In this section, we will guide you through the process of setting up your development environment for building Vue.js applications. This includes installing necessary tools, setting up a code editor, and creating a basic project structure.

Before we start, ensure you have the following installed on your machine:

• Node.js: Vue.js requires Node.js for its build tools. You can download it from nodejs.org.
• npm: Node Package Manager (npm) comes with Node.js. It is used to install Vue CLI and other dependencies.

To check if Node.js and npm are installed, run the following commands in your terminal:

You should see the version numbers of Node.js and npm.

Vue CLI (Command Line Interface) is a powerful tool that helps you create and manage Vue.js projects. To install Vue CLI globally, run the following command:

To verify the installation, run:

You should see the version number of Vue CLI.

With Vue CLI installed, you can create a new Vue project using the following command:

You will be prompted to choose a preset. For beginners, it's recommended to select the default preset by pressing Enter.

Vue CLI will create a new directory named my-vue-app with the following structure:

Navigate to your project directory and start the development server:

You should see output similar to this:

Open your browser and go to http://localhost:8080/. You should see the default Vue.js welcome page.

While you can use any code editor, Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is highly recommended due to its rich ecosystem of extensions. You can download it from code.visualstudio.com.

• Vetur: Provides Vue.js syntax highlighting, snippets, and linting.
• ESLint: Helps maintain code quality by identifying and fixing common issues.
• Prettier: Automatically formats your code to ensure consistency.

To install these extensions, open VS Code, go to the Extensions view by clicking the Extensions icon in the Activity Bar on the side of the window, and search for the extensions by name.

To ensure your code is clean and consistent, it's a good practice to configure ESLint and Prettier. Vue CLI sets up ESLint by default, but you may need to install Prettier and configure it to work with ESLint.

First, install Prettier and the ESLint Prettier plugin:

Next, create a .prettierrc file in the root of your project with the following content:

Then, update your ESLint configuration in package.json or .eslintrc.js to include Prettier:

In this section, you have learned how to set up your development environment for Vue.js, including installing Node.js, npm, and Vue CLI, creating a new Vue project, running the development server, and setting up a code editor with useful extensions. You are now ready to start building Vue.js applications!

Next, we will dive into creating your first Vue application and understanding the basics of the Vue instance.