1. Introduction

In this tutorial, we will learn how to install and configure Vue Router in a Vue.js application. Vue Router is the official router for Vue.js and it integrates seamlessly into Vue.js core. It makes building Single Page Applications with Vue.js a lot more enjoyable.

By the end of this tutorial, you will:

• Understand the basics of Vue Router
• Be able to install Vue Router in a Vue.js application
• Be able to configure Vue Router and define routes for your application

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of Vue.js.

2. Step-by-Step Guide

Installation

Firstly, you need to have a Vue.js project set up. If you don't have one, you can create a new one using Vue CLI. Once you have your project, you can install Vue Router.

npm install vue-router

Configuration

After the installation, you need to import Vue Router into your main.js file and tell Vue.js to use it.

// main.js
import Vue from 'vue'
import VueRouter from 'vue-router'

Vue.use(VueRouter)

Next, define your routes. Each route should map to a component. When a user visits a route, the corresponding component is rendered.

// main.js
const routes = [
  { path: '/', component: HomeComponent },
  { path: '/about', component: AboutComponent }
]

Finally, create the router instance and pass the 'routes' option. You can also pass additional options here, but we will focus on 'routes' for now.

// main.js
const router = new VueRouter({
  routes // short for `routes: routes`
})

Then, you tell Vue to use this router instance.

// main.js
const app = new Vue({
  router
}).$mount('#app')

3. Code Examples

Below is a complete example of what your main.js file might look like.

// main.js
import Vue from 'vue'
import VueRouter from 'vue-router'
import HomeComponent from './components/Home.vue'
import AboutComponent from './components/About.vue'

Vue.use(VueRouter)

const routes = [
  { path: '/', component: HomeComponent },
  { path: '/about', component: AboutComponent }
]

const router = new VueRouter({
  routes // short for `routes: routes`
})

const app = new Vue({
  router
}).$mount('#app')

In this code:

• We first import Vue, VueRouter, and our components.
• We tell Vue to use VueRouter.
• We define our routes, each mapping a path to a component.
• We create a new VueRouter instance with our routes.
• We create a new Vue instance and tell it to use our router.
• We mount our Vue instance to a DOM element.

4. Summary

In this tutorial, we have learned how to install and configure Vue Router in a Vue.js application. We have seen how to define routes mapping them to components and how to tell Vue to use these routes.

Next steps for learning could include learning how to use route parameters, nested routes, or programmatic navigation. You can find more information in the Vue Router documentation.

5. Practice Exercises

1. Install Vue Router in a new Vue.js project and define two routes: / and /about. Each route should render a different component. Test your application by visiting both routes.

2. Extend the application from exercise 1 by adding a navigation bar with links to both routes. Use the <router-link> component for this.

3. Extend the application from exercise 2 by adding a nested route. The nested route should be /about/team and it should render a TeamComponent.

Solutions and explanations for these exercises can also be found in the Vue Router documentation. For further practice, try to add more routes and components to your application. Also, experiment with other features of Vue Router like route parameters or programmatic navigation.