Using the Fetch API
to Make HTTP Requests

What is the Fetch API?

The Fetch API provides a modern, promise-based way to make HTTP requests in JavaScript. It's widely used to retrieve or send data to servers, commonly with REST APIs.

Why Use Fetch Instead of XMLHttpRequest?

• Simpler syntax using Promises
• More readable and maintainable
• Built-in support for JSON
• Used in both browser and server (Node.js with polyfills)

Example 1: Making a GET Request

Let's fetch some user data from a free public API called jsonplaceholder.typicode.com.

// Fetch user data (GET request)
fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/1')
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => {
    console.log('User Data:', data);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error('Error fetching data:', error);
  });
    

Output:

User Data: {
  id: 1,
  name: "Leanne Graham",
  username: "Bret",
  email: "Sincere@april.biz",
  ...
}
    

Question: What if the response is not a 200 OK?

Answer: The fetch promise does not reject on HTTP errors (like 404 or 500). You have to check response.ok to handle those cases manually.

Example 2: Handling Errors Gracefully

fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/invalid-url')
  .then(response => {
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error('Network response was not OK');
    }
    return response.json();
  })
  .then(data => {
    console.log(data);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error('Fetch failed:', error.message);
  });
    

Output:

Fetch failed: Network response was not OK
    

Example 3: Sending a POST Request

Now let’s send some data to the server using POST method. This is useful for forms, comments, user creation, etc.

const postData = {
  title: 'Learn Fetch API',
  body: 'This is a POST request example.',
  userId: 101
};

fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify(postData)
})
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => {
    console.log('Response from POST:', data);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error('Error:', error);
  });
    

Output:

Response from POST: {
  title: "Learn Fetch API",
  body: "This is a POST request example.",
  userId: 101,
  id: 101
}
    

Question: Why use JSON.stringify for body?

Answer: Fetch expects the body to be a string, so we convert our JavaScript object to a JSON string before sending it.

Example 4: Async/Await Version

If you want cleaner and more readable syntax, use async/await.

async function getUser() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/2');
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error('Request failed');
    }
    const data = await response.json();
    console.log('User:', data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error:', error.message);
  }
}

getUser();
    

Output:

User: {
  id: 2,
  name: "Ervin Howell",
  ...
}
    

Key Points to Remember

• Fetch is Promise-based and cleanly supports then/catch or async/await
• Always check response.ok to handle non-200 responses
• Use JSON.stringify for sending objects in POST
• Use Content-Type: application/json header for JSON requests