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6 essential skills for Vue developers

By Jennifer Bland

Vue is the fastest growing front-end framework today. Vue is approachable, versatile and performant. Its syntax is surprisingly intuitive and has a friendly learning curve. According to the State of JavaScript 2020 survey, Vue.js is one of the top front-end library that developers would most like to learn.

Learning a new JavaScript framework can be intimidating. Here are 6 skills that will help you to succeed as a Vue developer.

HTML and CSS are the foundations of the web. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the language used for developing web pages. HTML structures a website and also contains data for the website's content. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the language that defines the presentation of a document written in HTML.  CSS polishes things up with style to make them better looking.

Vue applications are created using Single File Components (SFC). An SFC allows you to define

  • JavaScript logic

  • HTML code template

  • CSS styling

all in a single file. Vue will render HTML from the template to be displayed to the user. Hone your HTML and CSS skills so you can properly display items on the webpage. You should be familiar with writing semantic HTML tags. To style your application, you can use CSS, Flexbox or CSS Grid.

Instead of displaying static data, Vue applications will have dynamic data and will respond to user input and interaction. JavaScript will be used to write the logic for this behavior in your SFC. 

The web is an increasingly dynamic platform. New standards for JavaScript are now released every year. These standards bring more and more powerful features. Some of the new features are object destructuring, template literals, new ways to declare variables and new methods for Arrays.

Using modern JavaScript will improve the efficiency of your development while allowing you to write better and easier to read code.

3. Git

Git is an important skill in our routine as software developers. Git is a version control system (VCS). On a basic level git allows you to track changes in your files and it simplifies working on files and projects with multiple people.

To get started with Git you’ll need to do two things. First, install Git on your computer. Second, create an account on a cloud-based platform like GitHub or GitLab to store your code. 

As you write new code or change existing code, you’ll store your changes in your account on GitHub. Other developers can work on your existing code base via Git.

4. npm or Yarn

HTML and CSS are the foundations of the web. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the language used for developing web pages. HTML structures a website and also contains data for the website's content. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the language that defines the presentation of a document written in HTML.  CSS polishes things up with style to make them better looking.

Vue applications are created using Single File Components (SFC). An SFC allows you to define

  • JavaScript logic

  • HTML code template

  • CSS styling

all in a single file. Vue will render HTML from the template to be displayed to the user. Hone your HTML and CSS skills so you can properly display items on the webpage. You should be familiar with writing semantic HTML tags. To style your application, you can use CSS, Flexbox or CSS Grid.

5. Vue

To be a successful Vue developer you need to know the basics of the Vue programming language. The Vue documentation is an excellent source to start learning how to use Vue.

Vue has a basic philosophy that makes it easy to get started. Having a low barrier to entry makes Vue a worthy consideration as a first JavaScript framework to learn.

If you have an existing application, you can use Vue in just one part of your front end. Or you can build a complete application entirely in Vue. As your application grows in size, Vue will scale accordingly.

6. Vue CLI

The Vue team has a command-line interface (CLI) to help develop projects with Vue. The CLI provides your Vue project with instant access to the best build tools from the front-end world. It also combines them seamlessly with sensible defaults. At the same time, it allows for easy configuration and customization to fit your specific needs.

Vue CLI 3 has adopted a new plugin-based architecture. Plugins can be added at any point in the development lifecycle. Plugins allow you to spend time developing rather than configuring. The plugin architecture allows developers to make their own plugins and presets.

Putting it all together

Keeping up to date in the fast-moving world of programming and development can be very challenging. Things happen fast in this industry, which means you need to remain vigilant, so your skills, knowledge and experience remain current. Individuals who continually upgrade their skills to keep pace with developments in their field will have the best chance of doing well in their career.

See how your Vue developer skills stack up. Get your Role IQ.

About the author

Jennifer Bland is a Senior Software Engineer and Google Developers Expert. She has more than ten years of development experience and is a published author. Jennifer specializes in full-stack web development using JavaScript.

She runs the website codeprep.io which provides technical training courses and interview questions to assist programmers in preparation for job interviews. Her personal website is jenniferbland.com.

Jennifer is a frequent speaker at technical conferences worldwide. She is a member of the Leadership Committee for Women Who Code Atlanta. You can reach her on Twitter at @ratracegrad.