10 Reasons Why Vue.js Is So Popular in 2024

#1 Easy to Learn and Understand

The great popularity of Vue.js among developers is dictated by its simplicity, first of all. To set off with Vue, software engineers need to know only the fundamentals of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

What is more, Vue consists of single-file documents that include various kinds of code JS, CSS, HTML, etc. Developers need to write just a few lines of code to get great functionality that rivals much heavier frameworks such as React and Angular.

#2 Big Community

As has been mentioned before, unlike its rivals, Vue is not backed by any tech giant but is entirely supported by donations from sponsors and its open-source community.

In August 2021, Statista questioned more than 67k developers about their framework of choice. Vue.js came fifth with 18,97% while in 2020, it was in seventh place.

NPM trends also show the steady growth of Vue and the high engagement of its community.

Here you can find information about different Vue.js community projects, conferences, and the current job market.

#3 Readability

Vue has a component-based architecture which has three main advantages:

1. Component reusability - pieces of code can be reused as templates.
2. Code readability - all components are stored in separate files which makes it easy to access, maintain, and fix them.
3. Excellent for unit testing - unit testing runs very smoothly as it’s easy to monitor how even the smallest parts of the application perform.

#4 Lightweight

Vue is a very lightweight framework, its minified and compressed runtime weighs about 20 KB (22.8kB for the current 2.6.10 version). Though Vue 3 bundle is estimated to weigh about half of it - only 10 KB. It makes the download and installation process very speedy and has a positive effect on UX and SEO optimization.

#5 Robust Toolset

Despite being a relatively young framework, Vue has a powerful set of tools such as a state manager, browser debugging tools, Babel support, unit testing, server renderer, and much more.

#6 High Performance

Vue is one of the fastest frameworks available for building web interfaces. Vue excellently delivers precise UX in UIs and SPAs. In comparison to React and Angular, Vue launches faster in mobile applications.

#7 Flexibility

Vue.js is known for its flexibility as it gives an opportunity to write fast and run directly from a browser. Developers can build complex apps using bundling, routing, ES6, JSX, components, and more.

Providing access to a wide range of environments, Vue is a popular choice for cross-platform app development. 

#8 Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) Architecture

Vue uses MVVM architecture which greatly enhances UI through simplifying user interface event-driven programming. Being concentrated mainly on the ViewModel layer of MVVM architecture, Vue separates the user interface from the app logic, so when the UI gets outdated, for instance, programmers don’t have to wait for a redesign of the whole app but just plug in a new template. 

#9 Integral Capabilities

One of the characteristics that every programmer seeks in technology is a capacity to integrate with other apps. Vue completely relies on JavaScript so devs can write templates with better flexibility and switch over to React or Angular, for example, if needed.

#10 Documentation

Vue has one of the most well-written documentation among the competitors. It’s translated into 8 languages with a wide range of detailed code usage examples. Vue community also offers very good video courses for levels from beginner to advanced.

What Vue.js is Used for?

The primary purpose why Vue.js was designed is to build one-page applications and work on web pages though it’s also applied for different purposes:

• Prototypes

Being frustrated with Angular while working within a browser at Google on prototypes, Evan You decided to create a better alternative. Even designers without much experience can prototype rapidly with Vue.js.

• UI Projects

Vue requires only HTML, CSS, and JS while keeping a strong focus on UI.

• Existing Application

Vue is a great tool for adding functionality to already-built applications. Since it’s based on JS, it can easily integrate with any project that also uses JS. 

What is more, Vue is compatible with a range of back-end technologies such as Ruby on Rails, Django, Express.js, etc.

• Mobile Apps

Although Vue is initially designed for building web apps, it’s not limited to just the browser. You can build mobile apps with Ionic Vue for building cross-platform mobile apps or native iOS, Android, and PWAs.

Main Attributes of Vue.js Framework

Virtual DOM (Documented Object Model)

The Vue rendering system is based upon a virtual representation of the actual DOM of the webpage. The concept was pioneered by React and later adopted by other technologies, including Vue. The main advantage of virtual DOM is that a developer can programmatically create, test, and compose the required UI structures in a declarative way, while direct DOM manipulation is left to the renderer.

Data Binding

The two-way binding feature and Virtual DOM ensure minimal coding for programmers. If the changes are applied in the Model or View layer, the framework automatically applies the same changes in other layers. The code is kept in sync across the whole application which eliminates a lot of debugging and testing as your data remains consistent.

Templates

HTML-based template syntax allows programmers to declaratively bind the rendered DOM to the underlying component instance’s data. Each Vue template is syntactically valid HTML that can be parsed by spec-compliant browsers and HTML parsers.

Vue compiles the templates into exceedingly optimized JS code. In combination with the reactivity system, Vue can find out the minimal number of components to re-render and apply the slightest amount of DOM manipulations when the state of application changes.

Computed Properties

Computed properties in Vue.js enable developers to create a property that can be leveraged to change, manipulate, and display data within the components in a readable and structured manner. 

They can also be used to calculate and display values in respect of values or values set in the data model. Computed properties are used to solve such problems:

• Filtering data;
• Calculations;
• Boolean conditionals within the v-if;
• Can be used as setters to set data;
• Used with mapGetters to access the data retrieved from our getters.

Tooling and Libraries

Vue has a wide range of tools and libraries that enhance the development process. Here is our top of most useful and effective:

1. Vue CLI
2. Nuxt
3. Vuetify
4. VuePress
5. Vuex
6. Quasar
7. Gridsome

Animation and Transition

Vue offers the <Transition> and <TransitionGroup> components for handling enter / leave and list transitions. Though there is a range of different ways to use animation on the web, even in a Vue app. Additional techniques include:

1. Class-based animations;
2. State-driven animations;
3. Animating with watchers.

When to Consider Using Vue.js

Animation and Interactive Elements

Having great data-binding, Vue is a perfect option to handle a lot of animations, interactive elements, and graphics. With flexible API and flawless transitions between views and adaptable architecture, Vue offers a lot of ways to create catchy animations with inbuilt modules based on CSS animation.

Integration with Numerous Apps

Another reason why use Vue.js is its seamless integration with existing single-page and multi-page applications. 

Publish an MVP

With Vue.js publishing an MVP is extremely fast and easy due to the existence of reusable components and templates.

Websites Built with Vue.js

1,936,822 live sites use Vue.js. Here are the most popular websites and web applications built with Vue. Github also lists a full register of websites, you can check it here.

Recap

Vue offers a lot of advantages for frontend development though it still can’t be called a universal solution. Vue.js is a perfect choice for lightweight projects though if you need a large and complex website, React will be a better option.

If you still have difficulty choosing the tech stack for your project or are looking for an experienced vendor to build, design, and maintain your product, don’t hesitate to contact us. At inVerita, we have over six years of experience in various industries and project scales - from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

We offer a free consultation to choose the best cooperation model, and technology stack, and discuss the scope of your project.