I want to use React for a project I am working on, but I also want to use an API.
How can I do it?
I have tried to Google this and ask different people, but I have not got a response yet, so I thought I would ask here. I want to use express and maybe not use create-react-app (as it takes up a lot of storage).
Working on a custom server doesen't preclude the use of an API.
If you want fetch the API from the express server and inject it directly on react frontend you need to enable server side rendering (useful post) and pass the data collected as a props from the server (check this example).
Rather then you can build your react project (using even create-react-app) and build an express server who return the index.html on call.
Personally I prefer the first one solution.
Related
I am developing my own website. So far, I've used React for the frontend and Flask for the backend. I've been doing frontend development for a while now but I'm just starting to get into the backend.
From my limited understanding, frameworks like Flask and ExpressJS create their own servers and host data that the frontend can use. It seems to me that that they automatically create websites to host and receive data. In my website, I route the backend to do what I want and use fetch requests with POST and GET from the frontend to communicate.
Although it works, to me, it seems overly complex. Why does the backend need it's own server? It seems unnecessary to create a proxy for the frontend and fetch data. Why can a website not just run custom code in the background, why does it need a service like Flask or ExpressJS to run in the background for it? These backend frameworks run Python or NodeJS in the background, but wouldn't it be much simpler if the website itself could run Python or NodeJS in the background?
I also see that in frameworks like React, you can import things and use modules— like in NodeJS. While importing some modules works, the require keyword is not allowed and normal NodeJS code will not work. Therefore, the backend will not work. Why is this— why can't you just run backend code natively? Instead you have to go through fetch and specify headers to basically translate information from your frontend to your backend.
Forgive my amateur understanding of web development, but the frontend/backend system seems overly complex to me. Thanks in advance.
Why does the backend need it's own server?
Where will the client store data so that when you open the page again the data will still be there? You can use localStorage but this is locked to that particular browser. What if someone logs in on a different device or uses a different browser?
Where will the client get the application from in the first place? Your application needs to be packaged up in a form that can be easily downloaded, and it needs an address to be loaded from. This is all considered "back end" even if you're using a static hosting service like GitHub Pages.
There's a lot of reasons why a back-end exists and needs its own server. Any application with persistent state which is expected to work across different sessions needs at least one of these.
I am pretty experienced with NodeJs and Express, but I'm a beginner in ReactJS.
I usually use ejs and deploy my server on Express like this and route server-side.
app.get("/", (req, res) => res.render("index.ejs");
app.get("/contact", (req, res) => res.render("contact.ejs", { data: data });
Something like this.
However, working with React (create react app), I find myself not using express at all for routing and only serve an API.
Create React App apparently already has a server (localhost:3000 by default) and I can perform client side routing directly there.
Should I deploy my server on a client-side framework, React?
I don't even need to serve static files on express.
Hope you understood me, thank you for your help :)
First of all react is a library and second of all, when you say that it has a server that means it's a development server, for reviewing the results while you're working on it locally (means when you are building your application, you need to see how it looks in real-time). It's not for production use or included in the build output. Now let's say your application is ready and you want to deploy it, then you run a build command which does the following for you
transpiles JS code
bundles code and assets
uses cache busting techniques for assets
removes dead code
and you will deploy your application on a server, so that it can be accessible to clients
I don't need to serve static files on express, explanation below
In modern-day websites, we don't have to use views because react comes into the picture and takes care of the clientside-UI that the user interacts with, so you are right that we don't have to use static files in express anymore but if you have a use case where you have to use it then you can use it, no one is stopping your from doing that
and lastly you can have your own node js server as well which your front end will be talking too, not for views but for data that is stored in database that you want to fetch and display it to the user
React by itself just create static html-css-js files, but for testing purposes, they have also included this handy way (localhost:3000 pipeline) to view the built files. Technically you don't need to use it, just use the build script, then set up an express server to serve the files from "build" folder, and it does the same thing.
About client side routing, basically what happens is the entire page gets downloaded client-side, and it uses the value in url box to show or switch to certain screens. This is why its called "Single Page Application", you are serving a single page to the client upfront with all the static code. Compare this to express-ejs where you serve static code conditionally, depending on the address.
Take a look at CRA's docs for more info about deployment.
I'm new to Apollo and JS on the server, but not new to React, GraphQL, etc. I'm trying to wrap my head around a clean way of having the server serve both the API, using Apollo, but also the client, which would be built with ReactJS and also Apollo.
I read the article on server-side rendering for Apollo. I might be interested in that in the future, but right now, I'm only interested in having a single project, deployed from a single server, instead of two.
Is it possible to do this cleanly? Is there a canonical way of doing it? can it use create-react-app or is that out of the question?
If you're not doing server-side rendering and just want to serve a Single Page Application (SPA) like what's built with CRA, you can do so using pretty much any HTTP framework or even without one. CRA just builds some static content for you, which you can serve using, for example, Express (see docs here). However, it's typically better to utilize Nginx or Apache for serving this content (at least in production). If you want to utilize Express or another HTTP framework to serve the files, you can utilize the appropriate integration for Apollo Server. If you're using Nginx, then you can stick with the standalone library, assuming you don't want to expose any additional routes on your HTTP server.
In development, you don't want to have to constantly manually rebuild your React application when you make changes, so CRA actually runs a server for you that serves the app and enables hot reloading. Because this is a separate server from your API server, you'll typically want to enable proxying your requests to the API.
It's possible, the setup for apollo is the same as any server, for example, you can use express to serve static files and implement apollo with some minor changes see the docs for apollo server express and implement the one that you are familiar with
I'm trying to understand how a MERN app fully works, I've been reading about MongoDB, ExpressJs, ReactJs and NodeJs, I also understand how MongoDB, ExpressJs and NodeJs interact and how ReactJs works on its own, my question is simple (I think).
The question:
If I create an API, using Node,Express and Mongo, and I have an APP managed by React, both need a server (via express, I understand), then, how should I run the API and the React app at the same time. Do I need different URLs? should I configure different ports? how should I integrate them?
I really been reading a lot, but almost every tutorial is made locally (and I'm working in a server with Passenger and I can't change the way it starts), just for Node/Express(with pug or else)/Mongo or just React, and I don't understand how to connect the API and React.
Thanks
It depends on several factors: environment (e.g. development, production), and your control over the server. For development, you can have two different URLs and use something like Webpack Dev Server. Normally you would have the module bundler, e.g. Webpack, watching for changes in your React code. However, this can get more complex if you have Server Side Rendering.
For production, normally you would have the bundled file for your client side application already optimized and minified. If you can change your API, you could serve it statically in a new endpoint, for example: /static/bundle.js and request this endpoint from your index.html file, which will be sent by Express.js server when accessing /.
However, because you will probably want to have routes in your React app, your server will need to know how to handle the client app routes (for example app.get('/*', () => ...), and they could collide with your API endpoints. To solve this, you could:
Prefix your API endpoints with a namespace, e.g. /api/v1/...
Place the API in a different URL, port or subdomain. In this case you would indeed need to run these two servers in parallel. With Node.js, there are helpers to make this more convenient, e.g. concurrently.
Pulling out your concerns: API, React, and Integration for MERN app.
I use three approaches
1) Use foreman. With this, you can specify your API and Web Client in the Procfile. I used it here
2) Use a proxy to handle requests that require your API. So in package.json, you specify your API URL(your API must be running)
// package.json
.......
.......
"proxy": "<path to url:[port no if you're developing locally]>"
Check here.
And you can simply add a script to run your API and React concurrently.
3) Set your API and React app in a Docker container. mern-starter is a perfect place to check for this.
Hope this helps!
I am about to start developing my web application in Firebase. Problem is, currently I have 100s of questions running through my head, and nothing I can find online specifically answers such.
Now from what I understand you can ONLY host assets on Firebase hosting (HTML, CSS, JS), and if you have a backend (such as Node) you will have to use a separate hosting service (like Heroku).
Firebase hosting implies that everything can be done from the browser, but I am not sure how I would get around using a backend.
For instance, if the user enters the url http://___.com/login I would route that in Express to login.html. Also if a user types in /index or /home or even nothing, it would take them to index.html. How would I go about doing this without a backend?
Another big question I have is templating. On Node there are many templating engines, is there such a thing though when just using the frontend?
Would there be a way to get around those two issues above without using a backend? I can see some benefits when using a backend such as server side rendering, and using third-party services such as Sendgrid. But what else would I get out of using a backend such as Node?
I guess I am just a bit confused on how a web application could be done without a backend (that you can access and control). I do not see how templating, routing, and many other things can be controlled by just the browser, and hosted within Firebase.
I plan on using Node (unless all of this is possible without a backend), and I am intending on using React and Redux as well. Can Firebase, Node, React and Redux all be used together?
I know there are a ton of questions above, but I just can not wrap my head around it all. I put all of my main question in bold, thank you!
Firebase Hosting allows you to do single-page app style routing, you'd just add this to your firebase.json:
{
"hosting": {
"rewrites": [{"source": "**", "destination": "/index.html"}]
}
}
As for templating, you'd want to look into frameworks such as React, Angular, Ember, Polymer, etc. to do dynamic content generation client-side instead of relying on server-side templates.
Firebase offers tools that can help you with the most common things you'll need when building an app (auth, database, file uploads, hosting). For these, you won't need a server at all. If and when your app needs additional custom back-end work, you can always deploy separate services that can be called by the client or even just listen to the database and trigger events directly.
And yes, you can definitely use React, Redux, and Firebase together. Hope that helps!