Almost all application development on Laravel using Inertia.js and Vue 3 is based on asynchronous requests. This approach ensures modern user interaction with the application and avoids page reloads.
The principle of asynchronous requests can be described as follows:
- event - The user initiates an interaction (for example, by clicking a button or filling out a form).
- Calling the request function - In response to an event, a function is called that sends an asynchronous request to the server.
- Contacting the controller - The request is processed on the server in the controller Laravel.
- Returning a response to the client - The server returns data that is displayed on the client without reloading the page.
When it comes to implementing such interaction, developers are often faced with a choice between Inertia's built-in functionality.js, the axios
library, and the fetch
API. Let's look at each of these approaches.
1. Usage Inertia.js
Inertia.js provides a convenient API for working with queries in the context of single-page applications (SPA). It combines server and client code, allowing you to easily send requests and receive responses using methods such as Inertia.post()
or Inertia.get()
. It is important to note that Inertia also allows you to process responses through promises, which makes it possible to conveniently manage successful and erroneous responses.
Advantages Inertia.js
- Automatic interface update: When sending Inertia requests.js automatically processes changes and refreshes the page.
- Intuitive API: Using Inertia.js allows you to get rid of unnecessary code related to state management and routing.
- Consistency with MVC: Easy integration with Laravel controllers and Vue frameworks.
Usage example Inertia.js
import { Inertia } from '@inertiajs/inertia';
// Function for submitting the form
function submitForm(data) {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
Inertia.post('/submit-form', data, {
onSuccess: (response) => {
resolve(response);
},
onError: (error) => {
reject(error);
},
});
});
}
2. Using Axios
axios
is a popular JavaScript library for executing HTTP requests. It provides more control over the configuration of requests and response processing, which can be useful in more complex scenarios.
Advantages of axios
- Flexibility and power: Allows you to customize headers, parameters, and process responses in more detail.
- Compatibility with RESTful API: It is easy to work with various APIs, which makes it ideal for applications with extensive functionality.
- Promise support: An easy-to-use promise-based API that allows you to manage asynchronous requests conveniently.
An example of using Axios
import axios from 'axios';
// Function for submitting the form
function submitForm(data) {
axios.post('/submit-form', data)
.then(response => {
console.log('Form submitted successfully:', response.data);
})
.catch(error => {
console.error('Error submitting form:', error);
});
}
3. Using Fetch
fetch
is a built-in API for executing HTTP requests that offers a modern and user-friendly syntax. It allows you to access resources in any format and provides the ability to work with promises, which simplifies the processing of asynchronous operations.
Advantages of Fetch
- Modern syntax: A simple and intuitive way to perform queries.
- Asynchronous support/expected syntax: Convenient to use with
async
/await
for cleaner code. - Flexibility: It is easy to configure parameters and request headers.
Example of using Fetch
async function submitForm(data) {
try {
const response = await fetch('/submit-form', {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'X-Requested-With': 'XMLHttpRequest'
},
body: JSON.stringify(data)
});
if (!response.ok) {
throw new Error('Network response was not ok');
}
const responseData = await response.json();
console.log('Form submitted successfully:', responseData);
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error submitting form:', error);
}
}
The question is which approach is better to use to perform asynchronous queries in Laravel applications using Inertia.js and Vue 3, has multiple answers.
- If you are developing a SPA-oriented application and want to keep integration simple and routing-friendly, choose Inertia.js .
- If you need more control over requests and you need to interact with multiple external APIs, consider using axios.
- If you need a simple and modern approach without additional libraries, use the built-in fetch API.
Each of these tools has its advantages and disadvantages, and your choice should meet the specific requirements and architecture of your application.