Introducing NueJS: A Minimalist JavaScript Library for Building Web Interfaces

Overview of NueJS

NueJS is a tiny (2.3 KB min‑zipped) open‑source JavaScript library released a few months ago, already gathering over 4 k stars on GitHub. It aims to be the core of the upcoming Nue ecosystem and offers a way to build web interfaces using only HTML, CSS and basic JavaScript, without the abstractions found in Vue, React or Svelte such as hooks, props or portals.

Why it is so small

Compared with React, the same functionality can be achieved with roughly one‑tenth of the code size, because NueJS relies on an HTML‑template syntax and eliminates many framework‑level features. This results in a ten‑fold reduction in UI code and a lighter bundle.

Key characteristics

Reduces UI code by about ten times.

No hooks, effects, props, portals, or other special abstractions.

Embraces semantic, progressive‑enhancement web design.

Uses HTML‑based template syntax.

Easy to extend, supports style separation, responsive components, and multiple components per file.

Simplified toolchain: provides render for server‑side rendering and compile for generating browser components, allowing development without bundlers like Webpack or Vite.

Getting started

Clone the repository, install dependencies and run the development server:

git clone https://github.com/nuejs/create-nue.git
cd create-nue
npm install
npm run start

The project’s source files reside in the src directory and use the .nue extension (e.g., layout.nue ). VS Code requires the “Nue Language Support” extension to parse these files.

Future roadmap

The author plans additional sub‑projects such as Nue CSS, Nue MVC, Nue UI, Nuemark, and Nuekit, which together could position Nue as a viable alternative to frameworks like Vite, Next.js, and Astro.