Node.js Vash engine template in Visual Studio

02 JUNE 2015

There are several popular Node.js View engines. Shawn Wildermuth's blog post talks about a few of the Node.js view engines.

Out of all these Node.js View Engines, Vash engine offers Razor like syntax, similar to ASP.Net MVC Razor engine.

Visual Studio - IDE for building Node.js application
Visual Studio offers rich development experience for building Node.JS application. Here is how you can configure Visual Studio for Node.js app development Node.JS tools for Visual Studio. Node.js application created using Visual Studio uses Jade as the default View Engine. However one can change this anytime.

More details - Node.js with Vash + Express

As you see, there is a lot of manual efforts required - from installing vash npm module to creating layout,index pages and setting up view engine.

Visual Studio Extension for installing Vash engine templates
Here is a Visual Studio extension that I have created which will help you get started building Node.JS application using vash view engine.

Install the Node.JS Vash Engine extension You can verify if its successfully installed. Visual Studio | Tools | Extension and Updates
Click New Project and navigate to JavaScript | Node.js.
A new node "vash" under JavaScript/Node.js template would be created.

There are 2 Vash engine templates available:
1. Basic Node.js Express 4 (vash view engine)
2. Basic Azure Node.JS Express 4 (vash view engine)

Select the template of your choice and you are good to go. Please feel free to provide feedback/comments