Going Jamstack with React, Serverless, and Airtable

Learn by building! This tutorial demonstrates the Jamstack architecture by creating a React application with Netlify Serverless Functions and Airtable. While Jamstack emphasizes static hosting, this project showcases dynamic capabilities, including full CRUD functionality.

Technology Choices

Jamstack, representing JavaScript, APIs, and Markup, leverages existing technologies in a novel way. This tutorial's technology stack prioritizes ease of deployment and hosting. Netlify Functions handle backend CRUD operations with Airtable, enabling seamless deployment on Netlify. Airtable simplifies database management, offering a user-friendly interface and JavaScript SDK, eliminating the need for separate database hosting and management.

Application Overview

This application tracks online courses, acting like a personal learning queue. It allows users to add, update, mark as purchased, and delete courses.

Source Code: I create online courses, including a new one on building secure, production-ready Jamstack applications using React and Netlify Functions. This course covers authentication, Airtable data storage, Styled Components, Netlify CI, and more. Learn more →

Airtable Setup

Airtable uses "bases" for databases. Follow these steps:

1. Create a free Airtable account.
2. Create a new base (I named mine "JAMstack Demos").
3. Create a table named "courses" with these columns:
   • name (single line text)
   • link (single line text)
   • tags (multiple select - add tags like "node," "react," "jamstack," "javascript")
   • purchased (checkbox)
4. Add some sample course data.

Obtaining Airtable Credentials

Before coding, gather these Airtable credentials:

1. API Key: Found on your Airtable account overview page.
2. Base ID: Located on the Airtable API page, within your base details.
3. Table Name: (e.g., "courses")

Project Setup

A starter project is available on GitHub. Follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Clone the forked repository locally.
3. Checkout the starter branch (git checkout starter).

The project includes a create-react-app structure, a functions directory for serverless functions, and a netlify.toml configuration file. Install the dotenv package:

npm install dotenv

Create a .env file in the project root with your Airtable credentials:

<code>AIRTABLE_API_KEY=<your_api_key>
AIRTABLE_BASE_ID=<your_base_id>
AIRTABLE_TABLE_NAME=<your_table_name></your_table_name></your_base_id></your_api_key></code>

Serverless Functions

Netlify Functions are JavaScript files within the /functions directory. The courses.js file acts as the main API endpoint. It uses helper functions (getCourses, createCourse, updateCourse, deleteCourse) based on HTTP methods:

exports.handler = async (event) => {
  if (event.httpMethod === 'GET') {
    return await getCourses(event);
  } // ... other HTTP methods
};

The airtable.js file configures the Airtable connection:

require('dotenv').config();
var Airtable = require('airtable');
// ... Airtable base and table setup ...

CRUD Operations

The helper functions interact with Airtable:

• getCourses.js: Retrieves courses using table.select().firstPage(), handles errors, and formats the response.
• createCourse.js: Creates a new course using table.create().
• updateCourse.js: Updates a course using table.update().
• deleteCourse.js: Deletes a course using table.destroy().

Testing: Use netlify dev to run the functions locally. Test endpoints using tools like Postman or Insomnia.

React Frontend

The React application interacts with the serverless functions:

• App.js: loadCourses fetches courses using fetch('/api/courses').
• CourseForm.js: submitCourse sends POST requests to create new courses.
• Course.js: markCoursePurchased sends PUT requests, and deleteCourse sends DELETE requests.

Deployment to Netlify

Deploy to Netlify by connecting your GitHub repository. Specify:

• Build command: npm run build
• Publish directory: build
• Add environment variables from your .env file.

Conclusion

This tutorial demonstrates the simplicity and power of the Jamstack architecture. The combination of React, Netlify Functions, and Airtable provides a robust and easily deployable full-stack application. Explore other Jamstack services and technologies to further enhance your development workflow.

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