Making API Calls with Axios

Introduction

In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to make API calls using Axios in a Vue.js application. Axios is a promise-based HTTP client that works both in the browser and in a Node.js environment. It provides a single API for dealing with XMLHttpRequests and node's http interface.

You will learn how to:
- Set up Axios in your Vue.js project
- Use Axios for sending different types of HTTP requests
- Handle errors and edge cases

Prerequisites

• Basic knowledge of JavaScript
• Basic understanding of Vue.js
• Familiarity with HTTP requests is helpful but not required

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Setting up Axios: First, you need to install Axios. You can do this by running npm install axios.

2. Using Axios in Vue.js: Once installed, you can import Axios in any Vue component and use it to send HTTP requests.

3. Sending HTTP Requests: Axios provides methods for all HTTP request types. Here are some examples:

   • GET: To fetch data from an API.
   • POST: To send data to an API.
   • PUT: To update data in an API.
   • DELETE: To delete data from an API.

4. Error Handling: When an error occurs during an HTTP request, Axios returns a Promise that is rejected. This allows you to handle errors using .catch().

Code Examples

Example 1 - GET Request

import axios from 'axios';

axios.get('https://api.example.com/items')
  .then(response => {
    // handle success
    console.log(response);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    // handle error
    console.log(error);
  });

In this example, we are sending a GET request to 'https://api.example.com/items'. If the request is successful, the response is logged to the console. If an error occurs, it is caught and logged to the console.

Example 2 - POST Request

import axios from 'axios';

axios.post('https://api.example.com/items', { item: 'New Item' })
  .then(response => {
    // handle success
    console.log(response);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    // handle error
    console.log(error);
  });

In this example, we are sending a POST request to 'https://api.example.com/items'. We are also sending data ({ item: 'New Item' }) with the request. If the request is successful, the response is logged to the console. If an error occurs, it is caught and logged to the console.

Summary

In this tutorial, we learned how to make API calls using Axios in a Vue.js application. We covered how to set up Axios, send different types of HTTP requests, and handle errors.

Next, you could explore more advanced topics like Axios interceptors or how to cancel requests. You could also learn about other HTTP clients like fetch or jQuery's Ajax.

The Axios GitHub page is a great resource for further learning.

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Make a GET request to 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts' and log the response to the console.

Exercise 2: Make a POST request to 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts', send some data with it, and log the response to the console.

Exercise 3: Add error handling to the previous exercises.

Solutions:

// Exercise 1
axios.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts')
  .then(response => console.log(response))
  .catch(error => console.error(error));

// Exercise 2
axios.post('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts', { title: 'Foo', body: 'Bar', userId: 1 })
  .then(response => console.log(response))
  .catch(error => console.error(error));

Remember to keep practicing and experimenting with different APIs and HTTP methods. Happy coding!