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Vue SSR Setup: Building a Server-Rendered Application

This challenge focuses on setting up a basic Server-Side Rendering (SSR) environment for a Vue.js application using TypeScript. SSR offers significant advantages in terms of initial load performance and SEO, making it a crucial skill for modern web development.

Problem Description

Your task is to create a minimal Vue.js application that can be rendered on both the server and the client. This involves configuring a build process that supports SSR, setting up a basic Node.js server to handle incoming requests, and ensuring that the Vue app correctly hydrates on the client-side.

Key Requirements:

  1. Server-Side Rendering: The Node.js server must render the Vue application to HTML for initial requests.
  2. Client-Side Hydration: The client-side JavaScript should take over the server-rendered HTML and make the application interactive without re-rendering it from scratch.
  3. TypeScript Support: The entire project, including Vue components, server code, and build configurations, must be written in TypeScript.
  4. Basic Vue Component: Include at least one simple Vue component that displays some text or data.
  5. Routing (Optional but Recommended): If you implement routing, ensure it works correctly on both server and client.

Expected Behavior:

  • When a user visits the application URL in their browser, they should see the fully rendered HTML immediately.
  • Subsequent interactions with the Vue application (e.g., clicking buttons, navigating routes if implemented) should be handled client-side without a full page reload.
  • The server should be able to handle basic requests and return the SSR'd HTML.

Edge Cases to Consider:

  • Data Fetching: How would you handle data fetching that needs to occur before rendering on the server? (This is a more advanced consideration, but be mindful of it).
  • Client-Only Logic: How would you conditionally execute code only on the client?

Examples

Example 1: Basic Rendering

Input (Simulated Browser Request): A GET request to /

Output (Server Response HTML):

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>My SSR App</title>
</head>
<body>
  <div id="app"><!-- Vue app will be mounted here --></div>
  <script src="/dist/client.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

(Note: The actual content within <div id="app"> will be the rendered HTML of your Vue component.)

Explanation: The server receives the request, renders the Vue app to HTML, injects it into a basic HTML structure, and sends it to the browser. It also includes a script tag pointing to the client-side bundle.

Example 2: Client-Side Hydration

Input (Browser receives HTML and executes client.js): The HTML from Example 1 is loaded, and client.js runs.

Output (Client-side JavaScript execution): The Vue application, initially rendered by the server, becomes interactive. If there's a counter component, incrementing it will update the UI without a new server request.

Explanation: The client-side JavaScript mounts the Vue application to the existing DOM elements generated by the server, attaching event listeners and enabling dynamic behavior.

Constraints

  • TypeScript Version: Use a recent stable version of TypeScript (e.g., 4.x or 5.x).
  • Vue Version: Use Vue 3.
  • Node.js Version: Target a recent stable version of Node.js (e.g., LTS).
  • Build Tool: You may use tools like Webpack or Vite for building your client and server bundles. Vite is generally recommended for its speed and modern approach, especially for SSR.
  • Framework Specifics: Leverage Vue's built-in SSR utilities (e.g., renderToString, createSSRApp).

Notes

  • This challenge is about the fundamental setup. You don't need to implement complex state management, full-blown routing libraries (though it's good to consider), or sophisticated data fetching strategies for this initial setup.
  • Pay close attention to the separation between server and client code, and how the build process handles them differently.
  • Consider how you'll handle context (like the app instance) on both the server and client.
  • For routing, libraries like vue-router have specific SSR integration patterns you might want to explore.
  • Error handling on the server is an important aspect of production SSR, but focus on the core rendering mechanism for this challenge.
  • The goal is to have a working, albeit simple, Vue application that demonstrates successful server rendering and client-side hydration.
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