Need guidance: I learnt basic React but most apps need back end

Hi. Today I finished this great tutorial on React and even though I cant wait to start coding, most of the apps I want to make require some sort of data that must be saved. And in some cases we are talking about merging data from different users.

I spent a few weeks looking at how node, express and mongoose works so I know how they work, but but it was all dynamic websites, not API stuff.

Should I keep diggin in the full stack hole or better I start making something with plain react and then eventually integrate it.

Some apps I guess just need some storage to be persistant could I just use web storage for that?

Finding some persistent storage is easy. The problem is that you don’t want to store the keys and such in your F/E. There are things like Firebase which might help.

Yes, I had the same problem as you - I learned React but all I’d ever done for fullstack was SSR. The other option is to have your F/E and your B/E completely separate. You say “I spent a few weeks looking at how node, express and mongoose works so I know how they work” but I would humbly suggest that if you don’t know how to set this up, then you still have a lot of things you can learn there.

Basically you are setting up a server and having your F/E call those endpoints. This is an example of a simple app where I did this. It uses React/Redux/Thunk on the F/E and Node/Express for a simple backend so I don’t have to expose my google keys to the world. I launched the server on Heroku so my F/E can call it.

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My main worry is how to blend the front end with the back end. The SSR style is very straight forward: request, routing, query, templating response… rinse and repeat.

With the front end now I feel Im juggling. I guess It will make sense once I learn react route and Restful API design.

And as a side note I am not even sure that SPA are that important. I think dynamic rendering is not dead, it make sense in a lot of business.

My main worry is how to blend the front end with the back end.

But that’s the point - they aren’t “blended”. They are completely separate. They are completely different programs. Your F/E could be written on the other side of the planet and your B/E server is next door. There is no mixture. Your F/E could be talking do different servers and your server could be being used by other clients. They are completely separate apps.

If you’ve build a React app that consumes a RESTful API, then you’re half there. That is your F/E. It sounds like you are still a little unsure on building a server that just handles API calls and renders data instead of HTML. Have you done the microservice portion of FCC? That is how you have to be thinking.

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