MvvmBlazor
A lightweight MVVM framework for building Blazor WebAssembly and Blazor Server applications.
What is MvvmBlazor?
MvvmBlazor is a small framework that enables developers to build Blazor WebAssembly and Blazor Server applications using the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) pattern. It simplifies development by providing automatic bindings, lifecycle management, and seamless integration with Blazor's component model, aiming to increase development speed while minimizing implementation effort.
Developers building Blazor applications who prefer or require the MVVM architectural pattern, particularly those looking to reduce boilerplate code and manage state and UI updates more efficiently.
Developers choose MvvmBlazor for its automatic bindings with re-rendering, source generators that reduce boilerplate, and tight integration with Blazor's dependency injection and lifecycle, offering a streamlined MVVM experience compared to manual implementations.
Overview
A lightweight Blazor Mvvm Library
Use Cases
Best For
- Building Blazor applications with complex state management that benefits from the MVVM pattern.
- Reducing boilerplate code in Blazor projects through source generators for properties and custom components.
- Implementing automatic UI updates when data changes, especially with observable collections.
- Integrating view models with Blazor's dependency injection system for scoped or transient services.
- Creating custom Blazor components that require MVVM support but must inherit from a different base class.
- Handling parameter passing and lifecycle methods in view models to mirror Blazor component behavior.
Not Ideal For
- Projects stuck on .NET versions older than .NET 6, as MvvmBlazor requires .NET 6 or higher.
- Teams preferring Blazor's standard component model without MVVM for simple, form-based applications.
- Applications integrated with other state management libraries like Fluxor, where MvvmBlazor might introduce conflicting patterns.
- Developers using IDEs with poor source generator support, as this can hinder the development experience.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Bindings automatically trigger component re-rendering when view model properties change, eliminating manual StateHasChanged calls, as shown in the ClockViewModel example with @Bind(x => x.DateTime).
Source generators auto-create properties from fields with the [Notify] attribute, cutting down repetitive INotifyPropertyChanged code, though IDE support can be spotty.
View models mirror Blazor component lifecycle methods and handle parameter passing, including type conversion via TypeConverter for strong typing, as detailed in the Parameters section.
View models are registered with Blazor's dependency injection, allowing scoped services like DbContext to be managed with component lifetimes without manual factories.
Cons
Source generators may not be recognized by some third-party IDEs, causing false errors and impairing IntelliSense, a limitation openly noted in the README.
Requires .NET 6 or newer, excluding projects on .NET Core 3.1 or .NET 5, which restricts use in legacy or upgrade-resistant environments.
Mandates observable collections and property change notifications, adding complexity for data structures that don't fit this model, and can introduce performance overhead in simple apps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
FluxorFluxor is a zero boilerplate Flux/Redux library for Microsoft .NET and Blazor.
Blazored.LocalStorageA library to provide access to local storage in Blazor applications
bUnit - a testing library for Blazor componentsbUnit is a testing library for Blazor components that make tests look, feel, and runs like regular unit tests. bUnit makes it easy to render and control a component under test’s life-cycle, pass parameter and inject services into it, trigger event handlers, and verify the rendered markup from the component using a built-in semantic HTML comparer.
Blazor-StateA Blazor State management library by TimeWarp.
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