22. Working with APIs and Asynchronous Data

Level: AdvancedDuration: 26m

What Is Asynchronous Data?

Most apps need to fetch data from servers or APIs—like users, posts, or products. This data is loaded asynchronously, which means it doesn’t arrive instantly. In React, we handle this safely using state and effects.

Using Fetch to Get Data

The Fetch API lets us make network requests. We typically store the data in state and use useEffect so it runs after the first render.

jsx

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react'

function Users() {
  const [users, setUsers] = useState([])

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users')
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(data => setUsers(data))
  }, [])

  return (
    <ul>
      {users.map(user => <li key={user.id}>{user.name}</li>)}
    </ul>
  )
}

export default Users

Using async/await to Simplify Fetching

jsx

useEffect(() => {
  const fetchUsers = async () => {
    const res = await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users')
    const data = await res.json()
    setUsers(data)
  }
  fetchUsers()
}, [])

Loading and Error States

Fetching can take time, and sometimes it fails. Let’s handle loading and errors.

jsx

function Users() {
  const [users, setUsers] = useState([])
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true)
  const [error, setError] = useState(null)

  useEffect(() => {
    const fetchUsers = async () => {
      try {
        const res = await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users')
        if (!res.ok) throw new Error('Failed to fetch users')
        const data = await res.json()
        setUsers(data)
      } catch (err) {
        setError(err.message)
      } finally {
        setLoading(false)
      }
    }
    fetchUsers()
  }, [])

  if (loading) return <p>Loading...</p>
  if (error) return <p>Error: {error}</p>

  return <ul>{users.map(user => <li key={user.id}>{user.name}</li>)}</ul>
}

GET vs POST Requests

Method	Purpose	Example
GET	Fetch data	Get user list
POST	Send data	Create a new account
PUT	Update data	Edit user profile
DELETE	Delete data	Remove a user

Example POST request:

jsx

const createUser = async () => {
  const res = await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'New User' })
  })
  const data = await res.json()
  console.log(data)
}

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