The simplest way to fetch data from APIs in NextJS

The simplest way to fetch data from APIs in NextJS

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4 min read

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Before We Begin

  • this is very important and simple too , but if you pay attention to it , you will understand how to use it.
  • you need abit of react knowledge to understand this.

First Download axios

npm i axios

what is axios ?

  • axios is a library that helps you make HTTP requests from the browser.
  • it is a promise based library.
  • it is a tool that helps you make HTTP requests from the browser.
  • so we will use it cuz it's the simplest way to get data from the API .

NextJS and Fetch

in NextJS , we use the fetch api to get data from the API . but notice that in server side rendering , we can't use the data in the component directly, we need to manage the status by useState & useEffect.

Let's Go ?

first get the url of the api then sace it .

  const url = "https://catfact.ninja/fact";

then let's begin to fetch the data from the api .(YOU HAVE TO INSTALL AXIOS ๐Ÿ˜ฌ !!)

##  fetch data
 // fetch data .
  function getData() {
    axios
      .get(url)
      .then((res) => {
       //put the resulted data in the console for testing purposes
        console.log(res.data);
        setRepo(res.data);
      })
      //handle the error
      .catch((err) => {
        console.log(err);
      });
  }
  • Now you have the data in the console (the clint), Now how we could put it inside a component ??!

Put it in a component .

  • Let's say you builtin a page to display a fact every 5 seconds how could you do that ?
  • Here is an example of what we will do GO THERE !.

was nice ha ? ๐Ÿ˜

  • any way, we will do this exactly but the logical part, you can see the full repo here GO THERE !.

this is an empty component

  export default function Home() {


       return (
       <div>
           <h1></h1>
       </div>
       );
   };

create the status that will manage the data

- we will use the useState hook to manage the data.
- we will use the useEffect hook to manage the status.
- why tho ? cuz it's a server side rendering you can't handle a client side operations there .
or you will face errors like :

 ```
 Hydration failed because the initial UI does not match what was rendered on the server.
 ```

or

Text content does not match server-rendered HTML.
  • so be aware of the status.
useEffect(() => {
    let interval = setInterval(() => {
      getData();
      setLoading(!loading);
      setDot(dota);
      setEmoji(emojia);
    }, 5000);

here we used interval to get the data every 5 seconds. the put every function that we want to update it's status and return it.(but there is no return yet)

the functions

// to get a rendom number of dots
 function dot() {
    return dots[Math.floor(Math.random() * dots.length)];
  }
  // to get a rendom number of emojis
    function emoji() {
    return emojiArray[Math.floor((Math.random() * emoji.length) / 2)];
  }
  // and we have setLoading state to display a simple text when the data is not loaded yet.
  // and of course we have getData .(the data itself)

so put it all together and you will get the result ๐Ÿ˜ .

Now for what you want ๐Ÿ˜

the source code

  • you can see it hereGO THERE !.
  • give it a star plz or jut copy this :
import styles from "../styles/Home.module.css";
import axios from "axios";
import { useState, useEffect } from "react";

export default function Home() {
  let [repo, setRepo] = useState([]);
  let [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
  let [dota, setDot] = useState([]);
  let [emojia, setEmoji] = useState([]);

  const url = "https://catfact.ninja/fact";
  // fetch data .
  function getData() {
    axios
      .get(url)
      .then((res) => {
        console.log(res.data);
        setRepo(res.data);
      })
      .catch((err) => {
        console.log(err);
      });
  }
  function dot() {
    return dots[Math.floor(Math.random() * dots.length)];
  }
  function emoji() {
    return emojiArray[Math.floor((Math.random() * emoji.length) / 2)];
  }
  // put it inside useEffect hook .
  useEffect(() => {
    let interval = setInterval(() => {
      getData();
      setLoading(!loading);
      setDot(dota);
      setEmoji(emojia);
    }, 5000);

    return () => clearInterval(interval);
  }, [loading]);

  const emojiArray = [
    "๐Ÿ˜",
    "๐Ÿฅฐ",
    "๐Ÿ˜˜",
    "๐Ÿ˜—",
    "๐Ÿ˜™",
    "๐Ÿ˜š",
    "๐Ÿ˜‹",
    "๐Ÿ˜›",
    "๐Ÿ˜",
    "๐Ÿ˜œ",
    "๐Ÿคช",
    "๐Ÿ˜",
    "๐Ÿ˜’",
    "๐Ÿ˜ž",
    "๐Ÿ˜”",
    "๐Ÿ˜Ÿ",
    "๐Ÿ˜•",
    "๐Ÿ™",
    "โ˜น๏ธ",
    "๐Ÿ˜–",
    "๐Ÿ˜ซ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ฉ",
    "๐Ÿฅบ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ข",
    "๐Ÿ˜ญ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ค",
    "๐Ÿ˜ ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ก",
    "๐Ÿคฌ",
    "๐Ÿคฏ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ณ",
    "๐Ÿฅต",
    "๐Ÿฅถ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ฑ",
    "๐Ÿ˜จ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ฐ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ฅ",
    "๐Ÿ˜“",
    "๐Ÿค—",
    "๐Ÿค”",
    "๐Ÿคญ",
    "๐Ÿคซ",
    "๐Ÿคฅ",
    "๐Ÿ˜ถ",
    "๐Ÿ˜",
    "๐Ÿ˜‘",
    "๐Ÿ˜ฌ",
  ];
  const dots = ["...", "..", "."];
  return (
    <div data-reactroot='' className={styles.text}>
      <h3 className={styles.h3}>Featched Data {emoji()}</h3>
      <h1>New fact every 5 sec </h1>

      <h4>{!repo.fact ? "loading ..." : repo.fact}</h4>

      <h6 style={{ color: "#F0F8FF", fontSize: "15px" }}>
        {repo.fact ? "Loading new one  " : ""}
        {dot()}
      </h6>
    </div>
  );
}

have a wonderful day ๐Ÿฅฐ .

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