When to use Nuxt.js over Vue.js

Let me start this blog article by saying that both are great, but one has some advantages compared to the other.

What is Vue.js?

Vue.js is a progressive framework for JavaScript used to build web interfaces and one-page applications. Not just for web interfaces, Vue.js is also used both for desktop and mobile app development with the Electron framework. The HTML extension and the JS base quickly made Vue a favoured front-end tool, evidenced by adoption by such giants as Adobe, Behance, Alibaba, Gitlab, and Xiaomi. Vue.js is based on the model-view-view model (MVVM) and has an incrementally flexible design that emphasizes component composition and declarative rendering.

When to use Vue.js?

The question is fairly simple and obvious but when you have to pick up a library that has to back up a project, worth millions of pounds, suddenly everything changes. At this point, the smallest detail can make you choose or reject the library. From a development point of view, you would pick Vue.js when you want to work with a library that is easy to understand and learn, lightweight, has a robust tooling ecosystem, it's easy to customize, has awesome documentation, and has a high performance. From a business point, you would pick Vue.js when you want to build a highly reactive interface web application. When I say reactive, I mean reactive.

What are the disadvantages of Vue.js?

Difficulties with mobile support, older versions of iOS and Safari browsers can cause certain problems with Vue.js applications. Data has to be flat in order to be reactive.

One of the cons of the Vue.js framework that the development team may face is related to binding. For correct data processing and displaying, they need to be flattened. If the data is an object, Vue reactivity will not pick it up.

You have to know how to use reactivity, Code flexibility provides great opportunities for programmers but flexibility can lead to more irregularity and errors in code. Most of the delays in code are caused by excessive flexibility when several different programming approaches can be applied simultaneously within the same team.

What is Nuxt.js?

I'll try to keep it simple, for me, Nuxt.js is a framework for Vue.js which is used server-side.

When to use Nuxt.js?

I would use Nuxt.js when I want to render the markup server-side, in other words, SSR.

Why?

Well, it has a super big impact SEO-wise. I mean Vue.js is awesome but if it sucks from an SO point of view, it doesn't help too much does it? The business doesn't care about the latest version of a library, but it will care to be on the front page of Google in many cases.

What are the disadvantages of Nuxt.js?

Nuxt.js is great, but it needs a lot of work to be suitable for enterprise. If something is not suitable for enterprise-level, it's not good enough. The problems which I see with Nuxt.js:

1. not suitable for high traffic
2. it doesn't have a big community behind it
3. to solve some issues it can be hard
4. not too many examples

It definitely has the potential, but it needs the effort to make it.

What is server-side rendering?

Server-side rendering is essential for SEO. If you don't need it, it's not an issue, but if you want to cater for it, Vue.js doesn't do this out of the box. You'll need to render the application on the server initially.

Conclusion

The only scenario in which I would choose Nuxt.js over Vue.js is when I want to cater to SEO and I don't expect HIGH traffic