Delivering cutting-edge user experiences at web speed requires taking full advantage of the rich JavaScript ecosystem.
Laravel’s robust packages solve common headaches, freeing resources to craft magical interfaces. But how can these strengths be incorporated judiciously into a Vue app?
This guide shares techniques from leading companies successfully weaving complementary technologies like Vue and Laravel. Learn their strategies for streamlining key capabilities into ambitious front ends – all while retaining architectural integrity.
Whether optimizing development flow, securing privileged access or enriching data models, composability is the key. Discover how world-class organizations optimize workflows through principled integration of complementary tools.
Choosing the Right Packages
With over 7,000+ packages available, selecting the right ones for your Vue app can be daunting. Carefully evaluating options is important to avoid future headaches.
Consider Package Features
Ensure a package supports your specific needs such as user authentication, database models, file uploads, etc. Skim the description and any demos to check capabilities.
Evaluate Documentation Quality
Thorough, easy-to-follow documentation makes a package much easier to implement and maintain long-term. Check if usage, configuration and methods are clearly explained.
Assess Support & Maintenance
Ideally choose packages that are actively maintained by the authors or an organization. Check commitment like recent releases or responses on the issue tracker. Abandoned packages can become broken over time.
Consider MIT License
Packages with an MIT license allow code to be used freely without restrictions in both open source and commercial projects. Some packages use other licenses which may impact usage.
Verify Installation is Simple
Easy installation via Composer is convenient, especially when setting up multiple packages. Avoid those requiring complex manual steps or dependency bundles.
Review Integration Demos/Examples
Seeing real code samples of a package integrated helps assess the level of effort to implement properly. Well-structured examples inspire confidence.
Ask the Community for Opinions
Search sites like Reddit for packages to get first-hand experiences from other developers. Issues uncovered can help make informed choices upfront.
Choosing top Vue+Laravel packages requires researching both the business and technical merits of available options. Investing time at the start pays off greatly in the long run.
Installation and Setup
Now that you’ve chosen packages to enhance your Vue application, it’s time to install and configure them. The installation process typically involves three main steps:
Install Packages via Composer
As with any Laravel application, we can utilize Composer to install our chosen packages with one command.
Register Packages in Vue
Breeze provides a Vue plugin to enable authentication logic
// main.js import Vue from 'vue' import Breeze from 'breeze-vue/nuxt' Vue.use(Breeze)
Configure Package Services
Publish Breeze’s configuration file:
php artisan breeze:publish
This copies config/breeze.php – update settings as needed.
Configure Package Routes
Import and merge route files:
// routes.js
import VueRouter from 'vue-router'
import BreezeRoutes from 'breeze/routes'
const router = new VueRouter({
routes: [
...BreezeRoutes,
// other routes
]
})
Publish Package Assets
Publish assets from a dashboard package:
npm run publish
Copies JS/CSS to resources/ so they can be referenced from Vue components.
Resolve Package Dependencies
If conflicts arise with other dependencies, try locking router version:
"dependencies": {
"vue": "^2.6.14",
"vue-router": "^3.5.1"
}
Proper setup streamlines integration and avoids future issues.
Authentication Example
With Breeze installed and registered, we can easily add authentication functionality to our Vue app.
Generate Authentication Scaffold
Breeze provides an Artisan command to publish stub views and routes:
php artisan breeze:install
This generates template views, controllers and migrations for auth.
Register Authentication routes
In routes/web.php:
// Authentication routes...
Route::get('/login', [AuthController::class, 'showLoginForm'])->name('login');
Route::post('/login', [AuthController::class, 'login']);
// etc
Create Login/Register Components
Generate dumb components for forms:
touch components/Auth/Login.vue
touch components/Auth/Register.vue
Add Form Logic
In Login.vue:
<template>
<form @submit.prevent="submit">
<breeze-input
type="email"
v-model="form.email"
></breeze-input>
<breeze-button>
Login
</breeze-button>
</form>
</template>
<script>
import { mapActions } from 'vuex'
export default {
data() {
return {
form: {}
}
},
methods: {
...mapActions(['login'])
submit() {
this.login(this.form)
}
}
}
</script>
Breeze handles the heavy lifting of auth securely and easily.
Database Functionality
For complex data handling, packages like Laravel Novo provide robust solutions.
Generate Novo Resources
Novo generates CRUD resources from Eloquent models:
php artisan novo:resource User
This creates a UserResource with methods to build APIs.
Define Model Relationships
Define relationships on the Eloquent model:
// User.php
public function posts() {
return $this->hasMany(Post::class);
}
Expose Relationships in APIs
Novo will automatically include related data:
// UserResource.php
public function posts() {
return $this->hasMany(PostResource::class);
}
Build Data Grids
Import the DataGrid component and pass the resource:
html
Copy
<datagrid
resource="UserResource"
@datagrid-data="users => { /* */ }"
/>
Novo handles sorting, filtering, and pagination for complex data sets.
Enforce Validation
Leverage FormRequest classes to validate data on store/update methods. Novo integrates validation errors into APIs/UI seamlessly.
Packages save significant development time when building robust but complex data systems common in modern apps. The benefits are then used to invest in other distinct custom features.
File Management
For handling file uploads and storage, Flysystem provides an elegant solution.
Configure File System Disks
In config/filesystems.php, register disks like S3:
'disks' => [ 's3' => [ 'driver' => 's3', // Config credentials ] ]
Install Flysystem Provider
Add the service provider to config/app.php:
'providers' => [ League\Flysystem\Filesystem ServiceProvider::class ];
Upload Files Via Components
In FileUpload.vue:
<template>
<input
type="file"
@change="onFileChange"
>
</template>
<script>
import { disk } from '../utils/Flysystem'
export default {
methods: {
async onFileChange(e) {
const file = e.target.files[0]
await disk.put(file.name, file)
}
}
}
</script>
Flysystem handles file operations across diverse storage backends seamlessly. Packages reduce effort for common tasks like uploads freeing up resources to focus on domain logic.
API Integration
Packages like Dingo API provide helpful tools for building APIs that integrate seamlessly with Vue.
API Resource Generation
Dingo streamlines the process of generating API resources and routes from Eloquent models. It handles mapping HTTP verbs like GET, POST to appropriate controller methods.
Authentication Support
For authentication, Dingo supports popular schemes like JWT out of the box. It handles token verification on API requests automatically.
Error Handling
When errors occur, Dingo formats exception responses following standards for HTTP status codes. This ensures consistent error handling across the API.
Vue developers can securely call the APIs using a package like Axios. Popular options like Axios come with features for making HTTP requests, authorization headers, parsing responses and error handling.
Together, Dingo and Axios allow building responsive, standardized APIs with robust authentication and error handling. Developers can focus efforts on custom front-end experiences.
The packages collaboratively integrate Laravel backend capabilities within Vue seamlessly through standardized RESTful APIs. This enables building highly interactive applications over clean, decoupled architectures.
Testing
When building applications with Laravel packages, it’s important to implement thorough testing strategies.
Unit Testing Components
For Vue components, unit test files and methods using a library like Jest or Vue Test Utils. Import components and simulate user interactions to validate logic and outputs.
Testing Controllers & Requests
Packages like Laravel Dusk allow testing Laravel controllers and form requests directly. Write tests to interact with routes through the browser using Selenium.
Mocking Dependencies
For unit tests, mock external dependencies like database models using packages like Mockery. This isolates tests to only the code being tested.
Endpoint Testing
Test API routes, validation, responses, errors etc using PHPUnit. Make HTTP requests to routes and assert responses match expected payloads and status codes.
Debugging with Features
Enable debug packages like Laravel Debugbar to gain visibility into requests, queries, cache usage, etc which aids testing and troubleshooting.
Test:watch
Use php artisan test –watch to automatically re-run tests on changes, speeding iterative development and catching regressions early.
Thorough testing provides confidence when refactoring packages and extending functionality. With the right strategies applications remain stable as they evolve.
Deployment
Deploying a Vue + Laravel application with packages requires consideration of routing, middleware, and other aspects.
Build Process
In production, build the Vue assets into Laravel’s resources/public directory using npm run build. This compiles components and routes into static files.
Shared Middleware
Global middleware defined in app/Http/Kernel.php impacts both API and web routes. Ensure all requests pass the expected middleware.
Route Handling
Deployed applications must serve both Vue SPA routes and Laravel API routes. Consider denoting routes for optimized handling by the relevant server components.
Caching
Speed up responses using HTTP caching for static Vue assets. For dynamic routes, pagination or authentication consider cache configuration.
Error Handling
Ensure robust, user-friendly error pages are shown for API and application errors with proper status codes.
Environment Configuration
Secure environment variables for deployed databases, passwords etc. Verify third party credentials still function as expected.
Automate Deployment
Set up a CI/CD pipeline with tools like GitLab/GitHub Actions to automatically deploy on code changes using shared hosting services like Laravel Forge or Docker.
Proper consideration of architecture and dependencies ensures smooth operations post-deployment.
Conclusion
Whether the need is for user authentication, database handling, file uploads, APIs or testing – well-designed packages from trusted vendors solve common problems collaboratively. They allow a focus on creating unique frontend experiences instead of expending effort reinventing core functionality. Adopting packages also maintains consistency with Laravel’s philosophy of readability and stability as projects evolve.
At the same time, the interoperable nature of these integrations ensures a clean separation between concerns. Backend logic remains decoupled from the frontend interface code. This modular approach makes applications more organized, adaptable, and scalable to change.
Choosing the right packages that leverage complementary technologies like Vue strategically enhances developer productivity. Projects can be delivered at a faster pace while still meeting high standards for security, performance, and robustness. The end result for users is a smoother experience engaging with fully-featured applications built efficiently.
