What Backend Should You Use For React?

There are other CMSs that offer developer-friendly features such as image and media asset management as well as more expansive API features. If you are building an app where your data changes very infrequently, you probably don’t need a database or an API. Once the file is uploaded to the server, it will be sent back to the client to reflect that the user has successfully uploaded the file.

We will also install the required library that we are going to use for making API calls to our backend server. Is another command line utility used to create a default Reactjs front-end application. Module and specify a path in order to store the image file coming from the client.

Stage 4: Build Your Own Backend

I will be adding two more packages for our configurable back-end application to behave in the way we want to. Tools like Next API routes allow you to build your API fast without the need to run and manage your server code in a separate repository. Depending on your answers to these questions, you might be able to get away with using static files as your data source.

If you are fine updating files manually and re-deploying your project, that may be all that you need. In this guide, you’ll learn how to pick the appropriate backend for the type of React application you’re making in the simplest and least expensive way possible. Like most libraries, this one runs on web servers like Apache or with backends like PHP or Rails. Which is the official and quickest way to start with an Express back-end application. Donations to freeCodeCamp go toward our education initiatives, and help pay for servers, services, and staff. If this is the case for you, it may be worth looking into a backend as a service .

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In every React project, we manage data on the client through state and user interactions. However, many apps are not possible without data that comes from the backend. Provide a middleware function for Express applications to enable various Cross-Origin Resource Sharing options. CORS https://wizardsdev.com/ is a mechanism that allows restricted resources on a web page from another domain. It helps a browser and a server to communicate and can be hosted on separate domains. As React developers, building our project largely focuses on what the user sees, which is known as the frontend.

  • Some of the simplest CMSs range from Excel-like sheets like Google Sheets and Airtable, to note-taking apps like Notion.
  • If you are building an app where your data changes very infrequently, you probably don’t need a database or an API.
  • Entire books have been written on just parts of building your own backend, but here is what I would recommend as someone who has built many production applications using a custom backend.
  • The limitation with content management systems is that they are great for managing and accessing data.
  • A CMS is ideal for your application if you simply have too much data to manage as separate files or want other potentially non-technical users to edit or add content to your app.
  • In every React project, we manage data on the client through state and user interactions.

Content management systems or give us tools to more easily manage our content. They often give us dedicated applications with built-in editors to more easily view, update, and structure our data. The limitation with content management systems is that they are great for managing and accessing data. If you have an e-commerce application Front end React Engineer job where the product data rarely changes, you could store all of app data in JSON files that you simply import and use within your React application. Static sites built with Gatsby or Next.js may not need a backendInstead, you could simply write your blog posts as markdown files, which are stored and tracked within a project folder.

Stage 1: No Backend

It will give you much of the power of a custom-built backend without the domain-specific knowledge. Going this route will ultimately save a lot of money on database and hosting costs, since static sites can be hosted on a free tier of many hosting providers. Then just after other middleware functions, we will instantiate these two newly imported packages. With that being said, it is also the most customizable, considering that you can build exactly what you need to power your app. Some of the simplest CMSs range from Excel-like sheets like Google Sheets and Airtable, to note-taking apps like Notion. A headless CMS does not have a visible interface, since React will be serve as the user interface for our app.

If you are looking for the complete guide to build your own production-ready React projects, check out the React Bootcamp. It generates all the code required to perform every kind of operation against your database as well as types for each. This is the most advanced option to choose as a React developer because it requires the most knowledge, time, and coding skills. Managing a database and building a complete API to interact with that database is a daunting challenge, especially if you’ve only worked on the frontend.

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Entire books have been written on just parts of building your own backend, but here is what I would recommend as someone who has built many production applications using a custom backend. However, when you need to add more complex, custom features such as updating data from your React client, authenticating users, protecting content, and real-time data, a standard CMS falls short. A CMS is ideal for your application if you simply have too much data to manage as separate files or want other potentially non-technical users to edit or add content to your app.