I’m a fan of Vue.js, a progressive JavaScript framework.
Vue.js can be used in two ways:
- Direct
<script>include - NPM
Even with Vue, you have the choice to choose simplicity (direct include) or to choose advanced features (NPM building).
In fairness to the Vue.js documentation, they warn you against the NPM route unless you’re building a “large scale application”.
Use the “Direct Include” Method for Vue’s Progressiveness
What does Vue do really well? It lets you include their CDN-hosted .js file, and in 5 minutes you have a dynamic web page. That’s the implementation of its progressiveness.
When you’re testing out Vue, just include its script direclty. Don’t start building in NPM.
“But I’m too cool, I need NPM.”
If you know you need NPM, this article is already not for you. It is, however, a suggestion to use the direct include method for as long as you can.
The biggest reason I have to not use NPM (and this is subjective): it will present a whole extra technological barrier to letting other developers work on your application. It’s very easy for us techies to forget how many layers of technology you need to understand to get a complex application built, deployed, and maintained. It’s only when you try to explain the application to a second developer that you might suddenly realise all the brain complexity involved just for delving into developing the application.
It can be an ego thing, admit it. If you choose a solution that’s “too simple”, you might be afraid of people judging you as “too simple”.
In Summary
In an iPhone-wielding, Macbook-wielding, hipster-inspired, checked shirts-dominated world, it’s easy to want to use the more cool (and complicated) approach.
But stepping back and choosing the simplest technological solution can often win out over advanced complexity.