Vue.js is a popular JavaScript framework that allows developers to build user interfaces and single-page applications easily. With the release of Vue.js 3, there are new features and improvements that developers can take advantage of. If you’re new to Vue.js or want to upgrade your existing project to the latest version, this step-by-step guide will walk you through the installation process.
Before you start, make sure you have Node.js and npm installed on your computer. You can check if they are already installed by opening a terminal and running the following commands:
node -v
npm -v
If you see the version numbers printed out, that means Node.js and npm are installed. If not, you can download and install them from the official Node.js website. Once you have Node.js and npm set up, you can proceed with the installation of Vue.js 3.
Table of Contents
- 1 Prerequisites for Installing Vue.js 3
- 2 Step 1: Set Up Node.js and NPM
- 3 Step 2: Install Vue CLI
- 4 Step 3: Create a New Vue.js 3 Project
- 5 Step 4: Configure the Project
- 6 Step 5: Install Vue Router
- 7 Step 6: Create a Basic Vue.js 3 Component
- 8 Step 7: Add Routes to the Vue.js App
- 9 Step 8: Run the Vue.js 3 Application
- 10 FAQ:
Prerequisites for Installing Vue.js 3
Node.js and NPM
Before installing Vue.js 3, make sure you have Node.js and NPM (Node Package Manager) installed on your system. Vue.js requires Node.js to run and NPM is used to manage the project dependencies.
To check if you have Node.js and NPM installed, open a command prompt (or terminal) and run the following commands:
node -v
– This command will display the installed version of Node.js, if it is installed.npm -v
– This command will display the installed version of NPM, if it is installed.
If the commands return the version numbers, you already have Node.js and NPM installed. If not, you can download and install them from the official Node.js website at https://nodejs.org.
Vue CLI
Vue CLI is a command line tool that aids in scaffolding Vue.js projects and provides a development server for live reloading. It also offers a variety of project templates to choose from.
To install Vue CLI, open a command prompt (or terminal) and run the following command:
npm install -g @vue/cli
The -g
flag installs Vue CLI globally, allowing you to access it from any directory in your system.
Vue.js 3 Quick Start Template
Once you have Vue CLI installed, you can create a new Vue.js 3 project using the Quick Start template. This template sets up the basic structure and configuration necessary to start building a Vue.js 3 application.
To create a new project using the Quick Start template, open a command prompt (or terminal) and navigate to the desired directory for your project. Then run the following command:
vue create my-project
Replace my-project
with the desired name for your project.
Follow the prompts to select the features and configurations for your project. Once the project is created, navigate into the project directory:
cd my-project
Now you are ready to start developing your Vue.js 3 application!
Step 1: Set Up Node.js and NPM
What is Node.js and NPM?
Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. It allows you to run JavaScript on the server-side, enabling you to build scalable and efficient web applications. NPM (Node Package Manager) is the default package manager for Node.js, which allows you to easily install and manage third-party libraries and frameworks for your projects.
Installation
To install Node.js and NPM, follow the steps below:
-
Download Node.js: Visit the official Node.js website at https://nodejs.org. Choose the appropriate installer for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux) and click on the download button to start the download.
-
Run the Installer: Once the download is complete, locate the downloaded installer file on your computer and run it. Follow the instructions provided by the installer to complete the installation process.
-
Verify the Installation: After the installation is finished, open a command prompt or terminal window and run the following command to verify that Node.js and NPM are successfully installed:
node -v
This command will display the installed version of Node.js.
Updating NPM
NPM is automatically installed with Node.js, but it’s a good idea to regularly update it to the latest version. You can update NPM using the following command:
npm install -g npm@latest
This command will update NPM to the latest version available.
Conclusion
In this step, we have learned how to set up Node.js and NPM on your system. Having these tools installed is essential for developing Vue.js applications, as many Vue.js projects rely on Node.js and NPM for managing dependencies and building the application.
Step 2: Install Vue CLI
The Vue CLI is a command-line tool that helps you scaffold and manage your Vue.js projects. It provides a variety of built-in features for developing Vue applications, including project configuration, hot module replacement, and linting.
To get started with Vue.js 3, you need to install the Vue CLI. Follow the steps below to install Vue CLI on your machine.
Prerequisites
Before installing the Vue CLI, you need to make sure that you have Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) installed on your machine.
- Open your favorite terminal emulator.
- Run the following command to check if Node.js and npm are installed:
node -v
npm -v
If both commands print out a version number, it means Node.js and npm are already installed. Otherwise, you need to install them before proceeding to the next step.
Installation
Once you have Node.js and npm installed, you can install the Vue CLI by running the following command:
npm install -g @vue/cli
This command installs the Vue CLI globally on your machine, allowing you to use it from any directory. The -g
flag stands for global.
After the installation is complete, you can verify that the Vue CLI was installed successfully by running the following command:
vue --version
If the Vue CLI version is printed in the terminal, it means the installation was successful.
With the Vue CLI installed, you are now ready to create and manage Vue.js projects using the command line. In the next step, we will create a new Vue.js project using the Vue CLI.
Step 3: Create a New Vue.js 3 Project
In this step, we will learn how to create a new Vue.js 3 project. Follow the instructions below:
- Open your preferred command-line interface (CLI).
- Navigate to the directory where you want to create your Vue.js 3 project.
- Run the following command to create a new Vue.js project:
npx create-vite@latest my-vue-project
This command will create a new Vue.js project using Vite, which is a build tool for modern web development.
Make sure to replace my-vue-project with your desired project name.
The command will download all the necessary dependencies and set up the project structure for you.
Wait for the process to complete, it may take a few minutes depending on your internet connection speed.
Once the project creation process is finished, navigate to the newly created project directory by running the following command:
cd my-vue-project
Now, you are ready to start developing your Vue.js 3 project!
Step 4: Configure the Project
Once you have created a new Vue.js 3 project using the Vue CLI, you will need to configure it according to your specific requirements. In this step, we will cover some common configuration options.
1. Environment Variables
One of the first things you may want to do is set up environment variables for your project. These variables can be accessed throughout your application and can be useful for storing sensitive information or configuration values. To set up environment variables, you can create a .env
file in the root directory of your project. For example:
.env |
VUE_APP_API_KEY=your_api_key |
VUE_APP_BASE_URL=https://api.example.com |
In your Vue components, you can access these variables using process.env.VUE_APP_API_KEY
and process.env.VUE_APP_BASE_URL
respectively.
2. Plugin Installation
Depending on the requirements of your project, you may need to install additional Vue.js plugins. These plugins can provide additional functionality and can be easily installed using npm or yarn. For example, to install the vue-router
plugin, you can run the following command in your project directory:
npm install vue-router
After installing the plugin, you will need to import and use it in your main application file. For vue-router
, you can import it as follows:
import { createRouter, createWebHistory } from 'vue-router'
import Home from './views/Home.vue'
const router = createRouter({
history: createWebHistory(),
routes: [
{ path: '/', component: Home }
]
})
createApp(App).use(router).mount('#app')
3. CSS Frameworks
Vue.js allows you to easily integrate CSS frameworks into your project. Some popular options include Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, and Bulma. To use a CSS framework, you will need to install it using npm or yarn, and then import and use it in your main application file. For example, to use Bootstrap, you can follow these steps:
- Install Bootstrap:
- In your main application file, import the Bootstrap CSS file:
- You can now use Bootstrap classes in your Vue components.
npm install bootstrap
import 'bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.css'
import { createApp } from 'vue'
import App from './App.vue'
createApp(App).mount('#app')
These are just a few examples of the configuration options available in a Vue.js 3 project. Depending on your project’s requirements, you may need to configure other aspects such as devtools, linting, or deployment settings. The Vue.js documentation provides detailed information on these and other configuration options.
Step 5: Install Vue Router
In this step, we will install Vue Router, which is the official routing library for Vue.js.
To install Vue Router, follow these steps:
- Open your command line or terminal.
- Navigate to your project directory using the
cd
command. - Run the following command to install Vue Router:
NPM | npm install vue-router |
Yarn | yarn add vue-router |
This will install Vue Router and add it as a dependency in your project’s package.json
file.
After installing Vue Router, you can import it into your project and start using it to define your routes and handle navigation between different pages. Refer to the Vue Router documentation for more information on how to use it.
Step 6: Create a Basic Vue.js 3 Component
In this step, we will learn how to create a basic Vue.js 3 component. Components are the building blocks of a Vue.js application, and they allow you to encapsulate and reuse code.
1. Create a new file for your component
Create a new file in your project directory and name it “MyComponent.vue”. This will be the file where you will define your component.
2. Define the component
Open the “MyComponent.vue” file and define your component inside a <template>
tag. Give your component a name using the <script>
tag’s name
property.
Here’s an example of what the content of your “MyComponent.vue” file could look like:
<template>
<div>
<h3>MyComponent</h3>
<p>This is a basic Vue.js 3 component.</p>
</div>
</template>
<script>
export default {
name: 'MyComponent'
}
</script>
3. Import and register the component
In order to use your component in your application, you need to import and register it in your main Vue.js file (usually named “main.js”).
Open your “main.js” file and add the following code at the top:
import MyComponent from './MyComponent.vue'
Then, register the component within the createApp
function:
const app = createApp(App)
app.component('my-component', MyComponent)
app.mount('#app')
4. Use the component
Now that your component is registered, you can use it in your Vue.js application by including the following code in your template:
<my-component></my-component>
When your application is compiled, the <my-component>
tag will be replaced with the content of your “MyComponent.vue” file.
Congratulations! You have successfully created a basic Vue.js 3 component.
Next, we will move on to styling our component using CSS.
Step 7: Add Routes to the Vue.js App
Once you have created the basic structure of your Vue.js app and added components, it’s time to add routes to your app. Routes allow you to navigate between different pages or views within your app without having to manually refresh the page.
Here’s how you can add routes to your Vue.js app:
- Open the
src/router/index.js
file in your code editor. - Import the necessary Vue Router packages by adding the following lines of code at the top of the file:
import { createRouter, createWebHistory } from 'vue-router';
import Home from '../views/Home.vue';
import About from '../views/About.vue';
// ... (import other views as needed)
- Create a new router instance by adding the following line of code:
const router = createRouter({
history: createWebHistory(),
routes: [
{
path: '/',
name: 'Home',
component: Home
},
{
path: '/about',
name: 'About',
component: About
},
// ... (add other routes as needed)
]
});
In the above code, we specify the path, name, and component for each route. The path
determines the URL path that will trigger the route, the name
is a unique name for the route, and the component
is the Vue component that will be rendered when the route is activated.
- Export the router instance by adding the following line of code at the bottom of the file:
export default router;
Now that you have set up the routes, you need to update the main App.vue
file to display the router’s view:
- Open the
src/App.vue
file in your code editor. - Add the
<router-view />
component inside the<template>
tag, where you want the views to be rendered:
<template>
<div id="app">
<header>
<h1>My Vue.js App</h1>
<nav>
<router-link to="/">Home</router-link>
<router-link to="/about">About</router-link>
<!-- ... (add other link components as needed) -->
</nav>
</header>
<router-view />
</div>
</template>
The <router-view />
component will be replaced with the view defined for each route when the corresponding path is activated.
That’s it! You have successfully added routes to your Vue.js app. Now when you navigate to different URLs, the corresponding components will be rendered.
Remember to import and define routes for any additional views you create in your app. You can also add nested routes and configure route parameters for more advanced routing options.
Step 8: Run the Vue.js 3 Application
Now that you have successfully installed Vue.js 3 and created your first Vue.js 3 application, it’s time to run the application and see it in action.
Local Development Server
To run the Vue.js 3 application on your local development server, navigate to the root directory of your project in the terminal or command prompt.
- Use the following command to start the development server:
- Once the development server is started, you will see an output similar to:
- Open your web browser and navigate to the provided local or network URL to see your Vue.js application running.
npm run serve
App running at:
- Local: http://localhost:8080/
- Network: http://192.168.1.2:8080/
Note that the development server URL may vary depending on your configuration.
Any changes you make to your Vue.js code will automatically be reflected in the browser, thanks to the hot-reloading feature of the development server. This allows for a smooth development experience.
Production Build
If you want to build your Vue.js 3 application for production, you can use the following command:
npm run build
This command will generate a production-ready version of your application in the /dist
folder. You can deploy this folder to a web server or a hosting service to make your Vue.js 3 application live.
Conclusion
In this step, you learned how to run your Vue.js 3 application both on the local development server and create a production build. Now you can continue developing your application and deploy it when ready.
FAQ:
What is Vue.js 3?
Vue.js 3 is a progressive JavaScript framework used for building user interfaces. It is the latest version of Vue.js and comes with improved performance, enhanced features, and a more streamlined development experience.
Why should I choose Vue.js for my website?
There are several reasons to choose Vue.js for your website. Firstly, it has a gentle learning curve, making it easy to get started. Secondly, it provides great performance and is known for its fast rendering speed. Additionally, Vue.js has a large and active community and offers a rich ecosystem of plugins and libraries.
How do I install Vue.js 3 on my website?
To install Vue.js 3 on your website, you can use the Vue CLI (Command Line Interface). First, you need to have Node.js installed on your system. Once Node.js is installed, you can use the following command to install the Vue CLI globally: npm install -g @vue/cli. After that, you can create a new Vue project using the command “vue create project-name” and follow the prompts to set up your project. Finally, navigate to the project folder and run “npm run serve” to start the development server.
Are there any prerequisites for installing Vue.js 3?
Yes, there are a few prerequisites for installing Vue.js 3. You need to have Node.js installed on your system, as Vue.js depends on it. You can download and install Node.js from the official website. Additionally, basic knowledge of JavaScript and HTML/CSS would be beneficial for working with Vue.js. Having a code editor, such as Visual Studio Code, is also recommended for development.