Laravel 5.3 JavaScript & CSS

Introduction

While Laravel does not dictate which JavaScript or CSS pre-processors you use, it does provide a basic starting point using Bootstrap and Vue that will be helpful for many applications. By default, Laravel uses NPM to install both of these frontend packages.

CSS

Laravel Elixir provides a clean, expressive API over compiling SASS or Less, which are extensions of plain CSS that add variables, mixins, and other powerful features that make working with CSS much more enjoyable.

In this document, we will briefly discuss CSS compilation in general; however, you should consult the full Laravel Elixir documentation for more information on compiling SASS or Less.

JavaScript

Laravel does not require you to use a specific JavaScript framework or library to build your applications. In fact, you don't have to use JavaScript at all. However, Laravel does include some basic scaffolding to make it easier to get started writing modern JavaScript using the Vue library. Vue provides an expressive API for building robust JavaScript applications using components.

Writing CSS

The Laravel package.json file includes the bootstrap-sass package to help you get started prototyping your application's frontend using Bootstrap. However, feel free to add or remove packages from the package.json file as needed for your own application. You are not required to use the Bootstrap framework to build your Laravel application - it is simply provided as a good starting point for those who choose to use it.

Before compiling your CSS, install your project's frontend dependencies using NPM:

npm install

Once the dependencies have been installed using npm install, you can compile your SASS files to plain CSS using Gulp. The gulp command will process the instructions in your gulpfile.js file. Typically, your compiled CSS will be placed in the public/css directory:

gulp

The default gulpfile.js included with Laravel will compile the resources/assets/sass/app.scss SASS file. This app.scss file imports a file of SASS variables and loads Bootstrap, which provides a good starting point for most applications. Feel free to customize the app.scss file however you wish or even use an entirely different pre-processor by configuring Laravel Elixir.

Writing JavaScript

All of the JavaScript dependencies required by your application can be found in the package.json file in the project's root directory. This file is similar to a composer.json file except it specifies JavaScript dependencies instead of PHP dependencies. You can install these dependencies using the Node package manager (NPM):

npm install

By default, the Laravel package.json file includes a few packages such as vue and vue-resource to help you get started building your JavaScript application. Feel free to add or remove from the package.json file as needed for your own application.

Once the packages are installed, you can use the gulp command to compile your assets. Gulp is a command-line build system for JavaScript. When you run the gulp command, Gulp will execute the instructions in your gulpfile.js file:

gulp

By default, the Laravel gulpfile.js file compiles your SASS and the resources/assets/js/app.js file. Within the app.js file you may register your Vue components or, if you prefer a different framework, configure your own JavaScript application. Your compiled JavaScript will typically be placed in the public/js directory.

lightbulb">Tip!! The app.js file will load the resources/assets/js/bootstrap.js file which bootstraps and configures Vue, Vue Resource, jQuery, and all other JavaScript dependencies. If you have additional JavaScript dependencies to configure, you may do so in this file.

Writing Vue Components

By default, fresh Laravel applications contain an Example.vue Vue component located in the resources/assets/js/components directory. The Example.vue file is an example of a single file Vue component which defines its JavaScript and HTML template in the same file. Single file components provide a very convenient approach to building JavaScript driven applications. The example component is registered in your app.js file:

Vue.component('example', require('./components/Example.vue'));

To use the component in your application, you may simply drop it into one of your HTML templates. For example, after running the make:auth Artisan command to scaffold your application's authentication and registration screens, you could drop the component into the home.blade.php Blade template:

@extends('layouts.app')

@section('content')
    <example></example>
@endsection

lightbulb">Tip!! Remember, you should run the gulp command each time you change a Vue component. Or, you may run the gulp watch command to monitor and automatically recompile your components each time they are modified.

Of course, if you are interested in learning more about writing Vue components, you should read the Vue documentation, which provides a thorough, easy-to-read overview of the entire Vue framework.