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Part 4: Building an Interactive App with React, Bootstrap, and Axios

Create React App

  1. In Visual Studio Code, Open a new folder
  2. Now that you have Node and npm installed, Create React App is a convenient way to start a new app.

We can create a new React App called "quote-app" with the following:

$ npx create-react-app quote-app
  1. Take a look at the folders and files in your React App.
  2. On the command line, change the directory to quote-app and start the app with:
$ cd quote-app
$ npm start

This launches your app in your "local" development environment, and you'll be able to see the app in your browser at http://localhost:3000.

  1. We'll make changes to the file App.js. Change the text inside of the <p></p> tags, save the file, and note the changes in your browser.

Adding Bootstrap and Creating a Card

  1. Why I love npm
  2. Bootstrap is a "front-end open source toolkit". Today we'll use just a little bit of the CSS that comes with Bootstrap. It also includes JavaScript plugins.
$ npm install bootstrap
  1. Note the new "dependency" in package.json
  2. Add this import to the index.js file:
import 'bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.css';
  1. Bootstrap provides all sorts of styling options, built on CSS. Use class to target specific elements.
  2. Now that we have added Bootstrap to our project, we can create a Card container. Try replacing everything inside of the <header></header> tags with this:
<div class="card" style={{width: '25rem'}}>
  <div class="card-header">
    Cardano Starter Kit #003
  </div>
  <div class="card-body">
    This is a card!
  </div>
</div>
  1. What happens if we remove the Bootstrap import from index.js?

The Magic of React: Separate, Re-usable Components

  1. In the /src directory, create a new file called Quote.js
  2. Create a new function called Quote - you can copy and paste the following:
import React from 'react';

function Quote() {
    return (
        
    )
}

export default Quote;
  1. Cut and paste our "card" markup inside the parentheses for return, so it looks like this:
import React from 'react';

function Quote() {
    return (
        <div class="card">
         <div class="card-header">
           Cardano Starter Kit #003
         </div>
         <div class="card-body">
           This is a card!
         </div>
       </div>
    )
}

export default Quote;

  1. Make sure that you've removed the "card" markup from App.js, and replace it with <Quote />

  2. At the top of the App.js file, add an import statement for your new Quote component:

import Quote from './Quote';
  1. Look at how easy it is to re-use our Quote component - we can add as many as we'd like to the page!

Creating a Simple Form to take User Input

Next we'll add a form inside of Quote.js

  1. Replace This is a card! with the following:
<form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
    <div className="form-group">
        <label>Enter a symbol:</label>
        <input
        type="text"
        class="form-control mb-2"
        value={symbol}
        onChange={e => setSymbol(e.target.value)}
        />
    </div>

    <input type="submit" value="Submit" />
</form>
  1. Form elements like input and submit are built into HTML
  2. We added Bootstrap to our project, so the input field and the submit button are styled with Bootstrap's built-in CSS
  3. We will write some JavaScript to handle user interaction with the form.

React Hooks

To make a long story short, React Hooks provide an easier way for developers to create responsive, interactive apps.

  1. Import useState and useEffect
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
  1. At the top of the Quote() function, add the following:
  const [symbol, setSymbol] = useState("");
  const [lookup, setLookup] = useState("");
  
  const handleSubmit = (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    setLookup(symbol);
  }
  1. Now our app should work. Let's take a look at the difference between symbol and lookup.

Calling the Messari API to Get Data

Application Programming Interfaces, or APIs, allow us to send and receive data betweeen different apps. Some APIs are open and free, others restricted. Some, like Cardano, take a bit more setting up - so we'll get to that in a future CSK!

Today we'll use Messari's free API to get data about the current price of different cryptocurrencies into our app. We will also use a package called Axios to simplify our API calls a bit.

  1. Back on the command line, add Axios to your app:
npm install axios
  1. In Quote.js, import Axios
import Axios from 'axios';
  1. We'll need more useState() hooks to hold the data returned by an API. For example, let's add
  const [name, setName] = useState ("");
  const [price, setPrice] = useState(0);

Note the difference between the "initial states" of name and price.

  1. Below the handleSubmit() function and above the return(), add the following:
useEffect(() => {
  async function fetchData() {
      const request = await Axios.get('https://data.messari.io/api/v1/assets/' + lookup + '/metrics/market-data');
      setName(request.data.data.name);
      setPrice(request.data.data.market_data.price_usd);
      return request;
  }

  fetchData();
}, [lookup]);
  1. Now, just like we display the values of symbol and lookup, we can do the same with name and price

Improving the User Experience: What should we display before the user looks up a symbol?

With the following function, we can change the behavior of our card, before and after user input. We need to import Fragment in order for this code to work.

function coinInfo() {
  if(lookup !== ""){
    return(
      <Fragment>
        <p>Name: {name}</p>
        <p>Price: {price}</p>  
      </Fragment>
    );
  }
  else{
    return(
      <Fragment>
        <p>Name: Look up a coin</p>
        <p>Price: Awaiting your input</p>
      </Fragment>
    );
  }
}

Once we've created this coinInfo() function, we can call it inside the return() to render the appropriate <Fragment> on our card.

At this point, you should have a working app - congratulations!

Extensions:

  • Style your app to make it look better (read the Bootstrap docs to see what you can do)
  • Add a different font from Google Fonts
  • Call additional data from the Messari.io API and add it to the app
  • Curious using some of Bootstrap's JavaScript plugins? Take a look here, and be sure to follow up with any questions you have.

Challenges:

  • Access your GitHub account from the command line and deploy your App to GitHub Pages. Here's an example. If enough people try this, I'll make a video about it.
  • Add some logic to Quote.js so that if a user inputs symbol that does not exist, your app returns some sort of error message.