Getting Started with SvelteKit: A Beginner-Friendly Guide

What is SvelteKit?

SvelteKit is a framework for building web applications using Svelte. It handles routing, server-side rendering, and provides an excellent developer experience out of the box.

Creating Your First SvelteKit Project

Getting started with SvelteKit is straightforward:

# Create a new project
npm create svelte@latest my-sveltekit-app

# Navigate to the project directory
cd my-sveltekit-app

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start the development server
npm run dev

File-Based Routing

SvelteKit uses a file-based routing system. Files in the src/routes directory automatically become pages:

src/routes/
├── +page.svelte        // Home page (/)
├── about/
│   └── +page.svelte    // About page (/about)
└── blog/
    ├── +page.svelte    // Blog index (/blog)
    └── [slug]/
        └── +page.svelte // Individual blog post (/blog/:slug)

Loading Data

SvelteKit makes data loading simple with +page.server.js files:

// src/routes/blog/+page.server.js
export async function load() {
  const posts = await fetchPosts()
  return { posts }
}

Then use the data in your page:

<!-- src/routes/blog/+page.svelte -->
<script>
  export let data;
  const { posts } = data;
</script>

<h1>Blog Posts</h1>
<ul>
  {#each posts as post}
    <li><a href="/blog/{post.slug}">{post.title}</a></li>
  {/each}
</ul>

Conclusion

SvelteKit provides a powerful yet simple framework for building modern web applications. This brief introduction only scratches the surface of what’s possible with SvelteKit.