What is Vue CLI? 181

 What is Vue CLI?

Vue CLI, previously known as vue-cli, was a command-line interface toolset for building and managing Vue.js applications. It provided a variety of features, including:

• Project scaffolding: This allowed you to quickly create new Vue projects with different configurations and features like routing, testing, and styling frameworks.

• Development server: It offered a built-in development server for running your application and enabling hot module replacement (HMR) for live updates.

• Build tools: It integrated various build tools like Webpack and Babel for transpiling and bundling your code for production.

• Code splitting: It supported code splitting to improve initial load times.

• Testing tools: It provided basic integration with testing frameworks like Jest and Mocha.

• UI helpers: It offered some UI helpers like vue-cli-service serve and vue-cli-service build for managing the development server and build process.

However, Vue CLI is now in maintenance mode as of January 2024. This means that new features are not being actively developed, and only critical bug fixes will be introduced. The reason for this move is the emergence of Vite, a more modern and versatile build tool specifically designed for Vue.js applications.

Despite being in maintenance mode, existing Vue CLI projects still work perfectly well. You can continue to use and maintain them for the foreseeable future. However, for new projects, it's generally recommended to use create-vue, a tool built on top of Vite that offers an alternative and streamlined scaffolding experience for Vue.js applications.

Here's a table summarizing the key points:

Feature	Vue CLI	create-vue
Status	Maintenance mode	Actively developed
Build tool	Primarily Webpack	Vite
Focus	Legacy projects, basic features	Modern projects, performance, developer experience
Project configuration	More complex	Simpler, more opinionated
Learning curve	Steeper	Gentler

Resources:

• Vue CLI documentation: https://cli.vuejs.org/

• create-vue documentation: https://vuejs.org/guide/introduction.html

• Vite website: https://github.com/techgems/Vite.NET

I hope this information clarifies the current state of Vue CLI and helps you choose the appropriate tool for your Vue.js development needs. Remember, while Vue CLI remains functional for existing projects, create-vue and Vite offer a more modern and performant approach for building new applications.

Please let me know if you have any further questions about Vue CLI, create-vue, or Vite!