for Vue.js. It allows you to create single-page applications (SPAs) with navigation between different views or components, mimicking the experience of multi-page websites.

  • Progressive Web App (PWA) Support: Adds features and configurations to make your Vue.js application a Progressive Web App, enhancing its capabilities to behave like a native app.

  Progressive Web App (PWA): A Progressive Web App is a type of web application designed to work offline, load quickly, send push notifications, and have access to device hardware features, providing a user experience similar to native mobile applications.

Enhanced Customization and Webpack Management

Vue CLI 3 continues to abstract the complexities of Webpack configuration, meaning it hides the detailed configuration files from direct manipulation in most common scenarios.

Webpack: Webpack is a powerful module bundler for JavaScript applications. It takes various assets (JavaScript, CSS, images, etc.) and bundles them into optimized files that can be efficiently loaded by a web browser. Webpack is a core tool in modern JavaScript development workflows.

However, unlike the old CLI’s template-based approach which could feel restrictive, Vue CLI 3 provides significant flexibility for customization without forcing developers to directly edit Webpack configuration files in many cases.

This flexibility is achieved through:

• vue.config.js file: While the core Webpack configuration is abstracted, Vue CLI 3 allows you to create a vue.config.js file in your project root. This file serves as a central location to make edits and tweaks to the underlying Webpack configuration. You can use this file to modify various aspects of the build process, such as loaders, plugins, and resolve options.

• Plugin System for Configuration Modification: Vue CLI 3 introduces a robust plugin system that extends beyond just adding features to your project. Plugins can also directly modify the Webpack configuration. This allows for modular and reusable configuration extensions. You can add plugins at any point during development to adjust the build process as your project evolves.

This plugin-based approach provides a powerful way to extend the functionality of your project setup and customize the build process without directly diving into the complexities of Webpack configuration files.

Introducing Plugins: Extensible Functionality

Plugins are a central concept in Vue CLI 3, offering a powerful mechanism to extend project functionality and customize the build process.

Plugins (in Vue CLI context): In Vue CLI 3, plugins are packages that extend the functionality of your Vue.js project. They can add new features, modify the Webpack configuration, inject code into source files, and even add new commands to the Vue CLI itself.

Plugins in Vue CLI 3 are essentially project dependencies, but they are more than just libraries. They can:

• Modify Webpack Configuration: Plugins can directly alter the underlying Webpack configuration, allowing for deep customization of the build process.
• Inject Code into Source Files: Plugins can automatically inject code or modify source files, streamlining common setup tasks.
• Add Extra Commands to the CLI: Plugins can extend the Vue CLI with new commands, providing custom tooling and workflows specific to your project needs.

For example, if you wanted to integrate a code formatting tool like “beautify” into your project, you could use a Vue CLI plugin for Beautifier. Adding the vue-cli-plugin-beautify plugin would not only install the beautify dependency but could also configure Webpack or add CLI commands related to code formatting.

This plugin architecture makes Vue CLI 3 highly extensible and adaptable to a wide range of project requirements.

Instant Prototyping: Rapid Component Development

Vue CLI 3 introduces a feature called “instant prototyping,” designed for quickly testing and iterating on individual Vue.js components in isolation.

Prototyping: In software development, prototyping refers to creating a preliminary model or version of a product or feature to test and refine ideas quickly before committing to a full-scale development effort.

Instant prototyping allows you to rapidly prototype a single, standalone Vue.js component without the overhead of setting up a complete Vue CLI project. This is particularly useful when:

• Experimenting with new component ideas: You can quickly test out component logic, UI, and interactions without project setup.
• Developing UI components in isolation: Focus on building and refining individual components independently of the larger application.
• Quickly demonstrating component functionality: Easily share and showcase component behavior without needing a full project context.

This feature streamlines the early stages of component development, allowing for faster iteration and exploration of ideas.

Graphical User Interface (GUI): Streamlined Project Management

Vue CLI 3 ships with a built-in Graphical User Interface (GUI), providing a visual and user-friendly way to manage Vue CLI projects.

Graphical User Interface (GUI): A Graphical User Interface (GUI) is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through visual indicators and graphical icons rather than text-based commands. It makes software more intuitive and easier to use, especially for tasks that might be complex using command-line interfaces.

The Vue CLI GUI simplifies several key aspects of project management:

• Project Creation: Visually create new Vue CLI projects, selecting presets and features through an interactive interface.
• Plugin Management: Easily browse, install, and manage plugins for your projects without using command-line commands.
• Dependency Management: View and manage project dependencies, adding or removing packages through a visual interface.
• Project Configuration: Access and modify project settings and configurations through a graphical interface, making project customization more accessible.

The GUI makes Vue CLI 3 more approachable for developers of all experience levels and provides a convenient alternative to command-line operations for common project management tasks.

This chapter has provided an overview of the key new features and changes introduced in Vue CLI version 3. The following sections will delve deeper into each of these features, providing practical examples and guidance on how to effectively utilize Vue CLI 3 in your Vue.js development workflow.

Chapter 1: Getting Started with Vue CLI - Setting Up Your Development Environment

This chapter will guide you through the process of installing and utilizing the Vue CLI (Command Line Interface) to create new Vue.js projects. Vue CLI is a powerful tool that streamlines project setup and management, making it an essential part of modern Vue.js development workflows.

1. Prerequisites: Node.js Installation

Before installing Vue CLI, you need to ensure that Node.js is installed on your computer. Node.js is a crucial prerequisite as it provides the JavaScript runtime environment necessary for Vue CLI and its associated tools to function.

Node.js: Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to execute JavaScript code outside of a web browser. It’s essential for modern web development tooling and package management systems like npm.

Vue CLI requires Node.js version 8.9 or above. To check the version of Node.js currently installed on your system, open your command line interface (terminal or command prompt) and type the following command:

node -v

This command will display the installed Node.js version. If your version is below 8.9, or if Node.js is not installed at all, you will need to download and install the latest version (or version 8.9 or higher) from the official Node.js website: nodejs.org. Follow the installation instructions provided on the website for your operating system.

2. Uninstalling Previous Versions of Vue CLI (Optional)

If you have previously installed an older version of Vue CLI (often referred to as Vue CLI 2), it is recommended to uninstall it before proceeding with the installation of the new Vue CLI (Vue CLI 3 and above). While not strictly mandatory, uninstalling the older version can prevent potential conflicts and ensure a clean installation.

To uninstall the old Vue CLI, use the following command in your command line interface:

npm uninstall -g vue-cli

Let’s break down this command:

• npm: This refers to npm, the Node Package Manager. npm is the default package manager for Node.js and is used to install and manage JavaScript packages and libraries.

  npm (Node Package Manager): npm is the default package manager for Node.js. It is used to install, manage, and share JavaScript packages and libraries, making it a cornerstone of JavaScript development.

• uninstall: This is an npm command that removes a specified package.

• -g: This is a flag that stands for “global”. When used with npm uninstall, it specifies that you want to uninstall a package that was installed globally on your system, making it accessible from any project.

  -g (global flag in npm): In npm commands, the -g flag signifies a global operation. When used with install or uninstall, it affects packages installed system-wide, rather than within a specific project.

• vue-cli: This is the name of the older Vue CLI package that you are uninstalling.

  vue-cli: Vue CLI (Command Line Interface) is a command-line tool used for quickly scaffolding and managing Vue.js projects. It simplifies project setup and provides features for development, building, and testing Vue.js applications.

After running this command, npm will uninstall the old Vue CLI from your system.

3. Installing the New Vue CLI

With Node.js installed and any previous versions of Vue CLI optionally uninstalled, you can now install the new Vue CLI. The installation command utilizes scoped notation, a modern approach to package management within npm.

To install the new Vue CLI, execute the following command in your command line interface:

npm install -g @vue/cli

Let’s examine the components of this command:

• npm install: This is the npm command for installing packages.

• -g: As explained earlier, the -g flag indicates a global installation.

• @vue/cli: This is the name of the new Vue CLI package, employing scoped notation.

  scoped notation: Scoped notation in npm is a way of grouping related packages under a common namespace, typically associated with an organization or author. It uses the @ symbol followed by the scope name, like @vue/cli.

  scope (in scoped notation): In npm scoped notation, a scope is a namespace used to organize and group related packages. It helps prevent naming conflicts and clarifies package origins, often representing an organization or project. In @vue/cli, vue is the scope.

The use of @vue/cli signifies that this package belongs to the vue scope, indicating it’s officially maintained by the Vue.js team. This helps to distinguish it from potentially similarly named packages and ensures you are installing the correct and official Vue CLI.

After running this command, npm will download and install the new Vue CLI globally on your system. This may take a few moments depending on your internet connection.

4. Creating a New Vue Project

Once the new Vue CLI is successfully installed, you can use it to create new Vue.js projects. To do this, navigate in your command line interface to the directory where you want to create your project folder. Then, use the following command:

vue create project-name

Replace project-name with the desired name for your project. For example, to create a project named “ninja-defaults”, you would use:

vue create ninja-defaults

Upon executing this command, Vue CLI will present you with a set of options for project creation. These options are presented as presets, pre-configured sets of features and settings that streamline project setup.

preset (in Vue CLI project creation): In Vue CLI, a preset is a pre-configured set of options and plugins for setting up a new Vue.js project. It simplifies project creation by offering common configurations, such as default presets with essential tools or custom presets tailored to specific needs.

You will typically see options like:

• Default ([Vue 3] babel, eslint) (or Default ([Vue 2] babel, eslint) depending on your Vue CLI version): This is a default preset that includes Babel and ESLint.

  Babel: Babel is a JavaScript compiler that transforms modern JavaScript (ES6+) code into backward-compatible JavaScript that can run in older browsers. It allows developers to use the latest JavaScript features while ensuring broad browser support.

  ESLint: ESLint is a popular JavaScript linting tool used to identify and report on patterns found in ECMAScript/JavaScript code. It helps maintain code quality and consistency by enforcing coding standards and catching potential errors.

• Default (Vue 2) or Default (Vue 3) (if you have a choice of Vue version)

• Manually select features: This option allows you to customize the features included in your project, such as choosing different linters, testing frameworks, and more.

For a basic setup, selecting the Default preset is often a good starting point. Choose the Default preset option by using the arrow keys to navigate and pressing Enter to select it. Vue CLI will then proceed to generate your project in the specified directory, downloading necessary dependencies and configuring the project based on the chosen preset. This process may take a few minutes.

5. Examining the Generated Project Structure

Once the project creation process is complete, Vue CLI will provide instructions on how to navigate into your newly created project directory and start a development server. However, before doing so, let’s examine the structure of the generated project to understand the basic components.

The generated project structure will be similar to projects created with older versions of Vue CLI, ensuring a degree of familiarity for those upgrading. Key folders and files include:

• public folder: This folder contains publicly accessible assets, most notably index.html, which is the main HTML file for your application.

• src folder: This is the core source code directory for your Vue.js application and contains:

  • assets: This folder is typically used to store assets like images and other static files used by your components.
  • components: This folder is where you will store your reusable Vue.js components.
  • App.vue: This is the root component of your application, serving as the entry point for your Vue.js component tree.
  • main.js: This is the main JavaScript file that initializes your Vue.js application and mounts the root component.

• .gitignore file: This file is used by Git, a version control system, to specify intentionally untracked files that Git should ignore. Vue CLI automatically initializes a local Git repository for your project.

• babel.config.js: This file configures Babel for your project. Babel is responsible for transpiling modern JavaScript code into code compatible with older browsers. It often utilizes polyfills to provide missing features in older environments.

  polyfills: Polyfills are code snippets that provide functionality that is not natively available in older browsers. They “fill in the gaps” by implementing features from newer JavaScript standards, ensuring compatibility across different environments.

  The default Babel preset is configured to automatically apply necessary polyfills based on your project’s source code and the browser targets specified in the browserslist configuration.

• package.json: This file is a crucial part of any Node.js project. It contains metadata about your project, including dependencies, scripts, and configuration settings.

  dependencies (in package.json): In package.json, dependencies list the JavaScript packages and libraries that a project requires to function correctly. These are external modules that the project relies upon and are managed by npm.

  Opening package.json and examining the dependencies section, you will notice entries like @vue/cli-plugin-babel and @vue/cli-plugin-eslint. These are plugins included in the default preset.

  plugins (in Vue CLI): In Vue CLI, plugins are extensions that add new features and capabilities to your Vue.js projects. They can integrate tools like Babel and ESLint, or provide more advanced functionalities, extending the base capabilities of Vue CLI.

  These plugins provide the Babel and ESLint functionalities to your project. Vue CLI utilizes a plugin-based architecture to extend its capabilities. You will also find an entry for @vue/cli-service, which represents the CLI service.

  CLI service: Vue CLI Service is a built-in development and build toolchain provided by Vue CLI. It handles tasks like running a development server, building production-ready bundles, and managing project dependencies, streamlining the development process.

  Scrolling further down in package.json, you will find a browserslist section.

  browserslist: Browserslist is a configuration used by front-end tools like Babel and Autoprefixer to determine the browsers that your project needs to support. It allows developers to specify target browsers, enabling tools to optimize code and apply necessary polyfills or vendor prefixes accordingly.

  This section specifies the browsers your application needs to support. This information is used by Babel to determine necessary polyfills and by autoprefixer to add vendor prefixes to CSS properties where needed.

  autoprefixer: Autoprefixer is a PostCSS plugin that automatically adds vendor prefixes to CSS rules, ensuring cross-browser compatibility. It uses Browserslist to determine which prefixes are needed for the specified target browsers.

  vendor prefixes (in CSS): Vendor prefixes are prefixes added to CSS properties to ensure they work correctly in specific browsers before full standardization. For example, -webkit- for Chrome and Safari, or -moz- for Firefox.

  CSS properties: CSS properties are attributes in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) that define the styling and visual presentation of HTML elements. Examples include color, font-size, and margin.

6. Next Steps

This chapter has covered the installation of Vue CLI and the creation of a new Vue.js project. In the next chapter, we will delve deeper into the CLI service and explore how to use it to serve your application on a local development server, allowing you to preview and develop your Vue.js project interactively.

Understanding Vue CLI Service: A Developer’s Toolkit

This chapter delves into the Vue CLI service, a powerful tool that streamlines Vue.js development workflows. We will explore its role in managing development servers, building applications for production, and integrating essential development plugins.

Introduction to Vue CLI Service

When you initiate a new Vue project using the Vue CLI, a crucial component is included: the CLI service. This service acts as a central command-line interface, providing a suite of tools and commands essential for various stages of Vue.js project development.

CLI service: In the context of Vue CLI, this refers to the @vue/cli-service package. It’s a development dependency that provides commands and functionalities for building, serving, and inspecting Vue.js applications.

To understand its presence in your project, navigate to the project directory and examine the package.json file.

Examining package.json: Unveiling Dependencies

The package.json file is a fundamental part of any Node.js project, including Vue.js projects. It serves as a manifest file, containing metadata about the project, including a list of its dependencies.

package.json: A JSON file in the root directory of a Node.js project that describes the project’s dependencies, scripts, name, version, and other metadata. It is essential for managing project dependencies and scripts in Node.js environments.

Within the package.json file, you will find a section dedicated to dependencies or devDependencies. Locate and identify the @vue/cli-service entry. This entry signifies that the Vue CLI service is a dependency of your project.

Dependency: In software development, a dependency is an external component, library, or package that a project relies on to function correctly. package.json lists these dependencies for a Node.js project, allowing package managers to install them.

The Vue CLI Service Binary: Empowering Your Commands

The installation of @vue/cli-service introduces a binary to your project, named vue-cli-service.

Binary: In computing, a binary refers to a file that contains executable code in a format that can be directly understood and run by a computer’s processor. In this context, vue-cli-service is an executable program that provides various functionalities.

This binary is the engine behind the commands you use to interact with your Vue project for development and build processes. It is installed within your project’s node_modules/.bin directory, making it accessible within your project’s scripts and command-line environment.

Core Functionalities of Vue CLI Service

The Vue CLI service provides a range of functionalities, accessible through commands executed via the vue-cli-service binary. These functionalities include:

• Spinning up a Local Development Server: For real-time preview and development of your application.
• Building the Application for Production: Preparing optimized and production-ready files for deployment.
• Inspecting the Webpack Configuration: Examining and understanding the underlying build configuration.
• Integrating Third-Party Plugins: Allowing plugins to extend the CLI service with additional commands and functionalities.

Webpack config file: Webpack is a module bundler used in Vue CLI projects. Its configuration file (webpack.config.js or often managed by Vue CLI) dictates how Webpack bundles and processes project assets.

Third-party plug-ins: Extensible modules created by developers outside the core Vue CLI team. These plugins enhance Vue CLI functionality, adding features like linting, testing, and more.

Utilizing Vue CLI Service Commands

You interact with the Vue CLI service by invoking commands in your terminal. The general structure for directly using the binary is:

vue-cli-service <command-name> [options]

For example, to start a local development server, you would use:

vue-cli-service serve

Streamlining Commands with npm run Scripts

While you can directly use vue-cli-service, a more convenient and commonly used approach is to leverage npm scripts defined within your package.json file.

npm run: A command in Node Package Manager (npm) that executes scripts defined in the scripts section of a package.json file. It provides a standardized way to run common development tasks.

In a Vue CLI project, package.json typically includes pre-configured scripts in the "scripts" section. These scripts often wrap Vue CLI service commands, making them shorter and easier to remember.

For instance, instead of typing vue-cli-service serve, you can use the npm script:

npm run serve

This works because the package.json file usually contains a “serve” script that is pre-configured to execute vue-cli-service serve. Similarly, you’ll find scripts for “build” and other common commands.

Example: Starting a Local Development Server (npm run serve)

Let’s walk through starting a local development server using npm run serve.

1. Open your terminal: Navigate to the root directory of your Vue project in your terminal.

2. Execute the command: Type npm run serve and press Enter.

   This command will initiate the Vue CLI service to start a local development server.

   Development server: A server, often running on your local machine, that serves your web application during development. It typically provides features like hot-reloading and proxying to facilitate a smooth development experience.

3. Access the application: Once the server is running, the terminal will display a URL (usually http://localhost:8080 or similar). Control-click (or Cmd-click on macOS) on this link to open your application in a web browser.

   You should now see your Vue.js application running in the browser, served from your local development server.

Hot-Reloading: Real-time Updates during Development

A key advantage of using a development server is hot-reloading.

Auto reload: Also known as hot-reloading or live-reloading, this feature automatically refreshes the web browser whenever changes are detected in the project’s code files during development. This allows developers to see code changes reflected in the browser instantly without manual refreshes.

If you make changes to your Vue.js code (e.g., in .vue files, JavaScript files, or CSS files) while the development server is running, the server will automatically detect these changes and update the application in your browser in near real-time, without requiring a full page refresh. This significantly speeds up the development process by providing immediate feedback on code modifications.

Exploring Linting with ESLint (npm run lint)

Many Vue CLI projects come pre-configured with ESLint, a popular linting tool for JavaScript and Vue.js code.

ESLint: A widely used JavaScript and JSX/TSX linting utility. It helps identify and report on patterns found in ECMAScript/JavaScript code, with the goal of making code more consistent and avoiding bugs.

Linting: The process of using a static code analysis tool (like ESLint) to identify potential errors, stylistic issues, and deviations from coding standards in source code. Linting helps improve code quality and maintainability.

ESLint can be integrated with the Vue CLI service through a plugin, adding a lint command to your project’s scripts. You can typically run ESLint using the npm run lint script.

npm run lint

Executing this command will:

1. Run ESLint on your project’s codebase.

2. Analyze your code for potential errors and style violations according to the configured ESLint rules.

3. Log any identified linting errors or warnings in your terminal’s console.

   Console: In a command-line interface (CLI) or a web browser’s developer tools, the console is a text-based interface used for displaying output, messages, and errors. In this context, the terminal console is where linting errors are reported.

If ESLint finds any issues, they will be displayed in the terminal, pinpointing the location and nature of the problem in your code. Addressing these linting errors is crucial for maintaining code quality and consistency.

Building for Production (npm run build)

While the transcript briefly mentions the build command, it’s essential to understand its purpose. When you are ready to deploy your Vue.js application for public access, you need to build it for production.

Production: The environment where the final, deployed version of a software application runs and is accessible to end-users. Production builds are typically optimized for performance and security, unlike development builds.

The npm run build script (or vue-cli-service build) is used to compile and optimize your Vue.js application into a set of static files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and assets) ready for deployment to a web server. This build process typically involves:

• Code minification: Reducing the size of JavaScript and CSS files to improve loading speed.
• Asset optimization: Optimizing images and other assets.
• Code bundling: Combining and packaging code for efficient delivery.

The output of the build process is usually placed in a dist (distribution) folder in your project directory. This dist folder contains the production-ready files that you can deploy to a web server to make your application live.

Conclusion: Vue CLI Service as Your Central Tool

The Vue CLI service is an indispensable tool for Vue.js developers. It simplifies common development tasks, provides a streamlined workflow, and integrates essential functionalities like development servers, build processes, and linting. By understanding and utilizing the Vue CLI service and its commands, you can significantly enhance your Vue.js development experience and build robust and efficient applications.

Creating Custom Vue.js Projects with Vue CLI

1. Introduction: Customizing Vue.js Project Setup

In previous lessons, we explored how to quickly set up a Vue.js project using pre-configured presets. These presets, like the one including Babel and ESLint, offer a streamlined approach to project initialization. However, Vue CLI (Command Line Interface) also provides the flexibility to customize project features, allowing developers to select specific functionalities and even create their own reusable presets. This chapter will guide you through the process of creating a Vue.js project with manually selected features and saving a custom preset for future use.

2. Initiating a New Project with Manual Feature Selection

To begin creating a custom Vue.js project, we first need to navigate to the desired directory in our command line interface. To move up one directory level from the current location, we use the command cd ... This ensures we are at a suitable location to create a new project folder.

Once in the correct directory, we use the Vue CLI command vue create followed by the desired project name. In this example, we will name our project “ninja-custom” to clearly indicate that it will be a custom project.

Vue CLI (Command Line Interface): A command-line tool that provides a suite of features for quickly scaffolding and managing Vue.js projects. It simplifies project setup, development, and deployment.

Therefore, the command to initiate our custom project is:

vue create ninja-custom

Upon executing this command, Vue CLI presents us with options for project setup. Instead of selecting a pre-made preset, we choose the option to “Manually select features.” This option allows us to precisely define the features we want to include in our project.

3. Feature Selection and Configuration

Selecting Features

Choosing “Manually select features” in the Vue CLI prompts a list of available features. We can navigate through this list using the arrow keys and select or deselect features using the spacebar. Common features include:

• Babel:

  Babel: A JavaScript compiler that allows developers to use the latest JavaScript features in their code while ensuring compatibility with older browsers. It transforms modern JavaScript code into a backward-compatible version.

• ESLint:

  ESLint: A popular JavaScript linter used to identify and report on patterns found in ECMAScript/JavaScript code. Linters help maintain code quality and consistency by enforcing coding standards and detecting potential errors.

• Router: Enables navigation between different views or pages within a single-page application.
• Vuex:

  Vuex: A state management pattern + library for Vue.js applications. It serves as a centralized store for all the components in an application, with rules ensuring that the state can only be mutated in a predictable fashion.

• CSS Pre-processors:

  CSS Pre-processors: Tools that extend the capabilities of standard CSS, allowing developers to use features like variables, nesting, mixins, and functions. They compile pre-processor syntax into standard CSS that browsers can understand.

For this example, we will select “Router,” “Vuex,” and “CSS Pre-processors” alongside Babel and ESLint, which are often considered essential. After selecting the desired features, press Enter to proceed with the configuration.

Configuration Questions

Based on the selected features, Vue CLI will ask a series of configuration questions to tailor the project setup further.

• Use history mode for router? This question pertains to the Vue Router. Selecting “Yes” enables history mode, which provides clean URLs without hash fragments (e.g., example.com/about instead of example.com/#/about).

  History Mode (Router): A Vue Router mode that utilizes the browser’s history API to achieve navigation without page reloads and with clean URLs. It requires server-side configuration to handle direct access to routes.

• Pick a CSS pre-processor: If “CSS Pre-processors” is selected, you will be prompted to choose a specific pre-processor. Options might include:

  • Sass/SCSS:

    Sass/SCSS (Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets): A powerful CSS pre-processor that adds features like variables, nesting, mixins, and functions to CSS. SCSS is a syntax of Sass that is CSS-compatible.

  • Less
  • Stylus

  For this example, we will choose “Sass/SCSS.”

• Pick a linter / formatter config: If “ESLint” is selected, you can choose from various linting configurations. Common options include:

  • ESLint with recommended settings
  • ESLint with Airbnb config
  • ESLint with Standard config
  • ESLint with Prettier

  We will select “ESLint with recommended settings” for this example.

• Pick lint features: Further linting options may include:

  • Lint on save: Lints your code every time you save a file during development.
  • Lint and fix on commit: Lints and attempts to automatically fix linting errors when you commit changes using Git.

  We will choose “Lint on save.”

• Where do you prefer placing config for Babel, PostCSS, ESLint, etc.? This question asks where configuration files for tools like Babel, PostCSS, and ESLint should be placed.

  • In dedicated config files: Creates separate configuration files (e.g., babel.config.js, .eslintrc.js) at the project root.

  • In package.json: Embeds configurations directly within the package.json file.

  package.json: A file at the root of a Node.js project that contains metadata about the project, including dependencies, scripts, and configuration information. It is essential for managing Node.js projects and their dependencies.

  We will choose “In dedicated config files” to keep our project structure organized.

Saving a Custom Preset

Finally, Vue CLI asks “Save this as a preset for future projects?” If you select “Yes,” you will be prompted to name this preset. This allows you to quickly recreate projects with the same feature configuration in the future, bypassing the manual selection process.

We will select “Yes” and name our preset “ninja-custom-preset.” Press Enter to save the preset and proceed with project creation.

4. Project Structure of a Custom Vue.js Project

After answering all configuration questions, Vue CLI will proceed to create the project with the selected features and configurations. This process may take a few minutes. Once completed, you will have a new project directory named “ninja-custom.”

Directory Overview

Navigating into the “ninja-custom” directory reveals a project structure similar to projects created with pre-made presets, but with additional elements reflecting our custom feature selections. Key directories and files include:

• public directory:

  public directory: In a Vue.js project created with Vue CLI, the public directory serves as a place for static assets that should be served directly without being processed by Webpack. It typically contains index.html and other static files like favicons or robots.txt. Contains index.html, the main HTML file for the application, and other public assets.

• src folder:

  src folder (source folder): The primary directory in a Vue.js project where the application’s source code resides. It typically contains components, views, assets, and the main application entry point (main.js). Contains the source code of your Vue.js application.

• Dedicated Configuration Files: Files like babel.config.js, .eslintrc.js, and postcss.config.js are present in the project root because we chose to place configurations in dedicated files. These files allow for fine-grained control over the configuration of each tool.

Source Folder and Views

Inside the src folder, you will notice some structural differences compared to a basic preset project, primarily due to the inclusion of Vue Router.

• views directory:

  views directory: A convention in Vue.js projects, particularly when using Vue Router, to organize components that represent different pages or routes of the application. Views are often top-level components associated with specific URLs. A new directory named views is created. This directory typically houses components that represent different “pages” or views of your application, such as Home.vue and About.vue. This structure is a convention often used with Vue Router to separate page-level components from reusable components.

• components directory: Contains reusable Vue components that are not specific to any particular view or route. These components can be used across different views and other components.

Router Configuration

The inclusion of Vue Router results in the creation of a router directory (or a router/index.js file directly within src depending on Vue CLI version). Inside this directory, you will find index.js (or a similarly named file), which configures the Vue Router instance.

This file typically includes:

• Import statements: Importing necessary modules from vue-router and your view components.
• Vue.use(Router): Registering the Vue Router plugin with Vue.js.
• Router instantiation: Creating a new Router instance with configuration options.
  • mode: 'history': Enables history mode for clean URLs.
  • base: Specifies the base URL for the application if it is served under a sub-path.
  • routes array: Defines the application’s routes. Each route object maps a path to a component.

The routes array demonstrates route definitions for “Home” and “About” views. Importantly, it illustrates lazy loading for components.

Lazy Loading: A technique in web development where resources (like JavaScript modules or components) are loaded only when they are needed, rather than all at once during the initial page load. This can significantly improve initial load times and application performance.

Lazy loading is implemented using dynamic import() statements within the component property of a route definition. This ensures that a component is only loaded when the user navigates to its associated route, improving initial load performance.

Vuex Integration

If Vuex was selected, a store directory (or store/index.js file) will be created, containing the basic setup for Vuex state management. The store/index.js file will typically include:

• Import statements: Importing Vue and Vuex.
• Vue.use(Vuex): Registering the Vuex plugin.
• export default new Vuex.Store(...): Creating and exporting a new Vuex Store instance.

This provides a boilerplate structure for Vuex, ready for you to define your application’s state, mutations, actions, and getters.

Boilerplate: A set of pre-written code or configurations that provides a starting point for a project or a specific functionality. It is designed to be reusable and save developers from writing repetitive code from scratch.

5. Running the Custom Project

To run the newly created custom project in a browser, navigate into the project directory “ninja-custom” in your command line using cd ninja-custom. Then, use the command npm run serve to start the development server.

cd ninja-custom
npm run serve

npm run serve: A command commonly used in Vue.js projects (and other Node.js projects) that is defined in the package.json file under the scripts section. It typically starts a local development server, often using tools like vue-cli-service serve, to run the application during development.

This command will compile your application and start a local development server.

Local Development Server: A server that runs on your local machine and serves web application files during development. It typically provides features like hot-reloading, allowing you to see changes in your code reflected in the browser automatically without manual refreshes.

The command output will provide a URL (usually http://localhost:8080 or similar). You can access this URL in your web browser to view your running Vue.js application. You will observe that the application now has routing functionality, allowing navigation between the “Home” and “About” pages, as configured by Vue Router.

6. Benefits of Custom Presets

The process we have followed demonstrates the power of Vue CLI’s manual feature selection and custom preset creation. By manually selecting features, we gain precise control over the functionalities included in our Vue.js projects. Saving these configurations as custom presets further streamlines project setup for future projects requiring the same feature set.

For instance, examining the App.vue component, the root component of the application, you will notice that the <style> tag is configured to use Sass, as we selected Sass/SCSS as our CSS pre-processor.

App.vue: The root component in a typical Vue.js application created with Vue CLI. It serves as the main container for the application and often includes the <router-view> component for displaying routed views.

style tag: An HTML tag used to embed CSS styles directly within an HTML document or a Vue.js component. In Vue.js components with <style scoped>, styles are applied only to the elements within that component.

This highlights how Vue CLI seamlessly integrates selected features, setting up the necessary configurations behind the scenes, allowing developers to focus on building their application logic. Custom presets significantly enhance development efficiency by eliminating repetitive configuration steps and ensuring consistent project setups across multiple projects.

Enhancing Vue.js Projects with Plugins

This chapter explores the concept of plugins in Vue.js and how they can be used to extend the functionality of your Vue.js projects. We will cover what plugins are, how they are structured, and how to add them to existing projects to enhance their capabilities.

Introduction to Vue.js Plugins

When building Vue.js applications, you often start with a base setup that provides core functionalities. This initial setup, as seen in projects created with the Vue CLI, typically includes essential configurations like:

• View Routes: For navigation within your application.
• Vuex (State Management): For managing application state.
• Basic Project Structure: Including directories for components, assets, etc.

However, as your project evolves, you might need to add more features or modify the existing setup. Vue.js plugins provide a powerful mechanism to inject new functionalities and customizations into your project, even after it has been initially created.

Directory: A folder or container in a file system used to organize files and other directories.

Project: A structured collection of files and directories that make up a software application or website.

View Routes: Configuration that maps URLs to specific components in a Vue.js application, defining navigation within the application.

Vuex (Vue X): A state management pattern and library for Vue.js applications, used to manage shared state across components.

Understanding Vue.js Plugins

Plugins in Vue.js are essentially packages that extend the core capabilities of your Vue.js application. They are similar to regular project dependencies, but with added powers.

Plugins: In Vue.js, plugins are extensions that add global-level functionality to Vue. They can add components, directives, filters, and more.

Dependencies: External libraries or packages that a project relies on to function correctly. These are usually managed by package managers like npm or yarn.

Here’s what makes Vue.js plugins special:

• Configuration Modification: Plugins can modify your project’s underlying configuration, such as its webpack settings. This allows for deep-level customizations that go beyond simply adding libraries.

  Webpack: A static module bundler for modern JavaScript applications. It takes modules with dependencies and generates static assets representing those modules.

• Source Code Manipulation: Plugins can directly alter your project’s source code, including:

  • Components: Modifying or adding new Vue components.

  • Templates: Changing the structure and content of your Vue component templates.

  Source Code: The human-readable instructions written in a programming language that form the basis of a software program.

  Components: Reusable and self-contained building blocks in Vue.js applications. They encapsulate HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create UI elements.

  Templates: HTML-based structures within Vue.js components that define the component’s user interface.

• Vue CLI Service Extension: Plugins can add extra commands to the Vue CLI service, providing custom utilities and workflows directly within your Vue development environment.

  CLI Service (Vue CLI Service): A command-line interface tool provided by Vue CLI that offers commands for developing, building, and serving Vue.js applications.

In essence, you can think of plugins as “supercharged” packages. They are more than just typical dependencies; they have the ability to deeply integrate and customize your Vue.js project at a configuration and source code level.

Packages: Bundles of code and resources, often libraries or modules, distributed for use in software development.

Plugin Naming Convention

Vue.js plugins follow a specific naming convention to distinguish them from regular dependencies. This convention is important when identifying and adding plugins to your project.

Naming Convention: A set of rules for choosing names for identifiers (like variables, functions, classes, files) in programming to improve code readability and maintainability.

If you examine your project’s package.json file, you will notice that plugin dependencies adhere to this pattern:

cli-plugin-<plugin-name>

For example, common Vue CLI plugins like Babel and ESLint follow this convention:

• @vue/cli-plugin-babel
• @vue/cli-plugin-eslint

package.json: A JSON file in a Node.js project that contains metadata about the project, including dependencies, scripts, and version information.

When searching for or adding plugins, remember to look for this cli-plugin- prefix to ensure you are using a valid Vue CLI plugin.

Adding Plugins to Your Vue.js Project

To add a plugin to your Vue.js project, you use the Vue CLI command: vue add.

Command: An instruction given to a computer program or operating system to perform a specific task.

The general syntax is:

vue add <plugin-name>

Crucially, when using the vue add command, you only specify the <plugin-name> part of the plugin’s full name, without the cli-plugin- prefix.

For instance, to add the Babel plugin, you would use:

vue add babel

Similarly, to add ESLint, you would use:

vue add eslint

Example: Adding the Beautify Plugin

Let’s illustrate adding a plugin with a practical example. We will add the “Beautify” plugin, which integrates the Material Design component library, Vuetify, into your Vue.js project. Vuetify helps you quickly build visually appealing interfaces with a Material Design look and feel.

Material Design: A design language developed by Google that emphasizes a grid-based layout, responsive animations and transitions, padding, and depth effects such as lighting and shadows.

To add the Beautify plugin, use the following command:

vue add beautify

After running this command, the Vue CLI will prompt you with configuration options specific to the Beautify plugin. These options might include presets or custom configuration choices.

Preset: A predefined set of options or configurations that can be applied to simplify setup or customization.

For this example, we will choose the default preset. The Vue CLI will then proceed to install and configure the Beautify plugin in your project.

During the installation process, you will observe messages in your console indicating which files are being modified or added by the plugin. This is a key characteristic of plugins – their ability to directly alter your project files.

Console: A text-based interface used for displaying output and receiving input, often used for debugging and logging in web development tools.

Effects of the Beautify Plugin

After successfully adding the Beautify plugin, you will notice changes throughout your project. Plugins can modify various aspects, including:

• Component Templates: The Beautify plugin, for example, updates the templates of your existing components (like HelloWorld.vue and Home.vue) to use Vuetify components and syntax. This demonstrates how plugins can alter your component structure and appearance.

  Syntax: The set of rules that define the structure of a language, in this case, the rules for writing code in Vue.js components, including HTML templates.

• main.js Modification: Plugins often need to be initialized within your main application entry point (main.js). The Beautify plugin, for instance, imports and registers Vuetify in main.js using Vue.use(Vuetify). This makes Vuetify components available throughout your application.

  Import: In programming, to bring code or modules from one file or module into another file so it can be used in the current file.

• Visual Changes in the Browser: When you run your application in the browser after adding the Beautify plugin (using npm run serve), you will see a noticeable visual transformation. The application will now adopt the Material Design styling provided by Vuetify, reflecting the changes made to your components.

  Browser: A software application used to access and view websites on the internet.

NPM run serve: A command, typically executed in a Node.js project using npm, that starts a development server to run and test the application locally.

Plugin Folder and view use

You might also observe a new plugin folder in your project structure after adding a plugin. This folder often contains plugin-specific configurations or files. In the case of Beautify, you may see a folder related to Vuetify.

Plugin Folder: A directory within a project structure dedicated to storing plugin-related files and configurations.

Furthermore, the mention of “view use” in the context of plugins refers to the Vue.use() method in Vue.js. This method is used to install and apply a plugin to your Vue application instance, enabling the plugin’s functionality.

View Use: A Vue.js method used to install and apply a plugin to a Vue application instance.

Conclusion

Vue.js plugins offer a powerful and flexible way to extend the functionality of your Vue.js projects. They go beyond simple dependencies by allowing deep modifications to your project’s configuration and source code. By using the vue add command and understanding the plugin naming convention, you can easily integrate a wide range of features and customizations into your Vue.js applications, enhancing their capabilities and streamlining your development workflow.

Deploying Vue.js Applications with Firebase Hosting: A Step-by-Step Guide

This chapter provides a comprehensive guide on deploying Vue.js applications to production using Firebase Hosting. Firebase Hosting is a fast, secure, and reliable hosting service provided by Google, ideal for single-page applications and static websites. This guide will walk you through the necessary steps, from setting up a Firebase project to deploying your Vue.js application.

1. Setting Up Firebase

Before deploying your Vue.js application, you need to set up a Firebase project. Firebase provides a suite of tools and services for building and deploying web and mobile applications.

1.1 Creating a Firebase Account

The first step is to create a Firebase account. If you already have a Google account, you can use it to sign up for Firebase.

• Navigate to the Firebase website.
• Click on “Get started” or “Go to console”.
• Sign in with your Google account or create a new one.
• Firebase offers a free tier, which is sufficient for learning and small projects.

1.2 Creating a New Firebase Project

Once you are logged into the Firebase console, you need to create a new project for your Vue.js application.

• In the Firebase console, click on “Add project”.
• Enter a project name. For example, “vue-cli-firebase-deploy”. Choose a name that is descriptive and easy to remember.
• Accept the Firebase terms and click “Continue”.
• You may be prompted to configure Google Analytics for your project. For this deployment guide, Google Analytics is optional and can be skipped. Click “Continue” or “Create project” as prompted.
• Firebase will take a few moments to create your project. Once completed, click “Continue” to proceed to your project dashboard.

2. Installing Firebase Tools

To interact with Firebase from your local development environment, you need to install the Firebase Command Line Interface (CLI) tools.

2.1 Installing Firebase CLI

The Firebase CLI allows you to deploy your application, manage your Firebase project, and perform other Firebase-related tasks from your terminal.

• Open your terminal or command prompt.

• Run the following command to install Firebase tools globally using npm (Node Package Manager):

  npm install -g firebase-tools

  npm (Node Package Manager)
  A package manager for JavaScript, included with Node.js. It is used to install and manage project dependencies and tools. The `-g` flag in the command installs the package globally, making it accessible from any directory in your terminal.

• This command installs firebase-tools globally on your system, allowing you to use the firebase command from any directory. You only need to install Firebase tools once.

3. Initializing Firebase in Your Vue.js Project

After installing Firebase tools, you need to initialize Firebase within your Vue.js project directory. This step connects your local project to your Firebase project in the cloud.

3.1 Navigating to Your Project Directory

Ensure you are in the root directory of your Vue.js project in your terminal. This is the directory where your package.json file and src folder are located.

3.2 Initializing Firebase Project

Run the following command in your project directory to initialize Firebase:

firebase init

• The firebase init command starts the Firebase initialization process.
• You will be prompted to select Firebase features to set up for your project. Use the arrow keys to navigate and the spacebar to select.
• For deploying a Vue.js application, you only need Hosting. Select “Hosting: Configure and deploy Firebase Hosting sites” by pressing the spacebar when it is highlighted, and then press Enter.
• Next, you will be asked to select a Firebase project. Choose the project you created in the Firebase console (e.g., “vue-cli-firebase-deploy”) from the list using the arrow keys and press Enter.

3.3 Configuring Hosting Settings

After selecting your project, you need to configure hosting settings.

• Public directory: Firebase will ask “What do you want to use as your public directory?“. This directory contains the files that will be deployed to Firebase Hosting. For Vue.js applications built with Vue CLI, the production-ready files are located in the dist folder. Enter dist and press Enter.

  dist directory
  Short for 'distribution', this directory is commonly used in web development to store the production-ready build output of an application, containing optimized and bundled files ready for deployment.

• Configure as a single-page app: Firebase will ask “Configure as a single-page app (SPA)?“. Vue.js applications are typically single-page applications. Type y for yes and press Enter. This configuration ensures that client-side routing works correctly in your Vue.js application.

• Overwrite index.html: You may be asked “File dist/index.html already exists. Overwrite?“. If you haven’t built your Vue.js application yet, this file might be a default placeholder created by Firebase. It is safe to answer “No” (type n and press Enter) at this stage because the build process will overwrite this file later with your application’s actual index.html.

• After these steps, Firebase initialization is complete. You will see a firebase.json file and a .firebaserc file in your project root directory. These files contain the configuration for your Firebase project.

4. Building Your Vue.js Application for Production

Before deploying, you need to build your Vue.js application for production. This process optimizes your code and bundles all necessary files into the dist directory.

4.1 Using the npm run build Command

Vue CLI provides a built-in script to build your application for production.

• In your terminal, still in your Vue.js project directory, run the following command:

  npm run build

  npm run build
  This command executes the 'build' script defined in your project's `package.json` file. In a Vue CLI project, this script typically uses the Vue CLI build tool to compile and optimize your application for production, placing the output in the 'dist' directory.

• This command will start the build process. Vue CLI will compile your components, optimize assets, and generate production-ready files in the dist directory.

• Once the build is complete, you will see a message in the terminal indicating that the dist directory is ready for deployment.

5. Deploying to Firebase Hosting

With your application built and the Firebase project initialized, you are now ready to deploy your Vue.js application to Firebase Hosting.

5.1 Logging into Firebase (If Not Already Logged In)

If you haven’t logged into Firebase through the CLI recently, you might need to log in again.

• Run the following command in your terminal:

  firebase login

• This command will open a browser window where you can log in to your Firebase account using your Google credentials. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the login process.

5.2 Deploying Your Application

To deploy your application to Firebase Hosting, use the firebase deploy command.

• In your terminal, in your Vue.js project directory, run the following command:

  firebase deploy --only hosting

  firebase deploy --only hosting
  This command instructs the Firebase CLI to deploy the project to Firebase. The `--only hosting` flag specifically targets the Hosting feature, ensuring that only the hosting configurations and files are deployed, rather than other Firebase features that might be enabled in the project.

• The firebase deploy --only hosting command uploads the contents of your dist directory to Firebase Hosting.

• Firebase will provide progress updates in the terminal during the deployment process.

• Once deployment is complete, Firebase will provide a Hosting URL in the terminal. This URL is where your deployed Vue.js application is accessible.

5.3 Accessing Your Deployed Application

After successful deployment, you can access your Vue.js application through the provided Hosting URL.

• Copy the Hosting URL from the terminal output. It will look something like https://<your-project-id>.web.app or https://<your-project-id>.firebaseapp.com.
• Paste this URL into your web browser and press Enter.
• You should now see your deployed Vue.js application live on the internet.

6. Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed your Vue.js application to Firebase Hosting. This chapter has guided you through each step of the process, from setting up Firebase to deploying your application. Firebase Hosting provides a simple and efficient way to host your Vue.js applications, making them accessible to users worldwide. Remember to consult the official Firebase documentation for more advanced configurations and features.

Instant Prototyping with Vue CLI: Rapid Component Development

This chapter introduces instance prototyping in Vue.js, a powerful feature enabled by the Vue CLI that streamlines the development and testing of individual Vue components. Traditionally, creating and previewing a Vue component required setting up a complete Vue project. Instance prototyping eliminates this overhead, allowing developers to quickly mock up and visualize components in isolation, directly from their file system.

Instance Prototyping: A feature in Vue CLI that allows developers to preview and test single Vue components in a web browser without needing a fully configured Vue project. This enables rapid development and iteration on individual components.

The Need for Instance Prototyping

Imagine you have a brilliant idea for a Vue.js component. In the past, to even begin visualizing and testing this component in a browser, you would need to:

• Initialize a new Vue project using the Vue CLI.
• Configure the project with necessary settings and dependencies.
• Create your component within the project structure.
• Run a development server to preview the component in a browser.

This process, while necessary for full applications, can be cumbersome and time-consuming when you simply want to focus on a single component. Instance prototyping offers a significantly faster and more direct approach.

Setting up Global CLI Service for Instant Prototyping

To leverage instance prototyping, you need to install a specific package globally on your computer. This is a one-time setup that extends the capabilities of your Vue CLI installation.

Package: In the context of software development, a package is a bundle of code and resources that can be installed and used to extend the functionality of a program or framework. In JavaScript environments, packages are often managed using package managers like npm or yarn.

The package we need is called @vue/cli-service-global. This package provides the necessary commands to serve and build single Vue components outside of a full project context.

To install it globally, open your command line interface (terminal or command prompt) and execute the following command:

npm install -g @vue/cli-service-global

Let’s break down this command:

• npm: This is the Node Package Manager, a tool used for managing JavaScript packages and dependencies. It is typically installed when you install Node.js.

  Node Package Manager (npm): A package manager for JavaScript, used to install, share, and manage dependencies for Node.js and front-end JavaScript projects. It simplifies the process of adding and updating external libraries and tools in your projects.

• install: This is an npm command that instructs it to install a package.

• -g: This flag stands for “global.” It specifies that the package should be installed globally on your system, making it accessible from any directory in your command line.

• @vue/cli-service-global: This is the name of the specific Vue CLI package we want to install.

  Vue CLI (Command Line Interface): A command-line tool that provides a suite of features for rapidly scaffolding, developing, and managing Vue.js projects. It simplifies project setup, provides a development server, and handles build processes.

After running this command and waiting for the installation to complete, you will have the vue-cli-service-global package installed globally. This adds the serve and build commands to your Vue CLI, which are essential for instance prototyping.

Serving a Single Vue Component

With the global CLI service installed, you can now serve any single Vue component directly from your file system. Let’s illustrate this with an example.

Imagine you have a file named Online.vue in a directory called vue-cli-3. This file contains the code for your Vue component, but it’s not part of a full Vue project with a package.json file or project configuration.

package.json: A file at the root of a Node.js project that contains metadata about the project, including its name, version, dependencies, and scripts. It’s used by npm to manage project dependencies and execute scripts defined in the scripts section.

To preview this Online.vue component in a browser using instance prototyping, navigate to the directory containing the file (vue-cli-3 in this case) in your command line. Then, run the following command:

vue serve Online.vue

• vue serve: This is the command provided by the vue-cli-service-global package. It instructs Vue CLI to start a local development server and serve the specified Vue component.

  Local Development Server: A lightweight web server that runs on your local machine during development. It automatically reloads your application in the browser whenever you make changes to the code, providing a rapid feedback loop during development.

• Online.vue: This is the path to the Vue component file you want to serve.

Upon running this command, Vue CLI will compile your Online.vue component and start a local development server. You will see output in your command line indicating the server address, typically something like http://localhost:8080.

You can then open this address in your web browser to view your component. Any changes you make to the Online.vue file will automatically be reflected in the browser due to the hot-reloading feature of the development server.

Example: Creating an Online Status Indicator Component

Let’s walk through the creation of a simple Vue component to demonstrate instance prototyping in action. We will build a component that displays an online status indicator for a staff member, showing a green light when online and a red light when offline.

1. Component Structure: Template, Script, and Style

Vue components are typically structured into three main sections: template, script, and style. Let’s create these sections in our Online.vue file.

• <template>: This section defines the HTML structure of your component.

  Template: In Vue.js, the template section of a component defines the structure and content that will be rendered to the DOM (Document Object Model). It uses HTML-like syntax, enhanced with Vue.js directives, to dynamically display data and handle user interactions.

• <script>: This section contains the JavaScript code that defines the component’s logic, data, and methods.

  Script: The script section of a Vue.js component contains the JavaScript logic that controls the component’s behavior. It typically includes data properties, methods, computed properties, lifecycle hooks, and other options that define how the component works.

• <style>: This section is used to define the CSS styles that will be applied to the component’s template.

  Style: The style section in a Vue.js component is used to define CSS rules that style the component’s template. Styles can be scoped to the component or global, and Vue.js provides features like CSS modules and pre-processors for enhanced styling capabilities.

Open your Online.vue file and add the basic structure:

<template>
  </template>

<script>
export default {
  }
</script>

<style scoped>
</style>

The scoped attribute in the <style> tag ensures that the styles defined within this section are only applied to this specific component, preventing style conflicts with other parts of your application.

2. Building the Template

Inside the <template> section, we will create the HTML structure for our online status indicator.

<template>
  <div class="online-status">
    <div v-if="online" class="online">
      <span class="light online-light"></span>
      <p>Staff member is online and available</p>
    </div>
    <div v-else class="offline">
      <span class="light offline-light"></span>
      <p>Staff member is not currently online</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</template>

Let’s break down this template:

• <div class="online-status">: This is the main container for our component, providing a wrapper for styling.

• <div v-if="online" class="online">: This div and its content are conditionally rendered using the v-if directive. It will only be displayed if the online data property (which we will define in the <script> section) is true.

  v-if Directive: A Vue.js directive that conditionally renders an element or template based on the truthiness of an expression. If the expression evaluates to true, the element is rendered; otherwise, it is removed from the DOM.

• <span class="light online-light">: This span element represents the status light. It has two classes: light for general light styling and online-light for the green color when online.

• <p>Staff member is online and available</p>: A paragraph providing a textual status message.

• <div v-else class="offline">: This div is rendered when the v-if condition is false. It uses the v-else directive, which acts as an “else” block for v-if.

• <span class="light offline-light">: Similar to the online light, but with the offline-light class for the red color when offline.

• <p>Staff member is not currently online</p>: The offline status message.

3. Adding Component Logic in the Script Section

Now, let’s add the JavaScript logic to our component within the <script> section.

<script>
export default {
  data() {
    return {
      online: true // Initially set to online (true)
    };
  }
}
</script>

• export default { ... }: This is the standard way to define a Vue component as a module that can be imported and used in other parts of your application.

  Export Default: In JavaScript modules, export default is used to export a single value as the default export from a module. This is commonly used in Vue.js components to export the component options object.

• data() { ... }: The data option in a Vue component is a function that returns an object. This object contains the data properties that are reactive and accessible within the component’s template and script.

  Data Property: In Vue.js, data properties are reactive pieces of data that are managed by a component. When data properties are changed, Vue.js automatically updates the parts of the DOM that depend on that data, ensuring the view is always in sync with the component’s state.

• return { online: true }: We define a data property named online and initialize it to true. This property will control which status message and light are displayed based on its value (true for online, false for offline).

4. Styling the Component in the Style Section

Finally, let’s add some CSS styles to make our status indicator visually appealing within the <style scoped> section.

<style scoped>
.online-status {
  background-color: lightgray;
  border: 1px solid darkgray;
  display: inline-block;
  padding: 10px;
}

.online-status p {
  display: inline-block;
  font-family: sans-serif;
  margin: 0;
  color: #777; /* Medium gray color */
}

.light {
  display: inline-block;
  width: 10px;
  height: 10px;
  border-radius: 50%; /* Creates a circle */
  margin-right: 10px;
}

.online-light {
  background-color: limegreen;
}

.offline-light {
  background-color: crimson;
}
</style>

These styles define:

• .online-status: Styles for the main container (light gray background, border, padding, and inline-block display to fit content width).
• .online-status p: Styles for the paragraph elements (inline-block, font family, margin reset, and a medium gray color).
• .light: Base styles for the status lights (inline-block, size, circular shape using border-radius: 50%, and right margin for spacing).
• .online-light: Specific style for the online light (lime green background).
• .offline-light: Specific style for the offline light (crimson background).

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A stylesheet language used to describe the presentation of a document written in HTML or XML (including XML dialects like SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS describes how elements should be rendered on screen, on paper, in speech, or on other media.

Inline-block: A value for the CSS display property. Elements with display: inline-block are formatted inline, but behave like block-level elements in terms of content flow and box model. They only take up as much width as necessary, but you can set width and height values.

Border-radius: A CSS property that rounds the corners of an element’s border. A value of 50% for border-radius on a square element will create a circle.

5. Previewing the Component

Save the Online.vue file with these contents. Now, in your command line, navigate to the directory containing Online.vue and run:

vue serve Online.vue

Open the provided URL in your browser. You should see the online status indicator with a green light and the message “Staff member is online and available.”

To test the offline state, change the online: true to online: false in the <script> section of Online.vue and save the file. The browser will automatically refresh, and you should now see the red light and the “Staff member is not currently online” message.

Conclusion: The Power of Instant Prototyping

Instance prototyping with Vue CLI offers a significant boost to component development workflow. By eliminating the need for full project setups, it allows you to:

• Rapidly iterate on component ideas: Quickly create and visualize components without project overhead.
• Focus on individual component logic and design: Develop components in isolation for better focus and clarity.
• Test and preview components in real-time: Utilize the development server’s hot-reloading for immediate feedback on changes.

This streamlined approach makes instance prototyping an invaluable tool for Vue.js developers, especially when working on individual components or exploring new UI concepts.

Introduction to Vue CLI Graphical User Interface (GUI)

The Vue CLI (Command Line Interface) now includes a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) to simplify project management and setup. This tool offers an alternative to command-line operations for common tasks, making Vue.js development more accessible, especially for those who prefer visual interfaces. This chapter will guide you through the features and functionalities of the Vue CLI GUI.

Overview of the Vue CLI GUI

The Vue CLI GUI is a browser-based tool designed to streamline various aspects of Vue.js project management. It provides a visual interface for:

• Creating new projects: Initiate new Vue.js projects with ease, selecting presets and configurations through a graphical interface.
• Managing existing projects: Import and organize your Vue.js projects within the GUI for easy access and management.
• Installing plugins and dependencies: Add and manage project plugins and dependencies without using command-line commands.
• Configuring project options: Modify project settings and configurations through the GUI.

This tool is particularly beneficial for users who are not comfortable with or prefer to minimize their use of the command line.

Accessing the Vue CLI GUI

To launch the Vue CLI GUI, you need to execute a simple command in your terminal.

1. Open your command line interface. You can use any terminal application on your operating system.

2. Type the command vue ui and press Enter. This command is globally available once you have installed Vue CLI.

   Vue CLI (Command Line Interface)

   Vue CLI is a command-line tool that serves as the standard tooling for Vue.js development. It allows developers to quickly scaffold new projects, add plugins, and manage project dependencies through simple commands.

3. The Vue CLI GUI will automatically open in your default web browser. It may take a few seconds for the interface to load.

   • Theme: The GUI may initially appear with a light theme. You can switch to a dark theme (or vice versa) by clicking the raindrop icon typically located at the bottom of the interface. This allows for personalization of the visual appearance.

Project Management in the Vue CLI GUI

Upon opening the Vue CLI GUI, you will be presented with the project manager interface. If this is your first time using the GUI, you might not see any projects listed initially.

Importing Existing Projects

The Vue CLI GUI does not automatically list all Vue.js projects on your system. You need to explicitly import projects into the project manager for them to appear in the interface.

1. Click on the “Import” button. This button is usually located at the top or within the main project listing area of the GUI.
2. Navigate to the folder containing your Vue.js projects. Use the file explorer interface to locate the directory where your Vue.js projects are stored. For example, you might navigate to a folder named “vue-cli-projects”.
3. Select a project folder to import. Vue.js projects are typically identified by the presence of a package.json file and often a folder structure indicative of a Vue CLI project (e.g., a src folder). The GUI may visually indicate valid Vue.js project folders, perhaps with a “Vue” icon or label.
4. Click “Import Folder”. This action imports the selected project into the Vue CLI project manager.
5. Repeat for other projects. You can import multiple projects by repeating steps 1-4 for each project folder you wish to manage through the GUI.
6. View imported projects. Once imported, your projects will be listed in the project manager interface.

Managing Imported Projects

Once projects are imported, you can manage them directly from the GUI. For each project listed, you will typically find options for:

• Opening the project in the project manager: Clicking on a project in the list will usually navigate you to a detailed project dashboard within the GUI, providing access to plugins, configurations, and other project-specific settings.

• Opening the project in a text editor: An editor icon (often resembling code brackets </>) is usually available. Clicking this button will open the project in your configured default text editor (e.g., VS Code).

  VS Code (Visual Studio Code)

  VS Code is a popular, free source code editor developed by Microsoft. It is widely used for web development and supports numerous programming languages and features like debugging, integrated Git control, and extensions.

• Deleting a project from the project manager: A delete button (often a trash can icon) is typically provided. It is crucial to understand that this action removes the project from the Vue CLI project manager’s list, but it does not delete the project files from your file system. The project folder and its contents remain untouched.

Creating New Projects via the GUI

The Vue CLI GUI simplifies the process of creating new Vue.js projects.

1. Click on the “Create” button. This button is generally located prominently in the project manager interface, often alongside the “Import” button.

2. Choose a project location. Use the file explorer interface to select the directory where you want to create the new project folder. It’s recommended to organize your projects within a designated folder, such as “vue-cli-projects.”

3. Enter a project name. Provide a name for your new project in the designated input field. This name will be used to create the project folder. For example, you might name your project “ninja-ui”.

4. Select a package manager. Choose between Yarn or NPM (Node Package Manager).

   Yarn

   Yarn is a package manager for JavaScript code. It is an alternative to npm, known for its speed, reliability, and deterministic dependency management.

   NPM (Node Package Manager)

   npm is the default package manager for Node.js. It is used to install, share, and manage dependencies for JavaScript projects, and it is included with Node.js installations.

   • NPM is generally a safe and widely used default choice.
   • Yarn can offer potentially faster dependency resolution and installation. Choose based on your preference and project requirements.

5. Configure project options (optional):

   • Override target directory if it exists: Check this option if you want to create the project in a folder that already exists and overwrite its contents. Use with caution as this will delete existing files in the target directory.
   • Initialize Git repository: By default, a Git repository is initialized for new projects. Uncheck this option if you do not want to initialize Git during project creation.
   • Initial commit message: If initializing a Git repository, you can optionally provide a custom initial commit message.

6. Click “Next” to proceed to preset selection.

Preset Selection

Presets in Vue CLI allow you to quickly set up your project with pre-configured options and features.

1. Choose a preset. You will be presented with several options:
   • Default Preset: This option uses a standard set of features, typically including Babel and ESLint.
   • Custom Presets: If you have previously created and saved custom presets (as might have been demonstrated in other tutorials), these will be listed here. Custom presets allow you to reuse specific configurations for different projects.
   • Manual Setup: This option allows you to manually select the features you want to include in your project, such as Babel, TypeScript, Router, Vuex, CSS Pre-processors, Linter/Formatter, and more.
   • Remote Preset: You can also choose a preset from a Git repository, allowing for project setups based on shared or community configurations.
2. Select your desired preset. For simplicity and initial exploration, choosing the “Default Preset” is often recommended.
3. Click “Create Project”. This will initiate the project creation process.

The project creation process may take a few minutes depending on your internet connection and system speed, as dependencies are downloaded and installed. The GUI will typically display a progress indicator.

Project Dashboard and Further Exploration

Once the project creation is complete, the Vue CLI GUI will automatically navigate you to the project dashboard for the newly created project.

Project Plugins

The project dashboard provides an overview of your project, including installed plugins. For a project created with the default preset, you will typically see:

• @vue/cli-plugin-babel: Handles JavaScript transpilation using Babel, enabling support for modern JavaScript features in older browsers.

  Babel

  Babel is a JavaScript compiler that transforms ECMAScript 2015+ code into a backwards compatible version of JavaScript that can be run by older JavaScript engines. Babel is commonly used to use the newest features of the JavaScript language.

• @vue/cli-plugin-eslint: Integrates ESLint for code linting, helping to maintain code quality and consistency by identifying and reporting on stylistic and programming errors.

  ESLint

  ESLint is a static code analysis tool for identifying problematic patterns found in JavaScript/ECMAScript code. Its goal is to make code more consistent and avoid bugs.

• @vue/cli-service: The core Vue CLI service that provides essential build tools and development server functionalities.

Quick Plugin Installation Options

The dashboard often provides quick access buttons to install commonly used Vue.js plugins, such as:

• Add Vue Router: Installs Vue Router for adding routing capabilities to your application, enabling navigation between different views.

  Vue Router

  Vue Router is the official router for Vue.js. It deeply integrates with Vue.js core to make building Single Page Applications with Vue.js a breeze.

• Add Vuex: Installs Vuex for state management, providing a centralized store for managing application data in a predictable manner.

  Vuex

  Vuex is a state management pattern + library for Vue.js applications. It serves as a centralized store for all the components in an application, with rules ensuring that the state can only be mutated in a predictable fashion.

These buttons offer a convenient way to add these plugins without resorting to command-line commands.

Next Steps

After creating your project via the GUI, you can proceed with development as you normally would with a Vue CLI project created via the command line. You can navigate to your project directory in the command line (using cd project-name) and start the development server using npm run serve (or yarn serve, depending on your chosen package manager).

Further exploration of the Vue CLI GUI will reveal more options for managing plugins, configurations, and other project settings, which will be covered in subsequent chapters.

Mastering Vue CLI UI: A Project Management and Development Tool

This chapter explores the Vue CLI User Interface (UI), a powerful tool for managing Vue.js projects. We will guide you through its features, demonstrating how to install plugins and dependencies, configure project settings, and utilize development tasks. This chapter is based on a practical demonstration of the Vue CLI UI and aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of its capabilities for efficient Vue.js development.

1. Introduction to Vue CLI UI

The Vue CLI UI provides a graphical interface for managing various aspects of your Vue.js projects. It streamlines common development tasks, making them more accessible and efficient, particularly for developers who prefer a visual approach or are new to command-line interfaces.

As demonstrated in the video, we’ve already initiated a new Vue.js project and accessed the Vue CLI UI, referred to as the “project manager tool.” Let’s delve into the functionalities this tool offers.

2. Plugin Management

One of the key strengths of Vue CLI is its plugin system, which allows you to extend the functionality of your projects with pre-built features and integrations. The Vue CLI UI simplifies plugin management significantly.

2.1 Installing Plugins

The UI provides a straightforward way to install plugins into your Vue.js project.

• Accessing Plugin Installation: Navigate to the “Plugins” section within the Vue CLI UI for your project.
• Adding a Plugin: Click on the “Add plugin” button to view available plugins.

2.1.1 Installing Vue Router: A Practical Example

Let’s illustrate plugin installation by adding Vue Router to our project.

• Searching for Vue Router: In the plugin installation interface, you can search for plugins by name. In this case, we search for “vue router.”
• Plugin Information: Selecting “vue-router” displays brief information about the plugin.
• More Information: For detailed information, you can click “More info,” which typically redirects you to the plugin’s online documentation, often on platforms like npm or GitHub.
• Installation Process: Click “Continue” to initiate the installation process. The Vue CLI UI will handle downloading and integrating the Vue Router plugin into your project.

After successful installation, the Vue CLI UI provides visual confirmation. To verify the installation within your project’s codebase:

• Project Refresh: Refresh your project files within your code editor.

• package.json Verification: Navigate to the package.json file in your project’s root directory.

  package.json: A file at the root of a Node.js project that holds metadata about the project, including a list of dependencies (libraries and tools) required for the project to run. It is used by package managers like npm or yarn to install and manage these dependencies.

  You will find vue-router listed under the dependencies section, confirming its installation.

• Source Code Changes: Examine the src folder. You will observe the creation of a router folder and potentially a views folder containing example view components.

  src folder: The main source code directory in a Vue.js project, containing components, views, assets, and other application logic.

  router file: A file, typically named index.js or router.js within the src/router directory, that configures Vue Router, defining routes and navigation behavior for your application.

  views folder: A conventional directory within the src folder in Vue.js projects, often used to store “view” components. Views typically represent distinct pages or screens within the application.

  components: Reusable building blocks of a Vue.js application’s user interface. They encapsulate HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create modular and maintainable UI elements.

2.2 Installing Other Plugins: Exploring Vue CLI Plugin Apollo

The Vue CLI UI also allows you to install a wide range of plugins beyond the initially suggested ones.

• Accessing All Plugins: Click “Add plugin” again to explore a broader list of available plugins.

• Plugin Naming Convention: Observe that plugins typically follow the vue-cli-plugin- naming convention. This is a standard practice for Vue CLI plugins, making them easily identifiable.

  CLI plugin name convention: A standardized naming scheme for Vue CLI plugins. Plugins are typically named starting with vue-cli-plugin- followed by a descriptive name, ensuring they are recognized as official Vue CLI extensions.

• Searching for Specific Plugins: You can use the search bar to find plugins based on their functionality. For example, let’s search for a plugin related to GraphQL.

• Installing Vue CLI Plugin Apollo: Search for “apollo” and select “vue-cli-plugin-apollo.”

• External Documentation Access: Clicking on the plugin name often provides a link to the plugin’s GitHub page or npm page, offering detailed documentation and usage instructions. This is invaluable for understanding the plugin’s capabilities before installation.

  GitHub page: A webpage hosted on GitHub, a popular platform for software development and version control, where developers share code, documentation, and collaborate on projects. In this context, it refers to the GitHub repository for the Vue CLI Apollo plugin.

• Installation Options: After selecting “vue-cli-plugin-apollo” and clicking “Install,” you may encounter installation options specific to the plugin. In the example, we see options like “Add example code” and “Add GraphQL API server."

  • "Add example code”: This option, useful for beginners, injects sample code into your project to demonstrate how to use the plugin. We choose to enable this to explore the generated examples.
  • ”Add GraphQL API server”: This option would set up a basic GraphQL server. For this demonstration, we skip this option and focus on the client-side integration.

• Finalize Installation: Click “Finish installation” to proceed with the plugin installation.

Upon completion, the Vue CLI UI may indicate changes made to your project files.

2.3 Committing Changes to Version Control

After installing plugins, especially those that generate boilerplate code, it’s good practice to commit these changes to your version control system (like Git).

• Commit Interface: The Vue CLI UI may present a commit interface, displaying the changes made during plugin installation.

• Commit Message: Enter a descriptive commit message (e.g., “feat: install vue-cli-plugin-apollo”). While the example uses “tests” as a commit message, using more descriptive messages is recommended for better project history.

• Local Repository Update: Committing changes updates your local repository with the newly installed plugin and any associated code modifications.

  commit: In version control systems like Git, a commit is a snapshot of your project’s files at a specific point in time. It records changes and allows you to track project history and revert to previous states.

  repo (repository): A storage location for your project’s files and their revision history, managed by a version control system like Git. It tracks all changes, allowing for collaboration and rollback to previous versions.

2.4 Post-Installation Verification

After installing Vue CLI Plugin Apollo, let’s examine the project structure again:

• New Folders and Files: Observe the creation of a graphql folder and potentially an apollo-example component within the components directory.

  boilerplate code: Pre-written code intended to be used as a starting point for a new project or feature. It provides a basic structure and common functionalities, saving developers time and effort by avoiding repetitive setup.

• GraphQL Schema and Queries: The graphql folder likely contains example GraphQL schema definitions and query files, demonstrating basic GraphQL operations.

  GraphQL: A query language for your API and a server-side runtime for executing queries by using a type system you define for your data. GraphQL allows clients to request specific data they need and nothing more, improving efficiency compared to traditional REST APIs.

  queries: In GraphQL, queries are requests made by clients to fetch specific data from the server. They define the data requirements and structure of the response.

• Example Component: The apollo-example component showcases how to use the newly installed Apollo Client to interact with a GraphQL API within a Vue.js component.

  Apollo Client: A comprehensive state management library for JavaScript that enables you to manage both local and remote data with GraphQL. It simplifies fetching, caching, and updating data in your applications.

• Views Integration: A new view component (e.g., ViewApollo.vue) might be created in the views folder, demonstrating the integration of the Apollo example component into a page within your application.

These additions demonstrate how Vue CLI UI and plugins can significantly accelerate project setup by generating necessary files, installing dependencies, and providing working examples.

3. Dependency Management

Beyond plugins, Vue CLI UI also provides a user-friendly interface for managing project dependencies.

3.1 Types of Dependencies

The UI distinguishes between two main types of dependencies:

• Main Dependencies: These are essential libraries and packages required for your application to run in production. Examples include Vue itself, Vue Router, and other core libraries.

• Development Dependencies: These are tools and libraries primarily used during development and build processes but are not typically needed in the final production build. Examples include testing frameworks, linters, and build tools.

  dependencies: In software development, dependencies are external libraries or packages that a project relies on to function correctly. They provide pre-built functionalities, saving developers from writing code from scratch.

  development dependencies: Dependencies that are only required during the development phase of a project, such as testing libraries, code formatters, and build tools. They are not included in the final production build.

3.2 Adding Dependencies

• Accessing Dependency Management: Navigate to the “Dependencies” section in the Vue CLI UI.
• Installing New Dependencies: Click the “Install dependency” button to add a new dependency to your project.
• Searching and Installing: Similar to plugin installation, you can search for dependencies by name and install them directly through the UI.

4. Configuration

The Vue CLI UI allows you to configure settings for various plugins and tools within your project.

• Accessing Configuration: Navigate to the “Configuration” section in the UI.

• Plugin-Specific Settings: You’ll see configuration options for installed plugins, such as the Apollo plugin we added earlier, ESLint (if installed), and Vue CLI itself.

• Modifying Settings: The UI provides forms and controls to adjust plugin configurations directly, eliminating the need to manually edit configuration files in many cases.

  configuration: The process of setting up and customizing software or systems to behave in a specific way. In Vue CLI UI, it refers to adjusting settings for plugins, build processes, and other aspects of the project.

5. Tasks

The “Tasks” section in the Vue CLI UI provides a convenient way to execute common development commands.

5.1 Available Tasks

Common tasks available in the UI include:

• Serve: This task starts a local development server, allowing you to preview your application in a browser during development.

  serve task: A command or script, often provided by development tools like Vue CLI, that starts a local development server. This server hosts your application, enabling you to preview and test it in a web browser during development.

  local development server: A server running on your local machine that hosts your web application during development. It allows you to access and test your application in a browser as you make changes, providing a development environment that simulates a live server.

• Build: This task compiles and optimizes your project for production deployment.

  build: The process of compiling, optimizing, and packaging your application’s code and assets for deployment to a production environment. This typically involves tasks like minification, bundling, and code transformation.

• Inspect: This task allows you to inspect the underlying webpack configuration used by Vue CLI.

  inspect: A Vue CLI task that outputs the resolved webpack configuration for your project. This is useful for understanding how Vue CLI is configured and for customizing the build process if needed.

  webpack config file: A configuration file (typically named webpack.config.js) used by Webpack, a popular JavaScript module bundler. It defines how Webpack should process and bundle your project’s assets, including JavaScript, CSS, and images.

5.2 Running Tasks

• Task Execution: To run a task, simply click the “Run” button next to the task in the UI.

• Output and Statistics: The UI displays the output of the task execution in a console-like area. For the “serve” task, it typically shows build statistics, compilation times, and the local development server URL.

• Analyzer: Some tasks, like “serve,” may offer an “Analyzer” option, which provides a visual representation of your bundle size and composition, helping identify areas for optimization.

  analyzer: In the context of web development and build tools, an analyzer is a tool that visualizes the contents and size of your application’s bundles (e.g., JavaScript, CSS). It helps identify large dependencies or inefficient code that can be optimized to improve performance.

• Webpack Configuration Output: Running the “inspect” task outputs the entire resolved webpack configuration to the UI, allowing you to examine and understand the build process in detail.

6. Conclusion

The Vue CLI UI is a valuable asset for Vue.js developers, providing a user-friendly interface for project management, plugin and dependency installation, configuration, and task execution. It simplifies many common development workflows, making Vue.js development more accessible and efficient.

The best way to fully grasp the capabilities of the Vue CLI UI is to experiment with it directly. Create a new Vue.js project, launch the UI, and explore its different sections and features. By actively using the tool, you will discover its full potential and how it can enhance your Vue.js development experience.

Using the Legacy vue init Command with the New Vue CLI

This chapter explores the continued usability of the vue init command for creating Vue.js projects, even when using the latest version of the Vue CLI (Command Line Interface). While the Vue CLI has evolved, the older method of project initialization via vue init remains a viable option for many developers. This chapter will guide you through understanding why and how to use vue init alongside the modern Vue CLI.

Understanding the Vue CLI and Project Initialization

The Vue CLI is a powerful tool for streamlining Vue.js development. It simplifies project setup, development workflows, and build processes. Historically, project creation was often initiated using the command vue init, followed by a template name and project name.

Vue CLI (Vue Command Line Interface): A standard tool for rapid Vue.js development. It provides features like project scaffolding, development server, and build processes through command-line interactions.

However, with updates to the Vue CLI, particularly version 3 and above, the primary method for creating new projects shifted towards vue create. This might lead to the assumption that vue init is deprecated and no longer functional. This chapter clarifies that this is not entirely the case.

The Continued Relevance of vue init

Despite the introduction of vue create, the vue init command is still functional and supported. Many developers continue to utilize this approach, particularly when they prefer to use older templates or are comfortable with the workflow it provides. It is important to understand that having the latest Vue CLI installed does not necessitate abandoning the vue init method. Both approaches can coexist and be used based on project needs and developer preference.

Bridging the Gap: Installing @vue/cli-init

While vue init is still functional, it requires a bridging package to work seamlessly with the newer Vue CLI. If you attempt to use vue init directly without this bridge, you will encounter an error.

Let’s illustrate this with an example. Imagine you try to create a project using the webpack-simple template, a common template used with vue init:

vue init webpack-simple test-project

Upon executing this command, you might encounter an error message indicating that vue init requires a global add-on to be installed. This error message directly points towards the solution: installing the @vue/cli-init package.

Bridging Package: In software, a bridging package or library acts as an intermediary, enabling communication or compatibility between two different systems, versions, or technologies. In this context, @vue/cli-init bridges the gap between the new Vue CLI and the legacy vue init command structure.

The error message will typically provide the exact command to install this bridging package. This command utilizes npm, the Node Package Manager, to install the package globally.

npm (Node Package Manager): The default package manager for Node.js. It is used to install, manage, and share JavaScript packages and libraries.

Global Installation: Installing a package globally makes it accessible system-wide, rather than just within a specific project directory. This allows commands provided by the package to be used from any location in your terminal.

The command to install the bridging package is:

npm install -g @vue/cli-init

Let’s break down this command:

• npm install: This is the npm command to install a package.
• -g: This flag specifies that the package should be installed globally.
• @vue/cli-init: This is the name of the bridging package we need to install.

Step-by-Step Guide: Using vue init After Installing @vue/cli-init

Once you have installed the @vue/cli-init package globally, you can successfully use the vue init command. Let’s revisit the example of creating a project with the webpack-simple template:

1. Ensure @vue/cli-init is installed: Execute the installation command from the previous section if you haven’t already.

   npm install -g @vue/cli-init

2. Use the vue init command: Now, you can use the vue init command as you would have previously. Specify the template and the desired project name.

   vue init webpack-simple test-project

   Template: In project scaffolding, a template is a pre-configured structure that provides a starting point for a new project. It includes boilerplate code, configuration files, and directory structures, saving developers from setting up everything from scratch. The webpack-simple template is a basic Vue.js project setup using Webpack.

3. Project Setup Prompts: After executing the command, the Vue CLI will guide you through a series of interactive prompts in the command line interface. These prompts will ask you questions about your project, such as:

   • Project name: (You’ve already provided this in the command, but you can confirm or change it).
   • Project description: A brief description of your project.
   • Author: Your name or organization name.
   • Other template-specific questions.

4. Project Creation: Once you have answered all the prompts, the Vue CLI will proceed to generate your project based on the webpack-simple template in a new directory named test-project (or whatever name you specified). This project will be structured according to the template, ready for you to start building your Vue.js application.

Conclusion

The vue init command remains a valid method for creating Vue.js projects, even with the latest Vue CLI. By installing the @vue/cli-init bridging package globally, you can seamlessly integrate the legacy vue init workflow into your development process. This provides flexibility and allows developers to continue using familiar templates and project initialization methods while benefiting from the advancements of the modern Vue CLI ecosystem. Understanding this compatibility ensures that developers can choose the project creation approach that best suits their needs and preferences.