Managing API Requests with Axios in React Native

What is React Native Axios?

React native axios is a well-known JavaScript library that is used to send HTTP requests from a web browser or Node.js. It offers a straightforward and clean API for carrying out asynchronous HTTP requests, managing request and response headers, and handling request cancellation.

Due to its simplicity and adaptability, Axios in react native has gained widespread adoption in the JavaScript community and is compatible with all major browsers and systems. It can be used to communicate with RESTful APIs, retrieve data from servers, transmit data to servers, and manage answers.

Features

Some key features of Axios in react native include :

• Promise-based :

  Axios uses JavaScript promises to handle asynchronous operations, making it easy to work with asynchronous code and handle responses using then and catch statements.

• Browser and Node.js support:

  Axios can be used both in web browsers and in Node.js applications, providing a consistent API for making HTTP requests in different environments.

• Request and response interception:

  Axios allows you to intercept and modify HTTP requests and responses by using interceptors. This can be useful for adding custom headers, handling authentication, or transforming data.

• Error handling:

  Axios provides a convenient way to handle errors that occur during HTTP requests. It automatically rejects the promise and allows you to handle errors using the catch statement.

• Cancelation support:

  Axios supports canceling requests, which can be useful in scenarios where a user wants to abort an ongoing request or navigate away from a page. It provides a cancel token mechanism to achieve this.

Installing Axios in React Native

Either npm or yarn can be used to install Axios in the React Native project. Go to the project directory in the terminal that is open on your PC.

Using npm :

Using yarn :

Making API Requests Using React Native Axios

To make API requests using React Native and Axios, you can follow these steps :

Install Axios in your React Native project by running the following command in your project's root directory :

Import Axios in the file where you want to make API requests:

Use Axios in react native to make API requests. Here's an example of making a GET request :

For other HTTP methods like POST, PUT, or DELETE, you can use the corresponding methods in Axios in react native. Here's an example of making a POST request with data:

You can also pass additional configuration options to Axios using an object as the second argument. For example, you can set headers or pass query parameters:

That's how you can make API requests using Axios in React Native. Remember to handle the responses and errors appropriately in your application based on your requirements.

Making Multiple Concurrent API Requests using Axios in React Native

To send numerous concurrent API queries from a React Native application, utilise the Promise.all or Promise.allSettled function of the Promise API in combination with react native axios.

To make multiple concurrent API requests using Axios and Promise.all, you can follow these steps:

1. Import the Axios library:

2. Create an array of URLs or API endpoints you want to request:

3. Map over the array of URLs and create an array of Axios requests:

4. Use Promise.all to execute all the requests concurrently and handle the responses:

By using Promise.all, all the requests will be executed simultaneously, which can improve the performance of your code compared to making sequential requests. The .then block will be executed when all the requests are resolved, and the .catch block will handle any errors that occur during the requests.

Make sure you have Axios in react native project. You can install it via npm or yarn by running:

or

That's it! This is how you can make multiple concurrent API requests using Axios and Promise.all.

Aborting API Requests Using React Native Axios

To abort a network request in Axios in react native, you can make use of the CancelToken feature provided by the Axios library. Here's how you can do it:

1. First, you need to create a CancelToken source by using the CancelToken constructor from the axios module:

2. Next, when making the network request using React native axios, you can pass the cancelToken property in the request configuration object:

3. To cancel the request at any point, you can call the cancel method on the source object:

When the request is canceled, the Promise returned by Axios in react native will be rejected with an error object containing a message property set to the cancellation reason.

It's important to note that if you want to reuse the CancelToken source for multiple requests, you should create a new CancelToken object each time and pass its token to the request's cancelToken property.

Here's a complete example demonstrating the usage :

Example:

In this example, the request will be canceled after 5 seconds, and if canceled, the error message will be printed to the console.

The Instance of React Native Axios

To create an instance of Axios in react native, you need to follow these steps :

1. Install Axios :

   If you haven't already installed Axios, you can install it using npm (Node Package Manager) or yarn. Open your terminal or command prompt and run one of the following commands:

   or

2. Import Axios :

   In your JavaScript file, import Axios using the require (for Node.js) or import (for modern JavaScript environments) statement :

   Example:

3. Create an instance :

   After importing Axios, you can create an instance of Axios using the axios.create() method. This allows you to customize the Axios instance with specific configuration options. Here's an example :

   Example:

   In the example above, we created an instance named instance with a base URL, a timeout of 5000 milliseconds (5 seconds), and custom headers. You can customize these options according to your needs.

4. Making requests :

   You can now use the instance object to make HTTP requests using Axios methods such as get(), post(), put(), delete(), etc. Here's an example of making a GET request :

   Example:

   In the example above, we used the instance object to make a GET request to the /users endpoint. The response data is logged to the console if the request is successful, and any errors are logged to the console if the request fails.

Now you have created an instance of Axios in react native and can now use it to make HTTP requests with custom configuration options. Remember to adjust the configuration options and API endpoints according to your specific use case.

Managing API Requests with React Native Axios

Managing API keys in React Native involves ensuring the security and confidentiality of your keys while allowing your application to access them. Here's a general approach to managing API keys in React Native :

• Avoid storing API keys directly in your code : Storing API keys directly in your code can be a security risk
• Use environment variables : Store your API keys as environment variables on your development machine

API Keys Management

Access to the majority of third-party APIs requires secret credentials. Keeping your client-side source code's secret API keys there is not a smart idea. If you do, your private key will be accessible to anyone who looks at the code for your packaged application.

Making an orchestration layer between the third-party API and your application is one of the advised ways to manage your API key. For instance, a serverless function can be used to safely access your API key.

The serverless function's public endpoint will be called by your app. The serverless function will safely access your API key, use a third-party API to get the resource you require, and then relay it to your mobile application.

Network Request-Response Cycle: Application State Management

An API call that you send over the network will either be successful or unsuccessful. As a result, it's crucial to monitor your app's various statuses from the moment you start a request until the server responds.

You are able to show a loading indicator while the data is still being transmitted. The user sees a "success" message if the CRUD operation is successful. If it doesn't work, you show the relevant error message.

This is crucial since a client using your application may not have access to the internet or may only have a slow internet connection. The API server could occasionally go offline. A positive user experience can be achieved by monitoring the status of your application and presenting the necessary alerts.

In this article, we'll use the reqres REST API. It is a placeholder API made up of fictitious information. With the use of API testing tools like Postman or Insomnia, you can experiment with the endpoints.

GET Request with React Native Axios

To make a GET request to the Reqres API using Axios in React Native, you'll need to install the Axios library and then use it to send the request.

Import Axios into your React Native component:

Make the GET request using Axios:

In the above code, replace 'https://api.example.com/data' with the URL you want to send the GET request to. The axios.get() function returns a promise, so you can use .then() to handle the successful response and .catch() to handle any errors.

Optionally, you can also use async/await syntax for more readable code:

In this case, you would call the fetchData() function to initiate the GET request.

That's how you can make a GET request using Axios in React Native. Remember to replace the URL with your own endpoint or API. Make sure to replace the URL 'https://reqres.in/api/users' with the actual endpoint you want to request from the Reqres API.

POST Request with Axios in React Native

In Axios, sending a POST request is comparable to sending a GET request. POST requests are typically made with user-generated data that is supplied via a form. The information given can be via registration, log-in, or feedback forms from your customers. Such data must first be validated by the client before being submitted.

To make an Axios POST request in React Native to the Reqres API, you need to follow these steps:

To make an Axios POST request in React Native to the Reqres API, you need to follow these steps:

Create a function to handle the POST request:

In this example, we're making a POST request to https://reqres.in/api/users and sending JSON data containing the name and job fields.

Call the sendPostRequest function when you want to make the request, such as in a button press handler or component lifecycle method:

PUT Request Using Axios in React Native

Using the PUT method entirely replaces an existing resource if it already exists and produces a new resource if it doesn't. PATCH, on the other hand, does nothing if the resource doesn't exist and updates it partially if it does.

A POST request to an API is comparable to a PUT request. The configuration object you give Axios or the HTTP method you need to use to send a PUT request to the API are the only things that differ.

To make a PUT request to the Reqres API using Axios in React Native, you can follow these steps:

Create a function to handle the PUT request:

In this example, we are updating the user with ID 2 and providing the new name and job in the request body.

Call the updateUser function when you want to make the PUT request, such as in a button press event or any other appropriate place:

Make sure to replace the URL 'https://reqres.in/api/users/2' with the appropriate endpoint URL of the API you are working with.

With these steps, you should be able to send a PUT request to the Reqres API using Axios in your React Native application.

DELETE Request Using React Native Axios

The same way you can perform POST and PUT requests with Axios, you can also make DELETE requests.

A erase request will, as the name implies, erase a resource from the server.

To send a DELETE request using Axios in a React Native application to the Reqres API, you can follow these steps: Use the axios.delete method to send the DELETE request. Here's an example :

In this example, we are making a DELETE request to delete the user with an ID of 2 from the Reqres API.

The axios.delete method returns a Promise, so you can use .then to handle the successful response and .catch to handle any errors that occur during the request.

Examples

Here's an example of how you can use Axios in a React Native project:

First, make sure you have Axios installed in your project by running the following command:

Then, let's assume you have a component called ExampleComponent where you want to make an HTTP request using Axios. Here's an example implementation:

In the example above, we use the useEffect hook to make the HTTP request when the component mounts. We define an asynchronous function fetchData that uses await to wait for the Axios request to complete. If the request is successful, we log the response data to the console. If an error occurs, we handle it by logging the error to the console.

Remember to replace the URL 'https://api.example.com/data' with the actual endpoint you want to request.

This is a basic example of how to use Axios in React Native project. You can modify it to fit your specific needs, such as passing parameters, headers, or handling different HTTP methods.