There are so many tools out there for deploying and building large scalable ready apps. And sometimes is a ‘simple’ website not enough. In this tutorial we're going to use HTML, CSS(LESS) and Javascript for frontend, backend and deployment. But server deployments is on Mac. Some tasks might work similar on Ubuntu.

• Frontend
  • MVVM VueJS (0.12.7)
  • Bootstrap (v3.3.5)
  • LESS (2.5.1)
• Backend
  • ExpressJS (4.13.0)
• Deployment
  • Bower
  • Gulp (The streaming build system)
    • LESS
    • Browserify
    • Sourcemaps
    • etc.
• Server Deployment (once)
  • Brew (for Mac)
    • NPM (2.11.2)
    • Node (v0.12.5)
  • Node (npm install -g)
    • express-generator
    • gulp
    • bower
    • browserify
    • livereload

Server installations

Server installations usually happen once. What’s done is done and we can move on deploying for the web.

Install Brew for Mac

I recommend to use Brew for your developing environment. To install Node and such unix-like dependencies, such as NodeJS, Nginx, Apache, etc.

Installing Homebrew from the terminal

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

If ruby -e command not working for you, you should install XCode first from the App Store. This will help install Brew on your Mac

Check your brew health with:

brew doctor

If you installed a brew formula for example gettext, link it with brew link <formula>:

brew link gettext

More info about Brew for Mac

Install NPM and Node

The NPM is the package manager for Node / Javascript.
It's scary at first if you’re used to PHP, but it’s really great and small for the tasks you’re going to love.

brew install npm

This will install node and npm.

Check your installation:

npm -v and node -v

Mine will say: 2.11.2 and v0.12.5

Node Global Installation

Since we’ve installed Brew on Mac we don’t need sudo for our development environment when we want to install Node dependencies globally with npm install -g.

In bash terminal type this to install node dependencies globally.

npm install -g express-generator
npm install -g gulp
npm install -g bower
npm install -g browserify
npm install -g livereload

[TODO: Add here node dependencies descriptions]

One line single run:

npm install -g express-generator gulp bower browserify livereload

Deploy ExpressJS Project

As you know, we can use a generator to deploy our first Express app. Since I’m fan of LESS and Handlebars we run a command with extra flags.

express --hbs --css less --git vue-express-deployment

--hbs add handlebars engine support

--css less add stylesheet LESS engine support

--git add .gitignore

Then follow it's instruction.

# install dependencies:
cd vue-express-deployment && npm install

# run the app:
DEBUG=vue-express-deployment:* npm start

Express Generator version: 4.13.1

express -V

Initiate Git

For any project you should initiate git. Luckily the engine already give us some config for .gitignore file.

A collection of useful .gitignore templates

# Initiate Git
git init

# add .gitignore and commit
git add .gitignore  
git commit -avm "INIT .gitignore - vue-express-deployment"

# add current structure
git add .
git commit -avm "INIT default file structure ExpressJS ~4.13.1 with Handlebars Less support"

Optional: You can Github or BitBucket service in your repository

git remote add origin https://github.com/HariantoAtWork/vue-express-deployment.git
git push -u origin master

Add Handlebars Partial view configuration

Let’s edit app.js and add lines

var hbs = require('hbs');
hbs.registerPartials(__dirname + '/views/partials');

So it look like

var path = require('path');
var favicon = require('serve-favicon');
var logger = require('morgan');
var cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var hbs = require('hbs');

var routes = require('./routes/index');
var users = require('./routes/users');

var app = express();

// view engine setup
hbs.registerPartials(__dirname + '/views/partials');
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));
app.set('view engine', 'hbs');


/*
…
etc.
…
*/

Developing directory

For your developing assets let’s make your project well structured. Of course you can change whatever you think is good for your project. So here is mine:

/  resources
   /  util
   /  js
      /  lib
      /  vue
         /  component
         /  route
         - app.vue.js
   /  less
      /  init
         - variables.less
         - mixins.less
      /  base
         - base.less
         - layout.less
      /  util
         - util.less
      /  bootstrap
         - variables.less
         - bootstrap.less
      - app.bootstrap.less
   /  bower_components
      /  bootstrap
         /  dist
            /  js
               - bootstrap.js
               - bootstrap.min.js
            /  less
               - alerts.less
               - badges.less
               - bootstrap.less
               …
               …
               - variables.less
               - wells.less
      /  jquery
         /  dist
            - jquery.js
            - jquery.min.js
   /  vendor
      /  hariantoatwork
         /  vue-express-deployment
         /  gulp-laravel-deployment
         /  grunt-laravel-deployment
      /  other-developer
         /  webscraping
         /  unique-slapping
      /  another-github
      /  another-bitbucket

I place all my frontend related files in /resources. And any backend related files on: /resources/util

Working on layout

Creating .hbs partial views

Let’s create some partial views and connect them in layout.hbs.

file: /views/partials/­header.hbs

	<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge" />
	<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
	<link rel="stylesheet" href="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/normalize/3.0.3/normalize.css" />
	<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://designmodo.github.io/Flat-UI/dist/css/flat-ui.min.css" />
	<link rel="stylesheet" href="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.3.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" />
	<link rel="stylesheet" href="/fonts/Oswald/Oswald.css" />

file: /views/partials/­script.hbs

	<script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.4/jquery.min.js"></script>
	<script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.11.4/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>
	<script src="http://designmodo.github.io/Flat-UI/dist/js/flat-ui.min.js"></script>
	<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/vue/0.12.7/vue.min.js"></script>
	<script src="/javascripts/app.browserify.js"></script>

To connect partials you add them with {{>partialname}}.
In this case it’s {{>header}} and {{>script}}

file: /views/­layout.hbs

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>{{title}}</title>
{{>header}}
    <link rel='stylesheet' href='/stylesheets/style.css' />
  </head>
  <body>
    {{{body}}}
{{>script}}
  </body>
</html>

Set up a quick template

A quick template to make sure if everything is alright on this point.

file: /views/­index.hbs

<div class="mizu-container" id="app">
	<header class="mizu-header">The header</header>
	<div class="mizu-body">
		<main class="mizu-content">
			<h1>{{title}}</h1>
			<p>Welcome to {{title}}</p>
		</main>
		<nav class="mizu-nav">
			Navigation
		</nav>
		<aside class="mizu-ads">
			Advertisement
		</aside>
	</div>
	<footer class="mizu-footer">The Footer</footer>
</div>

file: /public/stylesheets/­style.less

/* mixin */
.flex() {
	display: -webkit-box;      /* OLD - iOS 6-, Safari 3.1-6 */
	display: -moz-box;         /* OLD - Firefox 19- (buggy but mostly works) */
	display: -ms-flexbox;      /* TWEENER - IE 10 */
	display: -webkit-flex;     /* NEW - Chrome */
	display: flex;             /* NEW, Spec - Opera 12.1, Firefox 20+ */
}

.flex--column() {
	-webkit-box-orient: vertical;
	-webkit-box-direction: normal;
	-webkit-flex-direction: column;
		-ms-flex-direction: column;
			flex-direction: column;
}

.flex--row() {
	-webkit-box-orient: horizontal;
	-webkit-box-direction: normal;
	-webkit-flex-direction: row;
		-ms-flex-direction: row;
			flex-direction: row;
}

.flex-flex(@flex: 1) {
	-webkit-box-flex: @flex;      /* OLD - iOS 6-, Safari 3.1-6 */
	-moz-box-flex: @flex;         /* OLD - Firefox 19- */
	-webkit-flex: @flex;          /* Chrome */
	-ms-flex: @flex;              /* IE 10 */
	flex: @flex;    
}

.flex-content(@content) {
	-webkit-justify-content: @content;
	-ms-flex-pack: @content;
	justify-content: @content;
}

.text-overflow(@val: ellipsis) {
	text-overflow: @val;
}

.filter(@val: blur(5px)) {
	-webkit-filter: @val;
	-moz-filter:    @val;
	-o-filter:      @val;
	-ms-filter:     @val;
	filter:         @val;
}
.transition(@type:all, @duration:.4s, @ease:ease-out) when not (@type = all) {
	    -ms-transition:     -ms-@type @duration @ease;
	   -moz-transition:    -moz-@type @duration @ease;
	-webkit-transition: -webkit-@type @duration @ease;
	        transition:         @type @duration @ease;
}

.transform(...) {
  -webkit-transform: @arguments;
     -moz-transform: @arguments;
      -ms-transform: @arguments;
       -o-transform: @arguments;
          transform: @arguments;
}

.gradient(...) {
	background: -webkit-linear-gradient(@arguments); /* For Safari 5.1 to 6.0 */
	background:    -moz-linear-gradient(@arguments); /* For Firefox 3.6 to 15 */
	background:      -o-linear-gradient(@arguments); /* For Opera 11.1 to 12.0 */
	background:         linear-gradient(@arguments); /* Standard syntax */
}

/* END mixin */

/* util */
.u-box {
	.flex();
}

.u-box--column {
	.flex--column();
}

.u-box--row {
	.flex--row();
}

.u-box-flex {
	.flex-flex(1);
}

.u-relative {
	position: relative;
}
.u-absolute {
	position: absolute;
}
.u-absolute-full {
	position: absolute;
	top:0;
	bottom: 0;
	left: 0;
	right: 0;
	height: 100%;
}
.u-hidden {
	display: none;
}

.u-overflow {
	overflow: hidden;
	&-x {
		overflow-x: scroll;
		overflow-y: hidden;
		-webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch;
		-webkit-transform: translateZ(0px);
		-webkit-transform: translate3d(0,0,0);
		-webkit-perspective: 1000;
	}

	&-y {
		overflow-x: hidden;
		overflow-y: scroll;
		-webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch;
		-webkit-transform: translateZ(0px);
		-webkit-transform: translate3d(0,0,0);
		-webkit-perspective: 1000;
	}
}

.u-text-overflow {
	white-space: nowrap;
	.text-overflow();
}

.u-height {
	height: 100%;
}
/* END util */

/* base */
html {
	font-family: Oswald,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;
	font-size: 62.5%; // reset makes 1.0rem equals to 10px;
}

body {
	font-size: 1.6rem;
}
/* END base */

/* layout */
body {
	min-height: 100vh;
}

.mizu-container {
	.flex();
	.flex--column();
	min-height: 100vh;
}

.mizu-header,
.mizu-footer {
	background-color: #646065;
	color: white;
	height: 50px;
}


.mizu-body {
	.flex();
	.flex--column();
}

.mizu-content {
	color: #766561;
	background-color: #CBCBCB;
}

.mizu-nav {
	order: -1;
	color: #EDE8E1;
	background-color: #D2C4BE;
}

.mizu-ads {
	color: #EDE8E1;
	background-color: #D2C4BE;
}

@media (min-width: 768px) {
	.mizu-body {
		.flex--row();
		.flex-flex(1)
	}
	.mizu-content {
		.flex-flex(1)
	}
	.mizu-nav, .mizu-ads {
		/* 12em is the width of the columns */
		.flex-flex(0 0 12em)
	}
}
/* END layout */

Run the Node app

Let's run and check the app on your browser.

DEBUG=vue-express-deployment:* npm start  

http://localhost:3000

It's possible to start different port without editting the config file. This is possible because /bin/www file, has process.env.PORT.

run: PORT=8080 npm start

At this point when viewing the web the /public/stylehseets/­style.less being automatically compiled to style.css.

Create ‘Resource’ file structure

Remember the folder structure I mentioned?

\  resources\less
   \  init
      - mixin.less
   \  base
      - base.less
      - layout.less
   \  util
      - util.less
   - app.bootstrap.less

Let’s separate the large code less file from /public/stylesheets/­style.less into smaller chunks of files according the folder structure above.

file: /resources/less/­app.bootstrap.less

@import 'init/mixin';
@import 'base/base';
@import 'base/layout';
@import 'util/util';

Make sure we connect /public/stylesheets/­style.less too by replacing all lines to this:

@import '../../resources/less/app.bootstrap.less';

Bower

Bower - A package manager for the web

Set path Bower dependencies installation

We’re going to set up the path for Bower dependencies before we continue or they will install in the default directory bower_components. First we must create a file .bowerrc.
with

{
  "directory": "resources/bower_components"
}

Initialise Bower

We need to initiate the file for Bower. So we could save dependencies and download it back when we have to.

To initialise Bower from you project’s directory run:

bower init

and follow the instructions. The command will create your bower.json file, necessary for any Front End needs.

? May bower anonymously report usage statistics to improve the tool over time? (Y/n) : n

? name: (public) : vue-express-deployment

? version: (0.0.0) : Enter

? description: Deployment workflow for Vue Express Browserify Bootstrap LESS Gulp CDN

? main file: gulpfile.js

? what types of modules does this package expose?

  ◯ amd

  ◯ es6

  ◯ globals

❯◯ node

  ◯ yui

? keywords: VueJS, Express, Bootstrap, LESS, Gulp, Browserify, mdstn.com, mizu.work

? authors: Harianto van Insulinde

? license: (MIT) : CC-BY-4.0

? homepage: mizu.work or mdstn.com

? set currently installed components as dependencies? (Y/n) :Enter

? add commonly ignored files to ignore list? (Y/n) :Enter

? would you like to mark this package as private which prevents it from being accidentally published to the registry? (y/N) : y

? Looks good? (Y/n) :Enter

{
  "name": "vue-express-deployment",
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "homepage": "https://github.com/HariantoAtWork/vue-express-deployment",
  "authors": [
    "Harianto van Insulinde <hariantoatwork@gmail.com>"
  ],
  "description": "Deployment workflow for Vue Express Browserify Bootstrap LESS Gulp CDN",
  "main": "gulpfile.js",
  "keywords": [
    "VueJS",
    "Bootstrap",
    "LESS",
    "Gulp",
    "Browserify",
    "mdstn.com",
    "mizu.work"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "ignore": [
    "**/.*",
    "node_modules",
    "bower_components",
    "resources/bower_components",
    "test",
    "tests"
  ]
}

When you set .bowerrc correctly, you'll see the path:
resources/bower_components is in the ignore, which is good.

At this point you should add resources/bower_components in your .gitignore

Frontend dependencies

We'll be using Bootstrap and jQuery so let's install them with Bower.

Now run:

bower install -S bootstrap

The -S|--save flag will save the dependency in the bower.json file and later you can just run bower install to replicate the exact front-end dependencies of your project. If you're not one of those guys paranoid about github just dying one day and our poor selves left without our packages, you can freely add bower_components to your .gitignore file and just track bower.json.

I know you noticed already; I'm forgetting about jQuery. But actually we already got it. In its bower.json file Bootstrap defines that it depends on jQuery, so it got automatically pulled in together with Bootstrap.

Read more information about bower on http://bower.io

Here's how our components folder turned out (only the parts that concern us):

/  resources/bower_components
   /  bootstrap
      /  dist
         /  js
            - bootstrap.js
            - bootstrap.min.js
         /  less
            - alerts.less
            - badges.less
            - bootstrap.less
            …
            …
            - variables.less
            - wells.less
   /  jquery
      /  dist
         - jquery.js
         - jquery.min.js

Clone Twitter Bootstrap parts

Luckily Twitter Bootstrap has LESS files we can use in our workflow. We don't need to clone the whole directory, just a couple of files and change their paths to make LESS work.

Let’s create a directory bootstrap in our less.

You can run patch_bootstrap_less.sh script below to skip this part of the guide.

­

path: /resources/less/­bootstrap/

And have a file structure like this

/  resources/less/bootstrap
   - variables.less
   - bootstrap.less

You can copy bootstrap.less from Bootstrap and rename it to /resources/less/bootstrap/bootstrap.less

You can copy variables.less from Bootstrap and put it to /resources/less/bootstrap/variables.less

The stylesheets that are common to both the backend and front end are in bootstrap.less. That's also the file where we include all the components from Bootstrap we need. It will go something like this:

The file /resources/less/bootstrap/bootstrap.less:

// Core variables and mixins
@import "variables.less";
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/mixins.less";

// Reset
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/normalize.less";
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/print.less";

// Core CSS
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/scaffolding.less";
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/type.less";
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/code.less";
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/grid.less";
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/tables.less";
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/forms.less";
@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/buttons.less";
/*  
…
…
*/

If you already copy the (bower_components Bootstrap) bootstrap.less to (resources/less Bootstrap) bootstrap.less, make sure you correct the path like the script above

By commenting in/out a line, is much easier to enable/disable Bootstrap module

Make sure you copy your (bower_components) Bootstrap glyphicons in the public folder:
public/fonts/glyphicons/

Search @icon-font-path: "../fonts/"; and replace the path with: /fonts/glyphicons/.

The file /resources/less/bootstrap/variables.less:

/*
…
…
*/
@icon-font-path: "/fonts/glyphicons/"
/*
…
…
*/

script

Or use this script below to do the folder creating, files copying and change paths

#!/bin/sh
### Script created by @HariantoAtWork
### Date 2015-07-17

# PATHS

ROOT_DIR=`pwd`  
RESOURCES_DIR=$ROOT_DIR/resources  
RESOURCES_ASSETS=$RESOURCES_DIR  #/Editable

BOWER_COMPONENTS=$RESOURCES_ASSETS/bower_components  
BOOTSTRAP_LESS=$BOWER_COMPONENTS/bootstrap/less  
BOOTSTRAP_FONTS=$BOWER_COMPONENTS/bootstrap/fonts

RESOURCES_LESS_BOOTSTRAP=$RESOURCES_ASSETS/less/bootstrap  
PUBLIC_DIR=$ROOT_DIR/public  #Editable
PUBLIC_ASSETS=$PUBLIC_DIR   #Editable  
PUBLIC_FONTS=$PUBLIC_ASSETS/fonts  
GLYPHICONS=$PUBLIC_FONTS/glyphicons


# ACTIONS

## Create folder: bootstrap in less
mkdir -p $RESOURCES_LESS_BOOTSTRAP  
## Create glyphicons folder in public if not exist
mkdir -p $GLYPHICONS  
# copy Bootstrap fonts to pubic
cp $BOOTSTRAP_FONTS/*.* $GLYPHICONS


## reads variables.less (from Bootstrap directory), change path names and save to current directory ### Editable
sed 's|"../fonts/"|"/fonts/glyphicons/"|g' $BOOTSTRAP_LESS/variables.less > $RESOURCES_LESS_BOOTSTRAP/variables.less  
## reads bootstrap.less (from Bootstrap directory), change path names, except with the line 'variables' and save to current directory
sed '/variables/!s|@import "|@import "../../bower_components/bootstrap/less/|g' $BOOTSTRAP_LESS/bootstrap.less > $RESOURCES_LESS_BOOTSTRAP/bootstrap.less

cd $ROOT_DIR  
echo 'DONE.' 

Save this script as patch_bootstrap_less.sh and
run: . patch_bootstrap_less.sh

Let's connect bootstrap.less in our app.bootstrap.less.
Edit the file /resources/less/app.bootstrap.less:

@import 'bootstrap/bootstrap';
@import 'init/mixin';
@import 'base/base';
@import 'base/layout';
@import 'util/util';

bootstrap/bootstrap is now added

How can we make use of Bootstrap JavaScript modules? Find out more below at running gulp task.

Vue

Vue.js is a library for building modern web interfaces.
It provides data-reactive components with a simple and flexible API.

Browserify, Vue and CDNjs

We’re going to use CDNjs for Vue instead of npm install -S vue. That way we can use the benefits for loading super fast stuff and keeping our app small.
So grab the script and put in your html
(/views/partials/­script.hbs).

<script type="text/javascript" src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/vue/0.12.7/vue.min.js"></script>

so in our package.json we’re going to add some line of codes.

  "browserify-shim": {
    "vue": "global:Vue"
  },
  "browserify": {
    "transform": [
      "browserify-shim"
    ]
  }

In browserify-shim you see we grab the global variable Vue and make it accessible as vue. That way we can use require('vue') in our projects.

Let’s do that with jQuery and put them in our HTML
(/views/partials/­script.hbs)

<script type="text/javascript" src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.0.0-alpha1/jquery.min.js"></script>

Remember jQuery uses $ global variable. Let's add that to our browserify-shim to make it accesible as jquery.

file: /­package.json

/*
…
…
*/
  "browserify-shim": {
    "vue": "global:Vue",
    "jquery": "global:$"
  }
/*
…
…
*/

In most cases you want to use jquery plugins that has not support for node yet. So with browserify-shim you can have Node goodness and external Javascript.

Build rest of the example app

file: /views/­index.hbs

<div class="mizu-container" id="app">
	<header class="mizu-header">The header</header>
	<div class="mizu-body">
		<main class="mizu-content">
			<!-- Express Handle Bars -->
			<h1>{{title}}</h1>
			<p>Welcome to {{title}}</p>
			<!-- Escaped Handle Bars for Vue -->
			<div>
				<div class="input-group">
					<span class="input-group-addon">
						<span class="fa fa-comment"></span>
					</span>
					<input type="text" 
				  		   class="form-control" 
				  		   placeholder="Write a message"
				  		   v-model="msg" />
				</div>
				<p>\{{msg}}</p>
			</div>

			<section>
				<example msg="\{{msg}}" list="\{{girls}}" />
			</section>
		</main>
		<nav class="mizu-nav">
			Navigation
		</nav>
		<aside class="mizu-ads">
			Advertisement
		</aside>
	</div>
	<footer class="mizu-footer">The Footer</footer>
</div>

file: /resources/js/vue/­app.vue.js

const
	_ = require('lodash');

var app = new Vue({
	ready: function (argument) {
		console.log("app is ready")
	},

	// element
	el: "#app",
	// data
	data: {
		msg: '',
		girls: [
			{ 'name': 'Amber'     , 'age': 16 },
			{ 'name': 'Benice'    , 'age': 17 },
			{ 'name': 'Cynthia'   , 'age': 18 },
			{ 'name': 'Denise'    , 'age': 19 },
			{ 'name': 'Eva'       , 'age': 20 },
			{ 'name': 'Florence'  , 'age': 21 },
			{ 'name': 'Geneve'    , 'age': 22 },
			{ 'name': 'Hanna'     , 'age': 23 },
			{ 'name': 'Iris'      , 'age': 24 },
			{ 'name': 'Jocelyn'   , 'age': 25 },
			{ 'name': 'Karen'     , 'age': 26 },
			{ 'name': 'Lena'      , 'age': 27 },
			{ 'name': 'Marissa'   , 'age': 28 },
			{ 'name': 'Nicolette' , 'age': 29 },
			{ 'name': 'Olivia'    , 'age': 30 },
			{ 'name': 'Patricia'  , 'age': 31 },
			{ 'name': 'Quitis'    , 'age': 32 },
			{ 'name': 'Rochelle'  , 'age': 33 },
			{ 'name': 'Sandy'     , 'age': 34 },
			{ 'name': 'Tina'      , 'age': 35 },
			{ 'name': 'Uma'       , 'age': 36 },
			{ 'name': 'Victoria'  , 'age': 37 },
			{ 'name': 'Winry'     , 'age': 38 },
			{ 'name': 'Xena'      , 'age': 39 },
			{ 'name': 'Yvonne'    , 'age': 40 },
			{ 'name': 'Zabora'    , 'age': 41 },
		]
	},
	components: {
		'example': require('./component/example') 
	},
	// filters are global
	filters: {
		
	},
	// methods
	methods: {

	},
	// computed
	// computed can't pass value in HTML
	computed: {

	}
});

module.exports = app;

Don't forget to install lodash.

npm install -S lodash

Currently lodash doesn't do anything. But you could make use of it. This is just an example if you want to install packages with npm.

file: /resources/js/vue/component/­example.html

<h2>
	This is Example Component
</h2>
<p>
	Message from Parent: {{msg}}
</p>

<h2>List of girls</h2>
<div class="input-group">
	<span class="input-group-addon" id="basic-addon1"><span class="fa fa-search"></span></span>
	<input type="text" 
  		   class="form-control" 
  		   placeholder="filter girls by name"
  		   v-model="filterQuery" />
</div>

<div class="container-fluid">
	<div class="row">
		<div class="col-xs-6">Name</div>
		<div class="col-xs-6">Age</div>
	</div>
	<ul class="list-group">
		<li class="list-group-item row"
			v-repeat="list | filterGirls">
			<span class="col-xs-6">{{name}}</span>
			<span class="col-xs-6">{{age}}</span>
		</li>
	</ul>
</div>

file: /resources/js/vue/component/­example.js

var component = {
	attached: function () {
		console.log(' attached example');

	},
	props: ['msg', 'list'],
	template: require('./example.html'),
	data: function() {
		return {
			filterQuery: ''
		}
	},
	filters: {
		filterGirls: function (list) {
			if (this.filterQuery == '')  return list;

			return list.filter(function(item){
				return item.name.toLowerCase().indexOf(this.filterQuery.toLowerCase()) > -1;
			}.bind(this))
		}
	},
	methods: {

	}
}
module.exports = component;

Tasks Automation

Gulp

Let's install node dependencies for gulp

npm install --save-dev \
gulp \
gulp-less \
gulp-autoprefixer \
gulp-minify-css \
gulp-concat \
gulp-uglify \
gulp-rename \
gulp-nodemon \
gulp-livereload \
node-notifier \
browserify@10.2.6 \
browserify-shim@3.8.9 \
babelify@6 \
partialify \
vinyl-buffer \
vinyl-source-stream \
gulp-sourcemaps

Create file: /resources/util/­timer.js

var starDate = new Date();

/**
 * Add leading zeros to a string
 * @param  {Integer}
 * @param  {Word}
 * @return {String}
 */
var zeroPad = function(n,w){
  var pad = new Array(1+w).join('0');
  return (pad+n).slice(-pad.length);
}

var timer = {
	lapse: function() {
		var differentTime = (new Date()) - starDate;

		var milliseconds = Math.floor(differentTime) % 1000,
			seconds = Math.floor(differentTime / 1000) % 60,
			minutes = Math.floor(differentTime / (1000*60)) % 60,
			hours = Math.floor(differentTime / (1000*60*60));

		var output = hours+':'+zeroPad(minutes,2)+':'+zeroPad(seconds,2)+'.'+zeroPad(-milliseconds,3);
		return output;
	}
}
module.exports = timer;

file: /gulpfile.js

console.time('Loading plugins');
// --- INIT
const
	timer        = require('./resources/util/timer.js'),
// gulp
	gulp         = require('gulp'),  
	less         = require('gulp-less'), // compiles less to CSS
	autoprefix   = require('gulp-autoprefixer'), // CSS browser compatibility
	cssmin       = require('gulp-minify-css'), // minifies CSS
	concat       = require('gulp-concat'),
	uglify       = require('gulp-uglify'), // minifies JS
	rename       = require('gulp-rename'),
// server
	nodemon      = require('gulp-nodemon'),
	livereload   = require('gulp-livereload'),
	notifier     = require('node-notifier');
// browserify goodies
var browserify   = require('browserify'),
	babelify     = require('babelify'),
	partialify   = require('partialify'),
	buffer       = require('vinyl-buffer'),
	source       = require('vinyl-source-stream');
	sourcemaps   = require('gulp-sourcemaps');
console.timeEnd('Loading plugins');


// Paths variables
var paths = {  
	'resources': {
		'less'             : './resources/less/',
		'js'               : './resources/js/',
		'bower_components' : './resources/bower_components/',
		'vendor'           : './resources/vendor/' // front-end(css/js) things that has not yet Bower support
	},
	'public': {
		'css'              : './public/stylesheets/',
		'js'               : './public/javascripts/'
	}

};

var mix = {
	/**
	 * Get a standard Browserify stream.
	 *
	 * @param {string|array} src
	 * @param {object}       options
	 */
	browserify: function (src, options) {
		var stream = browserify(src, options);

		stream.transform(babelify, { stage: 0 });
		stream.transform(partialify);

		return stream.bundle();
	}
}

// --- TASKS
// CSS bootstrap
gulp.task('less:bootstrap', function() {  
  // place code for your default task here
  // destination folder: /assets/css/ 
  return gulp.src(paths.resources.less+'app.bootstrap.less') // get file
	.pipe(less())
	.pipe(autoprefix({ browsers: ['last 4 versions'] }))
	.pipe(gulp.dest(paths.public.css)) // output: app.bootstrap.css
	.pipe(cssmin({keepSpecialComments:0}))
	.pipe(rename({suffix: '.min'}))
	.pipe(gulp.dest(paths.public.css)); // output: app.bootstrap.min.css
});

// JS bower_components
gulp.task('js:bower_components', function(){  
  return gulp.src([
		// jquery
		paths.resources.bower_components+'jquery/dist/jquery.js',
		// twitter bootstrap javascript modules
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/affix.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/alert.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/button.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/carousel.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/collapse.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/dropdown.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/modal.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/popover.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/scrollspy.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/tab.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/tooltip.js',
		paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/js/transition.js',
		// twitter bootstrap all
		//paths.resources.bower_components+'bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.js',
	])
	.pipe(concat('bower_components.min.js'))
	.pipe(sourcemaps.init({loadMaps: true}))
	.pipe(uglify())
	.pipe(sourcemaps.write('./'))
	.pipe(gulp.dest(paths.public.js)); // destination: /public/javascripts/bower_components.min.js
});

// Browserify
gulp.task('js:browserify', function() {  
  mix.browserify(paths.resources.js+'/vue/app.vue.js')
	.pipe(source('app.browserify.js'))
	.pipe(buffer())
	.pipe(sourcemaps.init({loadMaps: true}))
	.pipe(uglify())
	.pipe(sourcemaps.write('./'))
	.pipe(gulp.dest(paths.public.js)); // destination: /public/javascripts/app.browserify.js
});


// --- WATCH
// Rerun the task when a file changes
gulp.task('watch', function() {  
  gulp.watch(
	  [paths.resources.less+'*.less', // files contain .less
	   paths.resources.less+'**/*.less'], // sub directories with files contain .less
	  ['less:bootstrap']); // run parallel gulp tasks on change
  gulp.watch(
	  [paths.resources.js+'*.js', // files contain .js
	   paths.resources.js+'**/*.js', // sub directories with files contain .js
	   paths.resources.js+'**/*.html'], // sub directories with files contain .js
	  ['js']); // run parallel gulp tasks on change
});

// --- RELOAD
/**
 * Reload: Livereload
 */
gulp.task('reload:browser', function(){
	var options = {
		// base will check changes on 'public' folder
		base: "public"
	};
	livereload.listen(options);
	gulp.watch([
			'public/**/*.html', 
			'views/*.hbs', 
			'views/**/*.hbs', 
			'public/**/*.css'
		])
		.on('change', function(event){
			livereload.changed(event);
			notifier.notify({ message: timer.lapse()+': Browser refreshed' });
		});
});

/**
 * Reload: Node server
 */
gulp.task('reload:server', function(){
	nodemon({ 
		script: './bin/www', 
		ext: 'js', 
		watch: ['app.js','public/js/', 'resources', 'routes'] })
		.on('change', function (event) {
			notifier.notify({ message: timer.lapse()+': Node CHANGE: '+event });
		})
		.on('start', function (event) {
			notifier.notify({ message: timer.lapse()+': Node start' });
			setTimeout(function(){
				livereload.changed('/');
				notifier.notify({ message: timer.lapse()+': Livereload: Node start' });
			}, 1000);
		})
		.on('restart', function (event) {
			notifier.notify({ message: timer.lapse()+': Node restarted' });
			setTimeout(function(){
				livereload.changed('/');
				notifier.notify({ message: timer.lapse()+': Livereload: Node restart' });
			}, 1000);
		});
});



// --- COMBINED TASKS
gulp.task('less', ['less:bootstrap']);  
gulp.task('js', ['js:bower_components','js:browserify']);
gulp.task('reload', ['reload:server', 'reload:browser']);

// --- DEFAULT
// When you run only with: `gulp`
gulp.task('default', ['watch', 'less', 'js']);  

Options to run:


gulp watch

gulp less

gulp less:bootstrap

gulp js

gulp js:bower_components

gulp js:browserify

gulp reload

gulp reload:server

gulp reload:browser

gulp default

gulp default reload

File structure when files getting exported after gulp default reload run

/  public
  /  stylesheets
     - app.bootstrap.css
     - app.bootstrap.min.css
  /  javascripts
     - bower_components.min.js
     - bower_components.min.js.map
     - app.browserify.js
     - app.browserify.js.map

Check my Github: vue-express-deployment repository