How to Create RESTful API and Fetch Data using ReactJS ?

Last Updated : 08 Jan, 2025

React JS is more than just an open-source JavaScript library, it's a powerful tool for crafting user interfaces with unparalleled efficiency and clarity. One of React's core principles is its component-based architecture, which aligns perfectly with the Model View Controller (MVC) pattern. React components encapsulate pieces of UI functionality and logic, making them reusable, maintainable, and easy to reason about. As a result, developers can focus solely on building the view layer of their applications, confident that React will handle updates and rendering optimizations with ease. In this article, we will see how we can create the RESTful API and Fetch the Data using ReactJS.

Table of Content

Prerequisites
What is RESTful API?
Why should we use REST API in our web apps and services?
Start Creating Project and Install the Required Node Modules

Prerequisites

The REST API is now essential for any developer who wants to create a web application or a mobile application. To do this, we must first grasp what a RESTful API is so that we may construct one from the ground up simply and effectively.

Here, we'll create a REST API using a local environment and local database, then use ReactJS to display the data.

What is RESTful API?

REST API stands for Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface. It is a collection of architectural guidelines and best practices for creating web services that enable various systems to interact and communicate with one another over the Internet. Due to their simplicity, scalability, and usability, RESTful APIs are a popular choice for developing web applications and services.

Why should we use REST API in our web apps and services?

Let's see the table to understand Why should we use REST API in our web apps and services?

Concept	Description
Resources	In REST API, everything is treated as resources, such as data objects or services. These resources are uniquely identified by URLs (Uniform Resources Locators).
Statelessness	Each request made by a client to a server must provide all the details required to comprehend and handle the request. The server does not save any data regarding the client's state between queries.
HTTP Methods	RESTful APIs use standard HTTP methods to perform CRUD(Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations on resources. The common methods are GET(read), POST(create), PUT(update), and DELETE(delete).
Representations	Resources can have multiple representations, such as JSON, XML, HTML, or others. Clients can specify the desired representation using the HTTP "Accept" header.
Stateless Communication	Each request made by the client to the server must include all required data. The client's state in-between queries is not recorded by the server. This approach makes it easier to implement the server and improves scalability.

Start Creating Project and Install the Required Node Modules

Step 1: Create two separate folders one for our backend and the second for our frontend. You can run these commands in your terminal or you can create them on your own with GUI.

cd ReactProject
mkdir backend

Step 2: We will run a command to install all react dependencies and necessary files.

npx create-react-app frontend

Step 3: Now we have to install all Node modules and npm packages for backend.

cd backend
npm init -y

Step 3: This command will create the package.json files where we will able to see our dependencies. So let's install the required dependencies

npm i express nodemon
npm install express cors --save

Project Structure:

The updated dependencies in package.json file will look like:

Backend:

"dependencies": {
    "express": "^4.18.2",
    "nodemon": "^3.0.2"
  }

Frontend:

"dependencies": {     
    "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^5.17.0",     
    "@testing-library/react": "^13.4.0",     
    "@testing-library/user-event": "^13.5.0",     
    "react": "^18.2.0",     
    "react-dom": "^18.2.0",     
    "react-scripts": "5.0.1",      
    "web-vitals": "^2.1.4"   
}

Step 4: Create the following files in the backend.

Note: In order to be able to fetch the product photos on the client side, we must place the images folder—which contains the product images—inside the public folder of ReactJS.

JavaScript

//products.json

[
    {
        "id": 1,
        "name": "Product 1",
        "description": "Description of Product 1",
        "price": 9.99,
        "image": "https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/20230728154500/download-(1).jfif"
    },
    {
        "id": 2,
        "name": "Product 2",
        "description": "Description of Product 2",
        "price": 19.99,
        "image": "https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/20230728154740/download-(2).jfif"
    },
    {
        "id": 3,
        "name": "Product 3",
        "description": "Description of Product 3",
        "price": 20,
        "image": "https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/20230728154838/download-(3).jfif"
    },
    {
        "id": 4,
        "name": "Product 4",
        "description": "Description of Product 4",
        "price": 25,
        "image": "https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/20230728154931/download.jfif"
    },
    {
        "id": 5,
        "name": "Product 5",
        "description": "Description of Product 5",
        "price": 30,
        "image": "https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/20230728155132/images-(1).jfif"
    },
    {
        "id": 6,
        "name": "Product 6",
        "description": "Description of Product 6",
        "price": 999,
        "image": "https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/20230728155224/images.jfif"
    }
]

JavaScript

//index.js

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const cors = require('cors');
app.use(express.json())
const data = require('./products.json')
app.use(cors());

// REST API to get all products details at once
// With this api the frontend will only get the data
// The frontend cannot modify or update the data 
// Because we are only using the GET method here.

app.get("/api/products", (req, res) => {
    res.json(data)
});

app.listen(5000, () => {
    console.log('Server started on port 5000');
});

Step 5: Now run the below command to install Axios:

cd frontend
npm i axios

Step 6: Add this code in the frontend files.

CSS

/*App.css*/

.products {
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: row;
    margin-top: 30vh;
    justify-content: space-between;
    text-align: center;
}

.img {
    height: 100px;
    width: 100px;
}

JavaScript

//App.js

import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import axios from "axios";
import './App.css';

function App() {
    const [data, setData] = useState();

    useEffect(() => {
        axios.get('http://localhost:5000/api/products').then(
            response => {
                setData(response.data);
            }
        ).catch(error => {
            console.error(error);
        })
    }, [])

    return (
        <div className="App">
            {
                <div className='products'>
                    {data?.map((data) => {
                        return (
                            <div key={data.id}>
                                <img className='img'
                                    src={data.image}
                                    alt="img" />
                                <h1>{data.name}</h1>
                                <p>{data.description}</p>
                            </div>
                        );
                    })
                    }
                </div>
            }
        </div>
    );
}
export default App;

Step 7: Launch our website using localhost and see the outcomes. We have to operate the front end and back end simultaneously for that. Open two terminals and then "cd backend" & "cd frontend".

In frontend

npm start

In backend