Nuxt.js, an open source framework for creating universal Vue.js applications, just reached their 1.0 release. Nuxt.js claims to make it simple and fast to create a Vue.js application that can be run as a server side rendered application, as a single page application, or a statically generated website.

Nuxt.js abstracts away the details of server/client distribution, allowing developers to focus on application development. The framework presets all of the configuration needed to make a Vue.js application seamlessly render on the server, while also handling hydration of the application as a single page application on the client after the initial page load.

Nuxt.js also provides a range of useful tooling out of the box including asynchronous data management, middleware, and layouts. The framework automatically generates a webpack config utilizing vue-loader and babel-loader to handle bundling, code-splitting, and minification. The framework can be utilized either as a standalone application or integrated as a library into existing node.js applications.

Nuxt.js has been under development since the October 2016 release of Next.js, a similar framework focused on React development. These frameworks aim to take some of the configuration and hassle out of configuring server-side rendering for advanced JavaScript frameworks like React and Vue.

In an article about Nuxt.js on CSS Tricks, Sarah Drasner praised Nuxt for the way it easily integrates server side rendering, automatic code splitting, a powerful routing system, easy page transitions, and Vue file based pages and layouts, all out of the box.

Nuxt.js comes with a plugin system for integrating external JavaScript libraries that need access to the application lifecycle, and a flexible module system for reuse of more complicated functionality. There is also an active community developing Open Source modules and extensions for rapid integration into Nuxt.js applications.

In the release blog post, Nuxt.js founder and core developer Sebastien Chopin indicated that the Nuxt.js team is now focused on improving the documentation and community resources:

We plan to add tutorials and videos to help on-boarding users. We will also finish our new tool create-nuxt-app to centralise all the starter templates.

Developers looking to get started can learn about the capabilities, architecture, and high level thinking in the Nuxt.js guide, walk through a detailed tutorial on Sitepoint, or dig through the details of the API documentation.