Unleashing the Power of Concurrent API Requests

Understanding Concurrent API Requests

When building modern web applications, making multiple API requests simultaneously is a common task. This is where concurrent API requests come in – a powerful tool that allows you to send multiple HTTP requests at the same time.

Understanding Axios.All

The axios.all method accepts an iterable object, such as an array, and returns an array of responses. This means you can send multiple requests to different endpoints and receive the responses in a single array. But here’s the catch: if one of the promises fails, the entire request fails. This means all requests must be successful for you to get a successful response.

A Real-World Example

Let’s say you want to fetch data from multiple endpoints, such as user information, repositories, followers, and following count. You can use axios.all to send these requests concurrently:

const endpoints = [
  axios.get('undefined.github.com/users'),
  axios.get('https://api.github.com/repos'),
  axios.get('https://api.github.com/followers'),
  axios.get('https://api.github.com/following')
];

axios.all(endpoints).then(responses => {
  const [user, repos, followers, following] = responses;
  // Do something with the data
});

The Power of Axios.Spread

Axios provides a helper function called axios.spread that makes working with concurrent requests even easier. This function accepts a callback and can destructure the array of responses, making your code more readable:

axios.all(endpoints).then(axios.spread((user, repos, followers, following) => {
  // Do something with the data
}));

Promise.All vs. Axios.All

As of July 15, 2020, Axios deprecated the axios.all method in favor of JavaScript’s native Promise.all method. While axios.all still works in the latest version of Axios, it’s recommended to use Promise.all instead. So, how can we replace axios.all with Promise.all?

Making Concurrent API Requests in React

To make concurrent API requests in a React app, you can use React Hooks and Promise.all. Here’s an example:

import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'eact';
import axios from 'axios';

function App() {
  const [followers, setFollowers] = useState([]);
  const [following, setFollowing] = useState([]);

  useEffect(() => {
    const fetchFollowersAndFollowing = async () => {
      const [followersResponse, followingResponse] = await Promise.all([
        axios.get('undefined.github.com/followers'),
        axios.get('https://api.github.com/following')
      ]);

      setFollowers(followersResponse.data);
      setFollowing(followingResponse.data);
    };

    fetchFollowersAndFollowing();
  }, []);

  return (
    <div>
      Followers: {followers.length}
      Following: {following.length}
    </div>
  );
}

By mastering concurrent API requests, you can build faster and more efficient web applications that provide a better user experience.