NodeJS node fetch package

Node-fetch is a module that allows you to make HTTP requests from a Node.js environment. It provides a similar interface to the browser’s built-in fetch API but is specifically designed for server-side usage. Here’s an explanation of how node-fetch works:

  1. Installation: First, you need to install the node-fetch module by running the following command in your Node.js project directory:
npm install node-fetch
  1. Importing the module: In your Node.js script, you need to import the node-fetch module:
const fetch = require('node-fetch');
  1. Making a basic HTTP request: To send an HTTP request, you use the fetch function provided by the node-fetch module. Here’s an example of making a GET request to a remote API:
fetch('https://api.example.com/data')
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => {
    console.log(data);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.log('An error occurred:', error);
  });

In this example:

  • The fetch function is called with the URL of the API endpoint as the first argument.
  • The fetch function returns a Promise that resolves to the Response object representing the response to the request.
  • We chain the then() method to access the response and extract the JSON data using the response.json() method. This method returns another Promise that resolves to the parsed JSON data.
  • Finally, we chain another then() method to access the parsed JSON data and log it to the console. If an error occurs during the request, the catch() method will be triggered.
  1. Handling different types of responses: The Response object returned by fetch provides various methods and properties to handle the response. For example, you can access the status code using response.status, check headers with response.headers, read the response body as text with response.text(), or get the response as a Buffer with response.buffer(). You can refer to the node-fetch documentation for more details on handling different types of responses.
  2. Additional options: The fetch function also accepts additional options as the second argument, allowing you to customize the request. For example, you can set request headers, include request body data, specify the request method (GET, POST, etc.), and more. Again, the node-fetch documentation provides detailed information on the available options.

Node-fetch handles the HTTP request internally by making use of the Node.js http and https modules, allowing you to perform HTTP requests from within a Node.js environment without relying on a browser. It provides a simple and intuitive API for making requests and handling responses in a Node.js script.