Fetch API in ReactJS Projects

The most basic thing I learned after fundamantals was using APIs in ReactJS. Although not easy, it took sometime to master its concepts. There are 3 ways to Fetch data from API:

• Using Fetch with Lifecycle Method – componentDidMount in stateful/class component
• Using Fetch with useState hook in stateless/functional component
• Using Axios

AJAX call in componentDidMount

{
  "items": [
    { "id": 1, "name": "Apples",  "price": "$2" },
    { "id": 2, "name": "Peaches", "price": "$5" }
  ] 
}
class MyComponent extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {
      error: null,
      isLoaded: false,
      items: []
    };
  }

  componentDidMount() {
    fetch("https://api.example.com/items")
      .then(res => res.json())
      .then(
        (result) => {
          this.setState({
            isLoaded: true,
            items: result.items
          });
        },
        // Note: it's important to handle errors here
        // instead of a catch() block so that we don't swallow
        // exceptions from actual bugs in components.
        (error) => {
          this.setState({
            isLoaded: true,
            error
          });
        }
      )
  }

  render() {
    const { error, isLoaded, items } = this.state;
    if (error) {
      return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;
    } else if (!isLoaded) {
      return <div>Loading...</div>;
    } else {
      return (
        <ul>
          {items.map(item => (
            <li key={item.name}>
              {item.name} {item.price}
            </li>
          ))}
        </ul>
      );
    }
  }
}

AJAX call using Hooks in useEffect( ) hook

function MyComponent() {
  const [error, setError] = useState(null);
  const [isLoaded, setIsLoaded] = useState(false);
  const [items, setItems] = useState([]);

  // Note: the empty deps array [] means
  // this useEffect will run once
  // similar to componentDidMount()
  useEffect(() => {
    fetch("https://api.example.com/items")
      .then(res => res.json())
      .then(
        (result) => {
          setIsLoaded(true);
          setItems(result.items);
        },
        // Note: it's important to handle errors here
        // instead of a catch() block so that we don't swallow
        // exceptions from actual bugs in components.
        (error) => {
          setIsLoaded(true);
          setError(error);
        }
      )
  }, [])

  if (error) {
    return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;
  } else if (!isLoaded) {
    return <div>Loading...</div>;
  } else {
    return (
      <ul>
        {items.map(item => (
          <li key={item.name}>
            {item.name} {item.price}
          </li>
        ))}
      </ul>
    );
  }
}

Fetch request

fetch('http://example.com/movies.json')
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

Using Axios – GET Request

const axios = require('axios');
 
// Make a request for a user with a given ID
axios.get('/user?ID=12345')
  .then(function (response) {
    // handle success
    console.log(response);
  })
  .catch(function (error) {
    // handle error
    console.log(error);
  })
  .then(function () {
    // always executed
  });
 
// Optionally the request above could also be done as
axios.get('/user', {
    params: {
      ID: 12345
    }
  })
  .then(function (response) {
    console.log(response);
  })
  .catch(function (error) {
    console.log(error);
  })
  .then(function () {
    // always executed
  });  
 
// Want to use async/await? Add the `async` keyword to your outer function/method.
async function getUser() {
  try {
    const response = await axios.get('/user?ID=12345');
    console.log(response);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
  }
}

Using Axios – POST Request

axios.post('/user', {
    firstName: 'Fred',
    lastName: 'Flintstone'
  })
  .then(function (response) {
    console.log(response);
  })
  .catch(function (error) {
    console.log(error);
  });

Keep Coding, Fellas!