How to Build SPAs With React Query for Data Fetching

Single Page Applications (SPAs) have gained immense popularity due to their seamless user experience and fast loading times. One powerful library that simplifies data fetching in SPAs is React Query. In this article, we'll explore how to build SPAs with React Query for efficient data management and seamless user interactions.

What is React Query?

React Query is a powerful library for managing server state in React applications. It provides tools for fetching, caching, synchronizing, and updating data in your UI without the complexity of managing state and lifecycle methods manually. With React Query, developers can streamline their data-fetching strategy, leading to improved performance and a better user experience.

Setting Up Your React Application

Before using React Query, ensure you have a basic React application set up. If you don’t have one yet, you can create a new React app using Create React App:

npx create-react-app your-app-name

Next, navigate to your project directory:

cd your-app-name

To install React Query, run the following command:

npm install @tanstack/react-query

Setting Up the Query Client

To use React Query, you need to set up a Query Client and wrap your application with the QueryClientProvider. This enables React Query to manage data for your entire component tree.


import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import App from './App';
const queryClient = new QueryClient();
ReactDOM.render(
  
    
  ,
  document.getElementById('root')
);

Creating a Data Fetching Component

Let’s create a component that fetches data from an API. For this example, we will use the JSONPlaceholder API to get a list of posts.


import React from 'react';
import { useQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
const fetchPosts = async () => {
  const response = await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts');
  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error('Network response was not ok');
  }
  return response.json();
};
const Posts = () => {
  const { data, error, isLoading } = useQuery('posts', fetchPosts);
if (isLoading) return Loading...;
  if (error) return Error: {error.message};
return (
    
      {data.map(post => (
        {post.title}
      ))}
    
  );
};
export default Posts;

Using the Fetch Component

Now that we have created our Posts component, let’s integrate it into our main application to render the list of posts.


import React from 'react';
import Posts from './Posts';
const App = () => {
  return (
    
      My Posts
      
    
  );
};
export default App;

Optimizing Data Fetching with React Query

React Query provides several options to optimize data fetching and caching:

Stale Time: Control how long data is considered fresh, which affects refetching.
Refetch On Window Focus: Automatically refetch data when the window regains focus.
Pagination and Infinite Scrolling: Easily implement pagination or infinite scrolling in your applications.

Conclusion

Building SPAs with React Query for data fetching significantly simplifies your app's data management process. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create efficient, user-friendly applications that provide a smooth experience. React Query not only streamlines data fetching but also ensures that you can maintain the state of your application effectively. Start implementing React Query in your next project and see the difference it makes in your development workflow.

How to Build SPAs With React Query for Data Fetching