写在前面
Virtual DOM的概念相信大家都不会陌生，Vritual DOM是相对与DOM(文档对象模型)来说的，上关于DOM的定义：“DOM模型用一个逻辑树来表示一个文档，树的每个分支的终点都是一个节点(node)，每个节点都包含着对象(objects)。DOM的方法(methods)让你可以用特定方式操作这个树，用这些方法你可以改变文档的结构、样式或者内容”。相对于频繁地去操作DOM引起的性能问题，Vritual DOM很好地将DOM做了一层映射关系，将原来需要在DOM上的一系列操作，映射到来操作Virtual DOM。
“昂贵”的DOM
为了有更直观地感受“昂贵”的DOM，现在将一个简单的div元素的所有属性值打印出来：
let div = document.createElement('div')let str = ''for (let key in div) { str += key + ' '}复制代码 打印出来的str值为：
可见，真正的DOM元素是非常庞大的，因为浏览器把DOM设计地非常复杂，所以当我们频繁地去更新DOM时，会产生一定的性能问题。可以想象，用简单粗暴的方法将整个DOM结构用innerHTML修改到页面上，这样进行重绘整个视图层是相当消耗性能的。那我们更新DOM时，能不能只更新修改的地方呢？
VNode
来看一下Vue.js源码中关于VNode的定义，定义在src/core/vdom/vnode.js中：
export default class VNode { tag: string | void; data: VNodeData | void; children: ?Array ; text: string | void; elm: Node | void; ns: string | void; context: Component | void; // rendered in this component's scope key: string | number | void; componentOptions: VNodeComponentOptions | void; componentInstance: Component | void; // component instance parent: VNode | void; // component placeholder node // strictly internal raw: boolean; // contains raw HTML? (server only) isStatic: boolean; // hoisted static node isRootInsert: boolean; // necessary for enter transition check isComment: boolean; // empty comment placeholder? isCloned: boolean; // is a cloned node? isOnce: boolean; // is a v-once node? asyncFactory: Function | void; // async component factory function asyncMeta: Object | void; isAsyncPlaceholder: boolean; ssrContext: Object | void; fnContext: Component | void; // real context vm for functional nodes fnOptions: ?ComponentOptions; // for SSR caching fnScopeId: ?string; // functional scope id support constructor ( tag?: string, data?: VNodeData, children?: ?Array , text?: string, elm?: Node, context?: Component, componentOptions?: VNodeComponentOptions, asyncFactory?: Function ) { this.tag = tag this.data = data this.children = children this.text = text this.elm = elm this.ns = undefined this.context = context this.fnContext = undefined this.fnOptions = undefined this.fnScopeId = undefined this.key = data && data.key this.componentOptions = componentOptions this.componentInstance = undefined this.parent = undefined this.raw = false this.isStatic = false this.isRootInsert = true this.isComment = false this.isCloned = false this.isOnce = false this.asyncFactory = asyncFactory this.asyncMeta = undefined this.isAsyncPlaceholder = false } // DEPRECATED: alias for componentInstance for backwards compat. /* istanbul ignore next */ get child (): Component | void { return this.componentInstance }}复制代码 其中：
tag: 当前节点的标签名
data: 当前节点对应的对象，包含了具体的一些数据信息，是一个VNodeData类型，可以参考VNodeData类型中的数据信息
children: 当前节点的子节点，是一个数组
text: 当前节点的文本
elm: 当前虚拟节点对应的真实dom节点
ns: 当前节点的名字空间
context: 当前节点的编译作用域
functionalContext: 函数化组件作用域
key: 节点的key属性，被当作节点的标志，用以优化
componentOptions: 组件的option选项
componentInstance: 当前节点对应的组件的实例
parent: 当前节点的父节点
raw: 简而言之就是是否为原生HTML或只是普通文本，innerHTML的时候为true，textContent的时候为false
isStatic: 是否为静态节点
isRootInsert: 是否作为跟节点插入
isComment: 是否为注释节点
isCloned: 是否为克隆节点
isOnce: 是否有v-once指令
举个例子，我们现在有这样一个Vritual DOM：
{ tag: 'div' data: { class: 'outer' }, children: [ { tag: 'div', data: { class: 'inner' } text: 'Virtual DOM' } ]}复制代码 渲染之后的真实DOM为：
Virtual DOM复制代码
创建一个空VNode节点
export const createEmptyVNode = (text: string = '') => { const node = new VNode() node.text = text node.isComment = true return node}复制代码 创建一个文本节点
export function createTextVNode (val: string | number) { return new VNode(undefined, undefined, undefined, String(val))}复制代码 克隆一个VNode节点
export function cloneVNode (vnode: VNode): VNode { const cloned = new VNode( vnode.tag, vnode.data, vnode.children, vnode.text, vnode.elm, vnode.context, vnode.componentOptions, vnode.asyncFactory ) cloned.ns = vnode.ns cloned.isStatic = vnode.isStatic cloned.key = vnode.key cloned.isComment = vnode.isComment cloned.fnContext = vnode.fnContext cloned.fnOptions = vnode.fnOptions cloned.fnScopeId = vnode.fnScopeId cloned.asyncMeta = vnode.asyncMeta cloned.isCloned = true return cloned}复制代码 总的来说，VNode 就是一个 JavaScript 对象，用 JavaScript 对象的属性来描述当前节点的一些状态，用 VNode 节点的形式来模拟一棵 Virtual DOM 树。
更新视图
我们知道，Vue.js通过数据绑定来更新视图，其中会调用updateComponent方法，对这一流程不太明白的话可以看一下上边提到的两篇文章。updateComponent方法定义如下：
updateComponent = () => { vm._update(vm._render(), hydrating)}复制代码 该方法会调用vm._update方法，该方法接受的第一个参数是刚生成的VNode，定义在src/core/instance/lifecycle.js中：
Vue.prototype._update = function (vnode: VNode, hydrating?: boolean) { const vm: Component = this const prevEl = vm.$el const prevVnode = vm._vnode const prevActiveInstance = activeInstance activeInstance = vm vm._vnode = vnode // Vue.prototype.__patch__ is injected in entry points // based on the rendering backend used. if (!prevVnode) { // initial render vm.$el = vm.__patch__(vm.$el, vnode, hydrating, false /* removeOnly */) } else { // updates vm.$el = vm.__patch__(prevVnode, vnode) } activeInstance = prevActiveInstance // 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. }复制代码 其中在关键的地方加上注释：
// 新的vnode vm._vnode = vnode // Vue.prototype.__patch__ is injected in entry points // based on the rendering backend used. // 如果需要diff的prevVnode不存在，那么就用新的vnode创建一个真实dom节点 if (!prevVnode) { // initial render // 第一个参数为真实的node节点 vm.$el = vm.__patch__( vm.$el, vnode, hydrating, false /* removeOnly */, vm.$options._parentElm, vm.$options._refElm ) } else { // updates // 如果需要diff的prevVnode存在，那么首先对prevVnode和vnode进行diff,并将需要的更新的dom操作已patch的形式打到prevVnode上，并完成真实dom的更新工作 vm.$el = vm.__patch__(prevVnode, vnode) }复制代码 可以看到，该方法调用了一个核心方法__patch__，这可以说是整个Virtual DOM最核心的方法，主要完成了新的虚拟DOM节点和旧的虚拟DOM节点的diff过程，经过patch过程之后生成真实的DOM节点并完成视图的更新工作。
patch
接下来我们看一下vm.__patch__方法到底发生了什么，定义在src/core/vdom/patch.js中：
return function patch (oldVnode, vnode, hydrating, removeOnly) { 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, 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 ' + ', or missing . 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(parentElm, [oldVnode], 0, 0) } else if (isDef(oldVnode.tag)) { invokeDestroyHook(oldVnode) } } } invokeInsertHook(vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, isInitialPatch) return vnode.elm }复制代码
通过源码我们可以发现，当oldVnode(旧的节点)与vnode(新的节点)在sameVnode的时候才会进行patchVnode，sameVnode这个方法决定是否要对oldvnode和vnode进行diff和patch的过程。也就是新旧VNode节点判定为同一节点的时候才会进行patchVnode这个过程，否则就是创建新的DOM，移除旧的DOM。下面介绍一下sameVnode方法：
sameVnode
sameVnode定义在src/core/vdom/patch.js中：
function sameVnode (a, b) { return ( a.key === b.key && ( ( a.tag === b.tag && a.isComment === b.isComment && isDef(a.data) === isDef(b.data) && sameInputType(a, b) ) || ( isTrue(a.isAsyncPlaceholder) && a.asyncFactory === b.asyncFactory && isUndef(b.asyncFactory.error) ) ) )}function sameInputType (a, b) { if (a.tag !== 'input') return true let i const typeA = isDef(i = a.data) && isDef(i = i.attrs) && i.type const typeB = isDef(i = b.data) && isDef(i = i.attrs) && i.type return typeA === typeB || isTextInputType(typeA) && isTextInputType(typeB)}复制代码 通过代码可以看出，只有当新旧两个VNode的tag、key、isComment都相同，与此同时定义或未定义data的时候，且如果标签为input则type必须相同。这时候这新旧两个VNode则算sameVnode，接着进行进行patchVnode操作。
diff算法
Vue在2.x版本的vdom算法是基于snabbdom算法所做的修改实现的。
updateChildren
updateChildren源码的定义在src/core/vdom/patch.js中：
function updateChildren (parentElm, oldCh, newCh, insertedVnodeQueue, removeOnly) { let oldStartIdx = 0 let newStartIdx = 0 let oldEndIdx = oldCh.length - 1 let oldStartVnode = oldCh[0] let oldEndVnode = oldCh[oldEndIdx] let newEndIdx = newCh.length - 1 let newStartVnode = newCh[0] let newEndVnode = newCh[newEndIdx] let oldKeyToIdx, idxInOld, vnodeToMove, refElm // removeOnly is a special flag used only by // to ensure removed elements stay in correct relative positions // during leaving transitions const canMove = !removeOnly if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') { checkDuplicateKeys(newCh) } while (oldStartIdx <= oldEndIdx && newStartIdx <= newEndIdx) { if (isUndef(oldStartVnode)) { oldStartVnode = oldCh[++oldStartIdx] // Vnode has been moved left } else if (isUndef(oldEndVnode)) { oldEndVnode = oldCh[--oldEndIdx] } else if (sameVnode(oldStartVnode, newStartVnode)) { patchVnode(oldStartVnode, newStartVnode, insertedVnodeQueue) oldStartVnode = oldCh[++oldStartIdx] newStartVnode = newCh[++newStartIdx] } else if (sameVnode(oldEndVnode, newEndVnode)) { patchVnode(oldEndVnode, newEndVnode, insertedVnodeQueue) oldEndVnode = oldCh[--oldEndIdx] newEndVnode = newCh[--newEndIdx] } else if (sameVnode(oldStartVnode, newEndVnode)) { // Vnode moved right patchVnode(oldStartVnode, newEndVnode, insertedVnodeQueue) canMove && nodeOps.insertBefore(parentElm, oldStartVnode.elm, nodeOps.nextSibling(oldEndVnode.elm)) oldStartVnode = oldCh[++oldStartIdx] newEndVnode = newCh[--newEndIdx] } else if (sameVnode(oldEndVnode, newStartVnode)) { // Vnode moved left patchVnode(oldEndVnode, newStartVnode, insertedVnodeQueue) canMove && nodeOps.insertBefore(parentElm, oldEndVnode.elm, oldStartVnode.elm) oldEndVnode = oldCh[--oldEndIdx] newStartVnode = newCh[++newStartIdx] } else { if (isUndef(oldKeyToIdx)) oldKeyToIdx = createKeyToOldIdx(oldCh, oldStartIdx, oldEndIdx) idxInOld = isDef(newStartVnode.key) ? oldKeyToIdx[newStartVnode.key] : findIdxInOld(newStartVnode, oldCh, oldStartIdx, oldEndIdx) if (isUndef(idxInOld)) { // New element createElm(newStartVnode, insertedVnodeQueue, parentElm, oldStartVnode.elm, false, newCh, newStartIdx) } else { vnodeToMove = oldCh[idxInOld] if (sameVnode(vnodeToMove, newStartVnode)) { patchVnode(vnodeToMove, newStartVnode, insertedVnodeQueue) oldCh[idxInOld] = undefined canMove && nodeOps.insertBefore(parentElm, vnodeToMove.elm, oldStartVnode.elm) } else { // same key but different element. treat as new element createElm(newStartVnode, insertedVnodeQueue, parentElm, oldStartVnode.elm, false, newCh, newStartIdx) } } newStartVnode = newCh[++newStartIdx] } } if (oldStartIdx > oldEndIdx) { refElm = isUndef(newCh[newEndIdx + 1]) ? null : newCh[newEndIdx + 1].elm addVnodes(parentElm, refElm, newCh, newStartIdx, newEndIdx, insertedVnodeQueue) } else if (newStartIdx > newEndIdx) { removeVnodes(parentElm, oldCh, oldStartIdx, oldEndIdx) } }复制代码 这一块的源码解析可以参考。