Vite with Preact Tutorial

Introduction

The goal of this tutorial is to introduce you to the powerful combination of Vite and Preact. Vite is a modern and fast web development build tool, while Preact is a fast, 3kb alternative to React with the same modern API. You'll learn why these tools are used together and how they can enhance your web development process.

By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

• Understand the benefits of using Vite and Preact together
• Set up a new project using Vite and Preact
• Create a simple app using these tools

Prerequisites:

• Basic understanding of JavaScript and web development
• Node.js and npm installed on your machine

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Installing Vite

To get started, you need to install Vite globally on your machine using the following npm command:

bash npm install -g create-vite

1. Creating a New Vite-Preact Project

With Vite installed, you can now create a new Vite-Preact project:

bash create-vite my-vite-project --template preact

This command creates a new project in a folder called my-vite-project with a template for Preact.

1. Understanding the Project Structure

Your new project will have a structure similar to:

my-vite-project ├── index.html ├── package.json ├── src │ ├── app.jsx │ └── index.css └── vite.config.js

The src directory contains the main app file (app.jsx) and the styles (index.css). The vite.config.js is where you can add Vite configuration options.

1. Running the Vite Server

Navigate to your project's directory and start the Vite server:

bash cd my-vite-project npm run dev

This will start the development server at http://localhost:5000.

1. Building for Production

To build your application for production, run:

bash npm run build

This will create a dist directory with the optimized version of your app.

Code Examples

Let's create a simple Preact component:

// src/App.jsx

import { h } from 'preact';

function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Hello, Vite and Preact!</h1>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

In this snippet, we create a functional component App that returns a simple JSX markup displaying a message. We then export this component to be used in our application.

Summary

In this tutorial, you learned about the powerful combination of Vite and Preact, how to create a new project using these tools, and how to run and build your application.

To continue learning, explore more about Vite's features such as its Hot Module Replacement and Preact's features like hooks and context API.

Additional resources:

• Vite Documentation
• Preact Documentation

Practice Exercises

1. Exercise: Create a Preact component that takes a name as a prop and displays a welcome message.

Solution:

jsx function Welcome({ name }) { return <h1>Welcome, {name}!</h1>; }

Explanation: This component accepts a name prop and uses it to display a personalized welcome message.

1. Exercise: Add CSS styling to your component using index.css.

Solution:

```jsx
// index.css

.welcome {
color: blue;
font-size: 2em;
}

// App.jsx

function Welcome({ name }) {
return

Welcome, {name}!

Explanation: We first define our styles in index.css. Then, we apply the welcome class to our Welcome component using the className attribute.

1. Exercise: Use Vite's Hot Module Replacement to update your component without refreshing the entire page.

Solution: When you run npm run dev, Vite automatically enables Hot Module Replacement. Just save your changes and see them instantly reflected in your browser.

Explanation: Vite's Hot Module Replacement (HMR) allows you to see your changes in real-time without a full page refresh, improving your development experience.