Full Stack JavaScript Strategies

Chapter 16. Data Management

You already have some state management in place, so now it’s time to fetch and update data. Talk with the devs who are working on the backend so that you can communicate expectations around API calls. Since you’re a full stack dev, you can also note any changes that need to be made and write tickets to do that work yourself. For now, you and the backend devs have agreed on expected endpoints and data schema, so you can get started.

It’s a good practice to limit the number of API calls that the frontend needs to make for performance reasons. So you really need to understand how the data will affect the page layout and when it needs to show in the UX flow. Users need a consistent experience or else they think something is wrong with the product or some data they need is missing or incorrect. Considering this will help you figure out how data should flow.

In this chapter, I’ll cover:

• API calls

• Async handling

• When to check on backend functionality

• Tools you can use

There are some nuances to calling data endpoints because you have to think about latency and what happens when your backend requests don’t return what you expect. You also have to think about when data should be requested and why calls are being made. This is going to show you if the backend returns data in the format you need. You will likely need to make minor adjustments on the backend as you put together the interface.

Before you jump into the code and request data, it’s good to ...