Building a Client-Side Application with React, Apollo, and GraphQL
In this article, we will explore how to build a client-side application using React, Apollo, and GraphQL. We will use the public SpaceX GraphQL API to display information about launches.
Why GraphQL + TypeScript?
GraphQL is a query language for APIs that allows clients to request specific data, reducing the amount of data transferred over the network. TypeScript is a statically typed JavaScript superset that helps catch errors early and improves code maintainability. Together, they provide a powerful combination for building robust and efficient applications.
Getting Started with TypeScript, React, and GraphQL
To start, we will create a new React project using create-react-app with the TypeScript template. We will then install the necessary dependencies, including @apollo/client and graphql.
Writing GraphQL Queries and Generating Types
We will write two GraphQL queries: one to fetch a list of launches and another to fetch detailed information about a single launch. We will use the graphql-tag library to define our queries and the graphql-code-generator library to generate TypeScript types for our queries.
Initializing Apollo Client
We will initialize the Apollo client and use the ApolloProvider component to add our client to React’s context.
Building Our Components
We will create two components: LaunchList and LaunchProfile. The LaunchList component will display a list of launches, and the LaunchProfile component will display detailed information about a single launch.
Adding User Interaction
We will add functionality to fetch the full launch data when a user clicks on an item in the launch list. We will use the useState hook to maintain and update the state of the selected launch ID.
Conclusion
In this article, we have built a client-side application using React, Apollo, and GraphQL. We have demonstrated how to write GraphQL queries, generate TypeScript types, and use the Apollo client to fetch data from a GraphQL API. With this setup, we can now build a data-driven UI with ease and confidence.
Code Generation and TypeScript
One of the key benefits of using GraphQL and TypeScript is the ability to generate types automatically. This eliminates the need for manual type definitions and reduces the risk of type-related errors.
Next Steps
To take this application further, we could add pagination to the launch list and explore more data connectivity using additional fields from