Top 5 Vue.js Books for Beginners in 2023
Vue is not to be confused with a beautiful vista (or ‘view’). Vue.js is a JavaScript framework that is easy-to-read and organize.
Vue.js is a progressive framework for building user interfaces. It aims to be an approachable, versatile, performant, maintainable, and testable JavaScript framework.
In this article, we will be highlighting the best books to learn Vue.js for beginners.
Why Learn Vue?
Vue.js is a great option to learn while aiming for learning or advancing in JavaScript. Here are my couple of reasons why learning Vue.js is a great investment in your future.
Here are the top reasons you should learn Vue.js:
No build step required: Vue.js is easy to get started. You don't need to use a complex build tool. Just include a script tag pointing to the latest release for development or production, and you have access to the Vue runtime.
Amazing community: Vue.js has a strong and thriving community support. You will find great learning resources online to polish your skills.
Data binding: Vue.js automatically synchronizes the complete model with the DOM. The data flow in both directions. Hence, it supports two-way data binding.
Documentation: Documentation guides and API references of Vue.js are simpler and easier to navigate. Hence getting started is a breeze if you have some experience with JS and HTML.
A solid ecosystem: Vue provides official support for several essential add-ons.
What Makes Best Vue Books?
There are a few things to look for that can help you sort through the innumerable Vue.js books on the market.
Offer multiple approaches to learning a topic, including hands-on exercises, source code, and detailed explanations.
Chapters are written in a well structured and well-organized way.
Contents are up-to-date and thoroughly explains the basic concepts of Vue.js.
The book is written in a concise and easy to understand language.
Best Books on Vue
Here are the best books to learn Vue.js:
1. Best Book for Total Beginners: Getting to Know Vue.js: Learn to Build Single Page Applications in Vue from Scratch
Getting to Know Vue.js by Brett Nelson covers the basics of the Vue framework. The book will take you through using build tools (transpile to ES5), creating custom components, state management, and routers.
The book includes some great examples that are easily understandable. Through this book, you will be able to:
Examine Vue.js templating syntax
Work with binding methods
Manage the state of your app by comparing your options of building a data store
Adapt the more robust options compatible with Vue.js
Review different router options, including creating your router, using the Vue-router and using Page.js.
The book has 278 pages and is divided into twelve chapters.
Chapter 1 gives an introduction to Vue.js
Chapter 2 talks about the basics
Chapter 3 covers the Conditional Rendering
Chapter 4 covers Computer Properties and Watchers
Chapter 5 covers Events
Chapter 6 covers Bindings
Chapter 7 covers State Management
Chapter 8 talks about using Components
Chapter 9 covers Reusable Code
Chapter 10 covers Custom Functionality
Chapter 11 covers Tooling
Chapter 12 talks about using Routers
This book is written having a beginner in mind. You just have to roll up your sleeves and learn Vue.js from scratch.
2. Best Book for Completionists: Fullstack Vue: The Complete Guide to Vue.js, 1st Edition
Fullstack Vue by Hassan Djirdeh, Nate Murray, and Ari Lerner is a tutorial-driven book that will have you writing Vue apps in no time. The book includes many examples combined with technical explanations. It explains the concepts in a simple and understandable manner.
The book is divided into eight chapters. Every chapter focuses on a different part of the ecosystem.
Chapter 1 guides you to get started with Vue.js
Chapter 2 covers Single-file Components
Chapter 3 covers Custom Events
Chapter 4 gives the introduction to Vuex4
Chapter 5 covers Vuex and Servers
Chapter 6 talks about Form Handling
Chapter 7 covers Routing
Chapter 8 guides you on Unit Testing
Each chapter in the book comes with a complete project that uses the concepts in a practical and runnable format. This book is a must-read to master the Vue.js framework.
The great news is that you are not getting just a book, but access to live code examples.
3. Best Book for Hands-on Learners: Vue.js 2.x by Example: Example-driven guide to build web apps with Vue.js for beginners
Vue.js 2.x by Example by Mike Street is a beginner's guide to learn the fundamentals of vue.js. This book helps you to explore the exciting features of Vue.js 2 through practical and interesting examples.
The reader will study modern development tools and learn how to utilize them by building applications with Vue. Through this book, you will learn:
Looping through data with Vue.js
Searching and filtering data
Using components to display data
Getting a list of files using the Dropbox API
Navigating through a file tree and loading folders from a URL
Caching with Vuex
Pre-caching for faster navigation
Introducing vue-router and loading components
Using vue-router dynamic routes to load data
Using vue-router and Vuex to create an e-commerce store
The book is divided into twelve chapters and includes the following contents:
Chapter 1 guides you to get started with Vue.js
Chapter 2 talks about searching and filtering data
Chapter 3 talks about using components to display data
Chapter 4 talks about getting a list of files using the Dropbox API
Chapter 5 guides you to navigate through the file tree & loading folders from the URL
Chapter 6 talks about caching the current folder structure using Vuex
Chapter 7 covers pre-caching other folders for faster navigation
Chapter 8 introduces vue-router and loading URL based components
Chapter 9 talks about using vue-router dynamic routes to load data
Chapter 10 covers how to build an e-commerce store and browse products
Chapter 11 talks about building an e-commerce store and adding a checkout
Chapter 12 talks about testing your Vue app
The last section of the book gives you the building blocks of an e-commerce store. You will learn how to build a product catalog and dynamic shopping cart using the Vue-router. This book is indeed a great tutorial for beginners.
4. Best Book for Step-by-step Learners: Learning Vue.js 2: Learn how to build amazing and complex reactive web applications easily with Vue.js
Learning Vue.js 2 by Olga Filipova helps you learn how to build amazing and complex reactive web applications easily with Vue. This book provides step-by-step guidance to developing an interactive web interface from scratch with Vue.js.
It guides the reader to bring reactivity to an existing static application using Vue.js. The book teaches how to use plugins to enrich your applications and develop customized plugins to meet your needs.
The book teaches through practical instructions, examples, and exercises. It is divided into ten chapters and the contents covered are:
Chapter 1 covers the introduction of Vue.js
Chapter 2 covers the fundamentals of Vue. It further talks about installing, using, and debugging a Vue.js application
Chapter 3 guides you to understand and use the Components
Chapter 4 talks about Reactivity
Chapter 5 talks about Vuex and managing state in your application
Chapter 6 covers Plugins
Chapter 7 covers the Testing
Chapter 8 talks about Deploying
Chapter 9 talks about adding features, beautifying your application, and extending it to other devices
Chapter 10 discusses the solutions to exercises
By the end of the book, you will be able to build, test, and deploy a complete reactive application in Vue.js from scratch.
5. Best Book for Serious Learners: Vue.js: Up and Running: Building Accessible and Performant Web Apps
Vue.js: Up and Running: Building Accessible and Performant Web Apps by Callum Macrae gives an introduction to building fast, interactive single-page web applications with Vue.js. The book starts with the basics and then moves to custom components and advanced features including JSX, the JavaScript syntax extension.
Through this book, you will be able to:
Learn Vue.js basics, including its use of templates to display data on a page
Set up Vue projects from scratch, or use vue-cli to set up from a template
Create a maintainable codebase by splitting code into self-contained components
Discover how Vue.js works with CSS to style your websites and applications
Use render functions and JSX, rather than templates, to determine what Vue displays
Control how code is executed and displayed with vue-router
Manage state in one centralized place with the Vuex library
Write unit tests to ensure your Vue components don’t break in the future
The book is divided into seven chapters and includes the following contents:
Chapter 1 covers Vue.js Basics
Chapter 2 talks about components in Vue.js
Chapter 3 covers styling with Vue
Chapter 4 talks about Render Functions and JSX
Chapter 5 covers Client-Side Routing with vue-router
Chapter 6 talks about State Management with Vuex
Chapter 7 talks about Testing Vue Components
This book will show you how to develop a fully-featured web application using Vue.js.
More Ways to Learn Vue.js
By now, you must have a good idea to find the latest and best Vue.js book to match your needs. Use our picks as a guide as it’s never too late to learn Vue.
If you want to learn Vue.js through video courses, we have some suggestions for you:
Codecademy: The Vue.js course is a solid introduction to Vue fundamentals. This interactive course has you writing code and building muscle memory to get started building on your own. The Vue course is a premium (‘Pro’) offering. For more on Codecademy Pro, see my Codecademy Pro review.
Udemy: Udemy offers many good online courses for beginners. Vue - The Complete Guide by Maximilian Schwarzmüller helps you build amazing Vue.js Applications from small and simple ones up to large enterprise-level one's.
Pluralsight: We also suggest Vue.js Fundamentals course on Pluralsight. This high-rated course is designed to help you to become a skilled Vue developer.
We also suggest here over 70 online coding resources that are free online. Do check it out.
Best of luck with your Vue.js journey.
