Content Index
I quickly wanted to share my opinion on Laravel Livewire Volt, this technology that Laravel offers us. It's not mandatory yet; at least, it suggests it when creating a Livewire project, asking if you want to use it or not. Once chosen, it installs it and uses it from there on.
Basically, Volt allows you to create both the logic and the visual part—the interface—in a single Blade file. It functions like a component in Vue, where the logic and the view coexist in the same file.
use function Livewire\Volt\{state};
state(['count' => 0]);
$increment = fn () => $this->count++;
?>
<div>
<h1>{{ $count }}</h1>
<button wire:click="increment">+</button>
</div>My Opinions on Volt
- Hinders readability: By having denser files that combine the Blade and the control layer, the code becomes more complicated to read, especially in large projects.
- Hinders maintenance: You can have traditional Livewire components or ones using Volt, which creates the same problem as anonymous components in Laravel: bifurcations within the project without a clear reason.
- Unnecessary bifurcation: The same component can exist in your project with two files: the Blade and its separate class, or everything in a single file. This might depend on the number of lines, but it's subjective: how many lines are too many? How many are few? The logic might be small, but the view can be extensive, and that can cause confusion about whether you should split the file or not.
- Inconsistency in the component pattern: Personally, I prefer that all components follow the same pattern, instead of having some in a single file and others split up. This is a matter of taste, but I believe it adds more clarity and consistency to the project.
- Issues with anonymous components: Anonymous components are Blade files that have no additional logic. They are useful for simple elements, like buttons, but it is sometimes confusing to identify whether a component has a class behind it or is totally anonymous. This creates a degree of uncertainty when reading or maintaining the code.
Conclusion
I'm not saying that Laravel Livewire Volt is a bad technology or that it should be avoided, but I believe it can generate confusion and maintenance difficulties in some projects. I simply wanted to share my opinion and the reasons why I personally don't usually use Volt in all my developments.