update

Vue的_update是实例的一个私有方法，它被调用的时机有2个

1. 首次渲染
2. 数据更新时

_update方法的作用是把VNode渲染成真实的DOM

_update

定义在src/core/instance/lifecycle.js 中

Vue.prototype._update = function (vnode: VNode, hydrating?: boolean) {
  const vm: Component = this
  const prevEl = vm.$el
  const prevVnode = vm._vnode
  const restoreActiveInstance = setActiveInstance(vm)
  vm._vnode = vnode
  // Vue.prototype.__patch__ is injected in entry points
  // based on the rendering backend used.
  if (!prevVnode) {
    // initial render
    vm.$el = vm.__patch__(vm.$el, vnode, hydrating, false /* removeOnly */)
  } else {
    // updates
    vm.$el = vm.__patch__(prevVnode, vnode)
  }
  restoreActiveInstance()
  // update __vue__ reference
  if (prevEl) {
    prevEl.__vue__ = null
  }
  if (vm.$el) {
    vm.$el.__vue__ = vm
  }
  // if parent is an HOC, update its $el as well
  if (vm.$vnode && vm.$parent && vm.$vnode === vm.$parent._vnode) {
    vm.$parent.$el = vm.$el
  }
  // updated hook is called by the scheduler to ensure that children are
  // updated in a parent's updated hook.
}

update的核心就是调用vm._patch方法，在不同平台实现不同；在Web和Weex上定义不一样

vm.patch在Web平台下的定义

在 src/platforms/web/runtime/index.js 中

Vue.prototype.__patch__ = inBrowser ? patch : noop

noop定义在shared/util中

export function noop (a?: any, b?: any, c?: any) {}

在Web平台上是否是服务端渲染也会对这个方法产生影响
在服务端渲染中没有真实的浏览器DOM环境，所以不需要把VNode最终转换成DOM，因此是一个空函数
在浏览器渲染中patch指向了patch方法
patch定义在src/platforms/web/runtime/patch.js中

/* @flow */
import * as nodeOps from 'web/runtime/node-ops'
import { createPatchFunction } from 'core/vdom/patch'
import baseModules from 'core/vdom/modules/index'
import platformModules from 'web/runtime/modules/index'
// the directive module should be applied last, after all
// built-in modules have been applied.
const modules = platformModules.concat(baseModules)
// patch方法的定义是调用createPatchFunction方法的返回值，传入一个对象
export const patch: Function = createPatchFunction({ 
  nodeOps, // 封装了一系列DOM操作方法
  modules // 定义了一些模块的钩子函数的实现
})

createPatchFunction

定义在 src/core/vdom/patch.js 中

const hooks = ['create', 'activate', 'update', 'remove', 'destroy']
export function createPatchFunction (backend) {
  let i, j
  const cbs = {}
  const { modules, nodeOps } = backend
  for (i = 0; i < hooks.length; ++i) {
    cbs[hooks[i]] = []
    for (j = 0; j < modules.length; ++j) {
      if (isDef(modules[j][hooks[i]])) {
        cbs[hooks[i]].push(modules[j][hooks[i]])
      }
    }
  }
  // ...
  return function patch (
     oldVnode, // 旧的节点，也可以不存在或者是一个DOM对象
   vnode, // 执行_render后返回的VNode节点
   hydrating, // 是否是服务端渲染
   removeOnly // 给transition-group用的
 ) {
    if (isUndef(vnode)) {
      if (isDef(oldVnode)) invokeDestroyHook(oldVnode)
      return
    }
    let isInitialPatch = false
    const insertedVnodeQueue = []
    if (isUndef(oldVnode)) {
      // empty mount (likely as component), create new root element
      isInitialPatch = true
      createElm(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue)
    } else {
      const isRealElement = isDef(oldVnode.nodeType)
      if (!isRealElement && sameVnode(oldVnode, vnode)) {
        // patch existing root node
        patchVnode(oldVnode, vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, null, null, removeOnly)
      } else {
        if (isRealElement) {
          // mounting to a real element
          // check if this is server-rendered content and if we can perform
          // a successful hydration.
          if (oldVnode.nodeType === 1 && oldVnode.hasAttribute(SSR_ATTR)) {
            oldVnode.removeAttribute(SSR_ATTR)
            hydrating = true
          }
          if (isTrue(hydrating)) {
            if (hydrate(oldVnode, vnode, insertedVnodeQueue)) {
              invokeInsertHook(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, true)
              return oldVnode
            } else if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
              warn(
                'The client-side rendered virtual DOM tree is not matching ' +
                'server-rendered content. This is likely caused by incorrect ' +
                'HTML markup, for example nesting block-level elements inside ' +
                '<p>, or missing <tbody>. Bailing hydration and performing ' +
                'full client-side render.'
              )
            }
          }
          // either not server-rendered, or hydration failed.
          // create an empty node and replace it
          oldVnode = emptyNodeAt(oldVnode)
        }
        // replacing existing element
        const oldElm = oldVnode.elm
        const parentElm = nodeOps.parentNode(oldElm)
        // create new node
        createElm(
          vnode,
          insertedVnodeQueue,
          // extremely rare edge case: do not insert if old element is in a
          // leaving transition. Only happens when combining transition +
          // keep-alive + HOCs. (#4590)
          oldElm._leaveCb ? null : parentElm,
          nodeOps.nextSibling(oldElm)
        )
        // update parent placeholder node element, recursively
        if (isDef(vnode.parent)) {
          let ancestor = vnode.parent
          const patchable = isPatchable(vnode)
          while (ancestor) {
            for (let i = 0; i < cbs.destroy.length; ++i) {
              cbs.destroy[i](ancestor)
            }
            ancestor.elm = vnode.elm
            if (patchable) {
              for (let i = 0; i < cbs.create.length; ++i) {
                cbs.create[i](emptyNode, ancestor)
              }
              // #6513
              // invoke insert hooks that may have been merged by create hooks.
              // e.g. for directives that uses the "inserted" hook.
              const insert = ancestor.data.hook.insert
              if (insert.merged) {
                // start at index 1 to avoid re-invoking component mounted hook
                for (let i = 1; i < insert.fns.length; i++) {
                  insert.fns[i]()
                }
              }
            } else {
              registerRef(ancestor)
            }
            ancestor = ancestor.parent
          }
        }
        // destroy old node
        if (isDef(parentElm)) {
          removeVnodes([oldVnode], 0, 0)
        } else if (isDef(oldVnode.tag)) {
          invokeDestroyHook(oldVnode)
        }
      }
    }
    invokeInsertHook(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, isInitialPatch)
    return vnode.elm
}

内部定义了一系列的辅助方法，最终返回一个patch方法，这个方法就赋值给了vm.update函数里调用的vm.patch

例子

var app = new Vue({
  el: '#app',
  render: function (createElement) {
    return createElement('div', {
      attrs: {
        id: 'app'
      },
    }, this.message)
  },
  data: {
    message: 'Hello Vue!'
  }
})

然后在vm.update的方法里调用patch方法

// initial render
vm.$el = vm.__patch__(
  vm.$el, // 本例子中 对应的是id为app的DOM对象
  vnode,  // 本例子中 对应的是调用render函数的返回值
  hydrating, // 非服务端渲染情况下为false
  false /* removeOnly */
)

vm.$el的赋值是在之前mountComponent函数中做的
再看createPatchFunction方法

const hooks = ['create', 'activate', 'update', 'remove', 'destroy']
export function createPatchFunction (backend) {
  let i, j
  const cbs = {}
  const { modules, nodeOps } = backend
  for (i = 0; i < hooks.length; ++i) {
    cbs[hooks[i]] = []
    for (j = 0; j < modules.length; ++j) {
      if (isDef(modules[j][hooks[i]])) {
        cbs[hooks[i]].push(modules[j][hooks[i]])
      }
    }
  }
  // ...
  return function patch (
     oldVnode, // 旧的节点，也可以不存在或者是一个DOM对象
   vnode, // 执行_render后返回的VNode节点
   hydrating, // 是否是服务端渲染
   removeOnly // 给transition-group用的
 ) {
    if (isUndef(vnode)) {
      if (isDef(oldVnode)) invokeDestroyHook(oldVnode)
      return
    }
    let isInitialPatch = false
    const insertedVnodeQueue = []
    if (isUndef(oldVnode)) {
      // empty mount (likely as component), create new root element
      isInitialPatch = true
      createElm(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue)
    } else {
      // oldVnode实际上是一个DOM Container
      const isRealElement = isDef(oldVnode.nodeType) // true
      if (!isRealElement && sameVnode(oldVnode, vnode)) {
        // patch existing root node
        patchVnode(oldVnode, vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, null, null, removeOnly)
      } else {
        if (isRealElement) {
          // mounting to a real element
          // check if this is server-rendered content and if we can perform
          // a successful hydration.
          if (oldVnode.nodeType === 1 && oldVnode.hasAttribute(SSR_ATTR)) {
            oldVnode.removeAttribute(SSR_ATTR)
            hydrating = true
          }
          if (isTrue(hydrating)) {
            if (hydrate(oldVnode, vnode, insertedVnodeQueue)) {
              invokeInsertHook(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, true)
              return oldVnode
            } else if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
              warn(
                'The client-side rendered virtual DOM tree is not matching ' +
                'server-rendered content. This is likely caused by incorrect ' +
                'HTML markup, for example nesting block-level elements inside ' +
                '<p>, or missing <tbody>. Bailing hydration and performing ' +
                'full client-side render.'
              )
            }
          }
          // either not server-rendered, or hydration failed.
          // create an empty node and replace it
          // emptyNodeAt方法把oldVnode转换成VNode对象
          oldVnode = emptyNodeAt(oldVnode)
        }
        // replacing existing element
        const oldElm = oldVnode.elm
        const parentElm = nodeOps.parentNode(oldElm)
        // create new node
        // createElm作用是通过虚拟节点创建真实的DOM并插入到它的父节点中
        createElm(
          vnode,
          insertedVnodeQueue,
          // extremely rare edge case: do not insert if old element is in a
          // leaving transition. Only happens when combining transition +
          // keep-alive + HOCs. (#4590)
          oldElm._leaveCb ? null : parentElm,
          nodeOps.nextSibling(oldElm)
        )
        // update parent placeholder node element, recursively
        if (isDef(vnode.parent)) {
          let ancestor = vnode.parent
          const patchable = isPatchable(vnode)
          while (ancestor) {
            for (let i = 0; i < cbs.destroy.length; ++i) {
              cbs.destroy[i](ancestor)
            }
            ancestor.elm = vnode.elm
            if (patchable) {
              for (let i = 0; i < cbs.create.length; ++i) {
                cbs.create[i](emptyNode, ancestor)
              }
              // #6513
              // invoke insert hooks that may have been merged by create hooks.
              // e.g. for directives that uses the "inserted" hook.
              const insert = ancestor.data.hook.insert
              if (insert.merged) {
                // start at index 1 to avoid re-invoking component mounted hook
                for (let i = 1; i < insert.fns.length; i++) {
                  insert.fns[i]()
                }
              }
            } else {
              registerRef(ancestor)
            }
            ancestor = ancestor.parent
          }
        }
        // destroy old node
        if (isDef(parentElm)) {
          removeVnodes([oldVnode], 0, 0)
        } else if (isDef(oldVnode.tag)) {
          invokeDestroyHook(oldVnode)
        }
      }
    }
    invokeInsertHook(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, isInitialPatch)
    return vnode.elm
}

createElm

function createElm (
 vnode,
 insertedVnodeQueue,
 parentElm,
 refElm,
 nested,
 ownerArray,
 index
) {
  if (isDef(vnode.elm) && isDef(ownerArray)) {
    // This vnode was used in a previous render!
    // now it's used as a new node, overwriting its elm would cause
    // potential patch errors down the road when it's used as an insertion
    // reference node. Instead, we clone the node on-demand before creating
    // associated DOM element for it.
    vnode = ownerArray[index] = cloneVNode(vnode)
  }
  vnode.isRootInsert = !nested // for transition enter check
  // createComponent方法目的是尝试创建子组件，该例子下返回值是false
  if (createComponent(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, parentElm, refElm)) {
    return
  }
  const data = vnode.data
  const children = vnode.children
  const tag = vnode.tag
  // 判断vnode是否包含tag
  if (isDef(tag)) {
    // 对tag的合法性在非生产环境下做校验，看是否是一个合法标签
    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
      if (data && data.pre) {
        creatingElmInVPre++
      }
      // 不是合法标签
      if (isUnknownElement(vnode, creatingElmInVPre)) {
        warn(
          'Unknown custom element: <' + tag + '> - did you ' +
          'register the component correctly? For recursive components, ' +
          'make sure to provide the "name" option.',
          vnode.context
        )
      }
    }
        // 调用平台的DOM的操作去创建一个占位符元素
    vnode.elm = vnode.ns
      ? nodeOps.createElementNS(vnode.ns, tag)
    : nodeOps.createElement(tag, vnode)
    setScope(vnode)
    /* istanbul ignore if */
    if (__WEEX__) {
      // in Weex, the default insertion order is parent-first.
      // List items can be optimized to use children-first insertion
      // with append="tree".
      const appendAsTree = isDef(data) && isTrue(data.appendAsTree)
      if (!appendAsTree) {
        if (isDef(data)) {
          invokeCreateHooks(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue)
        }
        insert(parentElm, vnode.elm, refElm)
      }
      createChildren(vnode, children, insertedVnodeQueue)
      if (appendAsTree) {
        if (isDef(data)) {
          invokeCreateHooks(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue)
        }
        insert(parentElm, vnode.elm, refElm)
      }
    } else {
      // 创建子元素
      createChildren(vnode, children, insertedVnodeQueue)
      if (isDef(data)) {
        // 执行所有的create的钩子并把vnode push到insertedVnodeQueue
        invokeCreateHooks(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue)
      }
      // 把DOM插入到父节点中
      // 因为是递归调用，子元素会优先调用insert，所以整个vnode树节点的插入顺序是先子后父
      insert(parentElm, vnode.elm, refElm)
    }
    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production' && data && data.pre) {
      creatingElmInVPre--
    }
  } else if (isTrue(vnode.isComment)) { // vnode节点不包含tag，是一个注释，直接插入到父元素中
    vnode.elm = nodeOps.createComment(vnode.text)
    insert(parentElm, vnode.elm, refElm)
  } else { // vnode节点不包含tag，是一个纯文本节点，直接插入到父元素中
    vnode.elm = nodeOps.createTextNode(vnode.text)
    insert(parentElm, vnode.elm, refElm)
  }
}

createChildren

遍历子虚拟节点，递归调用createElm方法 —- 深度优先的遍历算法
遍历过程中会把vnode.elm作为父容器的DOM节点占位符传入

function createChildren (vnode, children, insertedVnodeQueue) {
  if (Array.isArray(children)) {
    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
      checkDuplicateKeys(children)
    }
    for (let i = 0; i < children.length; ++i) {
      createElm(children[i], insertedVnodeQueue, vnode.elm, null, true, children, i)
    }
  } else if (isPrimitive(vnode.text)) {
    nodeOps.appendChild(vnode.elm, nodeOps.createTextNode(String(vnode.text)))
  }
}

invokeCreateHooks

function invokeCreateHooks (vnode, insertedVnodeQueue) {
  for (let i = 0; i < cbs.create.length; ++i) {
    cbs.create[i](emptyNode, vnode)
  }
  i = vnode.data.hook // Reuse variable
  if (isDef(i)) {
    if (isDef(i.create)) i.create(emptyNode, vnode)
    if (isDef(i.insert)) insertedVnodeQueue.push(vnode)
  }
}

insert

调用一些 nodeOps 把子节点插入到父节点中

function insert (parent, elm, ref) {
  if (isDef(parent)) {
    if (isDef(ref)) {
      if (nodeOps.parentNode(ref) === parent) {
        nodeOps.insertBefore(parent, elm, ref)
      }
    } else {
      nodeOps.appendChild(parent, elm)
    }
  }
}

insertBefore和appendChild

定义在 src/platforms/web/runtime/node-ops.js 中

export function insertBefore (parentNode: Node, newNode: Node, referenceNode: Node) {
  parentNode.insertBefore(newNode, referenceNode)
}
export function appendChild (node: Node, child: Node) {
  node.appendChild(child)
}

其实就是调用原生DOM的API进行DOM操作

为何 Vue.js 源码绕了这么一大圈，把vm.patch相关代码分散到各个目录

patch 是平台相关的，在 Web 和 Weex 环境，它们把虚拟 DOM 映射到 “平台 DOM” 的方法是不同的，并且对 “DOM” 包括的属性模块创建和更新也不尽相同。因此每个平台都有各自的 nodeOps 和 modules，它们的代码需要托管在 src/platforms 这个大目录下
不同平台的 patch 的主要逻辑部分是相同的，所以这部分公共的部分托管在 core 这个大目录下。差异化部分只需要通过参数来区别，这里用到了一个函数柯里化的技巧，通过 createPatchFunction 把差异化参数提前固化，这样不用每次调用 patch 的时候都传递 nodeOps 和 modules 了
nodeOps 表示对 “平台 DOM” 的一些操作方法，modules 表示平台的一些模块，它们会在整个 patch 过程的不同阶段执行相应的钩子函数

流程

从初始化 Vue 到最终渲染的整个过程