Building Modern Websites with Nuxt 4

Nuxt 4 is here, and it brings a host of improvements that make building Vue applications even more enjoyable. Let's explore what's new and how to make the most of these features.

What's New in Nuxt 4

Nuxt 4 introduces several exciting features:

• Improved Performance - Faster builds and better runtime performance
• Enhanced TypeScript Support - First-class TypeScript integration
• New File-Based Routing - More intuitive routing conventions
• Better Developer Experience - Improved error messages and debugging

Setting Up a Nuxt 4 Project

Getting started is straightforward:

npx nuxi init my-project
cd my-project
npm install
npm run dev

Project Structure

Nuxt 4 maintains the familiar structure with some refinements:

my-project/
├── app/
│   ├── components/
│   ├── composables/
│   ├── layouts/
│   ├── pages/
│   └── app.vue
├── content/
├── public/
├── nuxt.config.ts
└── package.json

Key Features to Leverage

1. Auto-Imports

Nuxt automatically imports components, composables, and utilities:

<script setup>
// No need to import ref or computed!
const count = ref(0)
const doubled = computed(() => count.value * 2)
</script>

2. File-Based Routing

Create pages simply by adding files to the pages directory:

pages/
├── index.vue        → /
├── about.vue        → /about
├── blog/
│   ├── index.vue    → /blog
│   └── [slug].vue   → /blog/:slug

3. Server Routes

Create API endpoints with the server/api directory:

// server/api/hello.ts
export default defineEventHandler((event) => {
  return { message: 'Hello from the API!' }
})

Best Practices

Here are some tips for building with Nuxt 4:

1. Use TypeScript - Take advantage of Nuxt's excellent TypeScript support
2. Leverage Composables - Extract reusable logic into composables
3. Optimize Images - Use @nuxt/image for automatic optimization
4. Configure SEO - Use useSeoMeta for better search engine visibility

Performance Tips

To maximize performance:

• Enable static site generation when possible
• Use lazy loading for components
• Implement proper caching strategies
• Optimize your images and assets

Conclusion

Nuxt 4 is a fantastic framework for building modern web applications. Its developer experience, performance, and ecosystem make it an excellent choice for projects of any size.

Happy coding!