Mastering Vite for Your Future React TypeScript Project in 2024 | Quick Vite Crash Course in 15 Minutes

In this tutorial, we will be learning how to set up a Vite-powered React TypeScript project for the year 2024. Vite is a build tool that is created specifically for React projects, and it provides a fast and optimized development experience. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a fully functioning React TypeScript project set up with Vite.

Before we begin, make sure you have Node.js installed on your machine. You can download it from the official website https://nodejs.org/. We will also be using the latest versions of React, TypeScript, and Vite, so make sure your environment is up-to-date.

Step 1: Create a new React TypeScript project
To create a new React TypeScript project, we will use the create-react-app tool. Open your terminal and run the following command:

npx create-react-app my-vite-project --template typescript

This command will create a new React TypeScript project with the necessary configurations and setup. Once the project is created, navigate to the project directory:

cd my-vite-project

Step 2: Install Vite
Next, we will install Vite in our project. Vite can be installed globally or locally in your project. For this tutorial, we will install it locally using npm:

npm install vite --save-dev

This command will add Vite to your project’s development dependencies. Now Vite is ready to be used within our project.

Step 3: Configure Vite for React TypeScript
To configure Vite for our React TypeScript project, we need to create a Vite configuration file. Create a new file named vite.config.ts in the root of your project and add the following configuration:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react';
import tsconfigPaths from 'vite-tsconfig-paths';

// https://vitejs.dev/config/
export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react(), tsconfigPaths()],
});

This configuration file sets up Vite to work with React and TypeScript in our project. The @vitejs/plugin-react plugin is used to enable React support, and the vite-tsconfig-paths plugin allows Vite to resolve paths defined in the TypeScript configuration file.

Step 4: Set up scripts in package.json
To run our Vite-powered project, we need to add some scripts to our package.json file. Open the package.json file and modify the scripts section as follows:

"scripts": {
  "dev": "vite",
  "build": "vite build",
  "serve": "vite preview"
}

These scripts tell Vite to start the development server, build the project for production, and preview the production build locally.

Step 5: Start the development server
Now that everything is set up, let’s start the development server to see our project in action. Run the following command in your terminal:

npm run dev

This command will start the Vite development server, and you should see your React TypeScript project running in your browser. Any changes you make to your project will be automatically reflected in the browser without needing to refresh the page.

Congratulations! You have successfully set up a Vite-powered React TypeScript project in 2024. Vite provides a fast and optimized development experience for React projects, making it a great choice for your next project. Happy coding!