TechFindings

I have an application written in AngularJS (v1) that I keep adding things to. Nowadays I prefer to write new code for Vue.js rather than AngularJS but rewriting the entire AngularJS application is out of the question.

However, when the need shows up for a new Page (controller in AngularJS) it is quite simple to write a Vue-component instead.

The AngularJS-html looks like this:

<div ng-if="page.showVue" id="{{ page.getVueId() }}"></div>

You may not have exactly “page” but if you have an AngularJS-application you know how to do this.

Your parent Angular controller needs to initiate Vue.

page.showVue = true;
var vue      = null;
var vueid    = null;

page.getVueId = function() {
    if ( !vueid ) {
        vueid = 'my_vue_component_id';
        var vueload = {
            el: '#' + vueid,
            template : '<my_vue_component />',
            data : {}
        };
        $timeout(function() {
            vue = new Vue(vueload);
        });
    }
    return vueid;
};

At some point you may navigate away from this vue page and then you can run the code:

vue.$destroy();
page.showVue = false;
vue          = null;
vueid        = null;

The way everything works is that when Angular wants to “show Vue” it sets page.showVue=true. This in turn activates the div, which needs an ID. The call to page.getVueId() will generate a Vue component (once), but initiate it only after Angular has shown the parent div with the correct id (thanks to $timeout).

You may use a router or have several different Vue-pages in your Angular-application and you obviously need to adjust my code above for your purposes (so every id is unique, and every component is initatied once).

I suppose (but I have not tried) that it is perfectly fine to have several different Vue-components mounted on different places in your Angular application. But I think you are looking for trouble if you want Vue to use (be a parent for) Angular controllers or directives (as children).

Vue.js is small enough that this will come at a quite acceptable cost for your current Angular application and it allows you to write new pages or parts in Vue in an existing AngularJS application.