Hello world tutorial

Learn the basics of Aurelia by building an interactive Hello, World! application from scratch

Build your first Aurelia app in 10 minutes! This complete guide takes you from zero to a working interactive application with live data binding.

What You'll Build

An interactive hello world app where typing in a text field instantly updates the greeting. No page refreshes, no complex setup - just pure Aurelia magic.

Prerequisites

• Recent version of Node.js installed

• Basic knowledge of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS

Step 1: Create Your Project

Open your terminal and create a new Aurelia project:

npx makes aurelia

When prompted:

• Project name: hello-world

• Setup: Choose TypeScript or ESNext (JavaScript)

• Install dependencies: yes

Navigate to your project and start the development server:

cd hello-world
npm start

A browser window opens showing "Hello World". Congratulations! You just ran your first Aurelia app.

Step 2: Understand the Basics

Aurelia apps are built with components that have two parts:

• View-model (.ts/.js): Your logic and data

• View (.html): Your template

Open src/my-app.ts to see your first view-model:

export class MyApp {
  message = 'Hello World!';
}

And src/my-app.html for the view:

<div class="message">${message}</div>

The ${message} syntax is string interpolation - it displays the value from your view-model.

Step 3: Create an Interactive Component

Let's build something more interesting. Create a new component for personalized greetings.

Create src/hello-name.ts:

export class HelloName {
  name = 'World';
}

Create src/hello-name.html:

<div>
  <h2>Hello, ${name}!</h2>
  <p>
    <label>Enter your name:</label>
    <input type="text" value.bind="name">
  </p>
</div>

The magic is in value.bind="name" - this creates two-way binding between the input and your view-model property. Change one, and the other updates automatically.

Step 4: Use Your Component

Update src/my-app.html to use your new component:

<import from="./hello-name"></import>

<div class="app">
  <h1>My Aurelia App</h1>
  <hello-name></hello-name>
</div>

The <import> element tells Aurelia to load your component. The <hello-name> tag renders it.

Step 5: Test Your App

Save your files and watch the browser automatically refresh. You'll see:

• A heading that says "Hello, World!"

• A text input with "World" pre-filled

• As you type in the input, the heading updates instantly

That's it! You've built a reactive Aurelia application with:

• Custom components

• Data binding

• Real-time updates

Key Concepts You Learned

1. Components: Building blocks made of view-models and views

2. String Interpolation: ${property} displays data in templates

3. Two-way Binding: value.bind keeps input and data synchronized

4. Component Registration: <import> and custom element tags

5. Conventions: File names become component names

Next Steps

Ready to dive deeper? Explore:

• Template Syntax - loops, conditionals, and more bindings

• Component Lifecycle - hooks for advanced behavior

• Dependency Injection - sharing services between components

• Router - multi-page applications

The fundamentals you learned here apply to every Aurelia app you'll build. Start experimenting and see what you can create!