I've just finished reading the top-level set of Vue.js guides published on their documentation site. This followed a quick hands-on run through their Quick Start application and tutorial. I learned a lot about what Vue is (and just as importantly, what it is not.) As an added bonus, it hasn't been too long since I went through their Angular framework counterparts. (Shopping cart on StackBlitz, Tour of Heroes hands on, and a few developer guides.) Running through these two frameworks back-to-back lets me compare and contrast their design decisions. See how they solve the common problems web developers encounter.

Vue.js is very flexible in how it can be deployed, making it a great option for developers who find Angular's all-in-one package too constrictive for their preferences. Vue is also lighter weight: an empty Vue app is a tiny fraction of the size of equivalent empty Angular app, and this was possible because Vue is a newer framework with finer-grained modularization. Newer means there's less legacy compatibility code to carry forward, and some framework level features are no longer necessary because they are included in newer browsers. More extensive modularization means some features inherent to Angular (and thus must be part of an empty app) are optional components in Vue and can be excluded.

But such flexibility also comes with downsides for a beginner, because every "you are free to do what you want" is also a "you have to figure it out on your own." This was why I got completely lost looking at Polymer/Lit. I thought Vue occupied a good middle ground between the restrictive "do it our way" Angular design and the disorienting "do whatever you want" of Polymer/Lit. In the short term I think I will continue learning web development within Angular, because it is a well-defined system I can use. If I stick with learning web development, I expect I'll start feeling Angular's rigidity cramps my style. When that happens, I'll revisit Vue.