How to Build SPAs With Nuxt 3 and Vue 3

Building Single Page Applications (SPAs) has become increasingly popular due to their seamless user experience and rapid interactions. Leveraging modern frameworks like Nuxt 3 and Vue 3 can streamline the development process significantly. This guide outlines the key steps to build SPAs using these powerful tools.

What Are SPAs?

Single Page Applications are web apps that load a single HTML page and dynamically update that page as the user interacts with the app. Unlike traditional multi-page applications, SPAs do not require a full page reload, resulting in a smoother experience.

Why Choose Nuxt 3 and Vue 3?

Nuxt 3 is a powerful framework based on Vue 3 that simplifies the creation of Vue applications. It provides features like server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), and automatic code-splitting, which enhance performance. Vue 3, on the other hand, brings improved reactivity, better performance, and TypeScript support, making it a perfect pair with Nuxt 3.

Setting Up Your Environment

To get started, ensure you have Node.js and npm installed on your machine. You can check this by running:

node -v
npm -v

If you don’t have them installed, visit the official Node.js website to download and install the latest version.

Creating a New Project

To create a new Nuxt 3 application, you can use the following command in your terminal:

npx nuxi init my-nuxt-app

Navigate to the project directory:

cd my-nuxt-app

Next, install the necessary dependencies:

npm install

Understanding the Directory Structure

After setting up your project, you'll notice a specific directory structure:

pages/: Contains your view components. Each `.vue` file corresponds to a route in your app.
components/: Reusable Vue components can be stored here.
layouts/: Define app layout components for structured rendering.
static/: Static assets like images, which won't be processed by Webpack.
store/: Vuex Store management for state handling.

Building Your First Page

Create a new file in the pages folder named index.vue. Open the file and add the following code:

<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Welcome to My SPA!</h1>
    <p>This is a Single Page Application built with Nuxt 3 and Vue 3.</p>
  </div>
</template>
<script setup>
// Logic can be added here using Composition API
</script>

Adding Navigation

To include navigation, create other pages like about.vue in the pages directory:

<template>
  <div>
    <h1>About Us</h1>
    <p>Learn more about our mission and vision.</p>
  </div>
</template>

Next, you can add a navigation bar in the layouts/default.vue file:

<template>
  <nav>
    <nuxt-link to="/">Home</nuxt-link>
    <nuxt-link to="/about">About</nuxt-link>
  </nav>
  <nuxt-page />
</template>

Adding Dynamic Routes

Dynamic routing is essential for any SPA. To create dynamic routes, you can create a new folder inside pages called posts and a new file called [_id].vue:

How to Build SPAs With Nuxt 3 and Vue 3