What is the difference between fetch and axios?
fetch is built into the browser but needs manual JSON parsing and error handling. axios is a library with automatic JSON parsing, interceptors, and cleaner error handling. Either works; the trade-off is browser-native vs a dependency with conveniences.
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Fetch inside useEffect with an empty dependency array, store the result in state, and handle loading and error states. This is the basic correct pattern for initial data loading on component mount.
Track separate loading and error state variables. Show a spinner while loading, an error message with a retry on failure, and set loading to false in a finally block so it stops whether the fetch succeeded or failed.
If a user triggers multiple fetches, an earlier response might resolve after a later one, overwriting fresh data with stale data. Avoid this with cleanup flags or abort signals that ignore outdated responses.
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