API Basics

React Fetch vs Axios: Comparing HTTP Request Libraries in React

Fetch is a native JS interface for HTTP requests supported by modern browsers. Axios is a more full-featured third-party library requiring installation. Axios provides richer features like automatic JSON parsing, error handling, interceptors.

When building React applications, we often need to make HTTP requests to retrieve or send data to a server. The two most popular methods for making HTTP requests in React are the native Fetch API and the third party Axios library. Both have their pros and cons and can accomplish the same tasks. In this article we will compare Fetch and Axios to help you decide which one may work best for your React app.

React Fetch vs Axios

Here is a comparison of Fetch and Axios.js for making HTTP requests for a quick look.

Difference	Axios	Fetch
Library Type	Third party library, needs to be installed via npm	Native JS interface, no extra installation needed
Browser Support	Supports all popular browsers	Supports all modern browsers except IE
Syntax	More humane syntax	Concise syntax
HTTP Methods	Supports all HTTP methods	Only supports GET and POST
Parameter Passing	Supports multiple ways of parameter passing	Can only pass params in body or URL
Error Handling	Has built-in error handling mechanism	Need to manually catch and handle errors
Response Result	Parses response to JSON by default	Returns raw response, needs manual parsing
Configuration	Provides richer configuration options	Limited configuration options
Interceptors	Supports adding interceptors	Does not support intercepting requests and responses

What is Fetch?

The Fetch API is native to most modern browsers and utilizes promises. Some key things to know about Fetch:

Native to browsers so no need to install a separate library
Uses promises and is therefore familiar to JS developers used to async/await
Simple syntax but requires manually handling some things like errors
Cannot monitor request progress like upload progress
Requires parsing JSON response with .json()
Limited browser support on older browsers

Here is an example Fetch request to get JSON data in React:

fetch('/api/data')
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => {
    // use data
  })

What is Axios

Axios is a third party library that can be installed into React apps. Some key aspects of Axios:

Small size with minimal dependencies
Supports older browsers
Automatic transforms for JSON data
Monitoring of request progress
Response timeout handling
Automatic error handling
Ability to cancel requests
Support for security features like CORS

Here is an example Axios request for getting JSON data:

axios.get('/api/data')
  .then(response => {
    // use response.data
  })

As you can see, the syntax is quite similar to Fetch. However, Axios handles some things automatically that you would need to handle manually with Fetch.

Key Differences between Fetch and Axios

Fetch is native while Axios is a third party library
Fetch requires manually parsing JSON but Axios does this automatically
Fetch has less browser support while Axios supports older browsers
Axios has ability monitor progress, timeout, and cancel requests
Axios automatically transforms errors while Fetch requires manual error handling
Axios has built-in security features like CORS support

What is Apidog

Fetching data is critical for React apps, but manually coding API requests can be tedious. Apidog streamlines this process through automatic client code generation from backend API specs.

Simply click the Apidog icon to produce tailored Fetch requests matched to the needed endpoints and data structures. This saves developers effort and avoids errors that stem from hand-coding HTTP requests.

Apidog also empowers developers to mock responses before backends are ready, enabling frontend work to proceed independently. With just one click, fake data can stand in to support UI/UX development and application logic.

By automating client code generation and mocking, Apidog enables smooth data integration in React apps without the headache. It removes friction from linking frontends to backends, letting developers concentrate on building robust and user-friendly applications.

The auto-generated Fetch code, modifiable endpoints, and response mocking maximize productivity while laying the groundwork for robust and sustainable React projects.

Conclusion

In summary, Fetch and Axios can both be used to make API calls in React. Fetch is simpler syntactically but Axios includes more built-in capabilities. If you need these additional features or wider browser support, Axios may be a better choice.

However, Fetch can be useful for basic HTTP requests in newer browser environments. Consider the needs of your application to determine if native Fetch or Axios is more suitable.