Top 5 Ways To Make Nodejs HTTP Requests

By Padma Priya | Last Updated on July 21, 2024

Top 5 Best Ways To Make Nodejs HTTP Requests

Looking to make Nodejs HTTP requests? You’re in the right place! In this article, we’ll explore the top 5 ways to effortlessly handle HTTP request with Node js. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced node.js developer, these methods will streamline your workflow and enhance your application’s performance. Let’s dive in and discover the best practices for making HTTP requests Node js.

HTTP requests are the process of fetching data from a remote source. It may be a website or an API. In simple, when you require some code to get valuable data from any remote sources. These HTTP requests emerge as the core part of modern languages.

Launching Headless Ecommerce in Node.js, Powered by Microservices. Nodejs http requests.

The server then processes this Request, and another set or pack of information is sent back to the client. This packet(collection of information) contains all the necessary data requested by the client and is known as the response.

In our previous blog, we discussed creating a Nodejs web server to handle HTTP requests.

This blog gives you the solution: several ways to make Nodejs HTTP requests from your Node apps. 

You may ask us why we should want to make HTTP requests in between. Following the question, the two applications came into play – web scraping and proxying. 

Scrapers – software that downloads web pages and extracts data and other related formations from them. 

Proxy – a server act as median or an intermediary that makes forwarding client requests to other servers and returns the responses.

An HTTP request is made up of the following elements:

  • Request Line
  • Headers
  • Body of the Request

An HTTP client sends a request to a server in the form of a message in the following format:

  • A Request-line
  • Zero or more header
  • An empty line 
  • Optionally a message-body

Before proceeding to the next step, ensure that you have installed the latest version of Nodejs and NPM.

Top 5 Best Ways To Make Nodejs HTTP Requests

Top 5 Best Ways To Make Nodejs HTTP Requests

1. REQUEST – HTTP Request With Node js

REQUEST – HTTP Request With Node js

A request is a clarified HTTP client that is much more user-friendly. When compared to the default HTTP module, developers find Request more effective. It is trendy among developers and is considered a go-to HTTP client for Nodejs projects.

Unlike the HTTP module, this demands you to install this as a dependency from module resources called Node Package Manager (npm) using the following command:

$ npm install request --save

Following is an example code snippet that utilizes the Request HTTP client to call a duplicate REST API:

const request = require('request');

request('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1', { json: true }, (err, res, body) => {

  if (err) { 

      return console.log(err); 

  }

  console.log(body.id);

  console.log(body.title);

});

Read More: How To Install Node Version Manager NVM?

2. GOT – Node js Make HTTP Request

GOT – Node js Make HTTP Request

Got is another user-friendly like Request. A lightweight HTTP requests library for Nodejs. To install, Got from the Node package manager with the following command:

$ npm install got --save

Just like Axios and Needle, Got will also support Promises. The following code snippet will call duplicate REST API to get todo information:

const got = require('got');

got('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1', { json: true })

    .then(res => {

      console.log(res.body.id);

      console.log(res.body.title);

    }).catch(err => {

      console.log(err.response.body);

    });

3. NEEDLE for Node HTTP Requests

NEEDLE for Node HTTP Requests

A good streamable HTTP client for Nodejs supports proxy, iconv, cookie, deflate, and multi-part requests. To install Needle client from Node package manager, initiate the following command in your terminal:

$ npm install needle --save

The following code snippet will do the same task of calling duplicate REST API and printing the details:

const needle = require('needle');

needle.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1', {json: true}, (err, res) => {

    if (err) { 

          return console.log(err); 

      }

    let todo = res.body;

    console.log(todo.id);

    console.log(todo.title);

});

4. AXIOS – HTTP Requests Node js Client

AXIOS - HTTP Requests Node js Client

Axios is a Promise-based HTTP client for the Nodejs. Unlike the other HTTP clients such as Request and Needle, Axios automatically converts the response data into a JSON object. It is a simple yet a neat way to make Nodejs HTTP requests. Run the following command in your terminal from the root directory:

$ npm install axios --save

Since it supports Promises, it reduces the need to code to call duplicate REST API as above for HTTP client:

const axios = require('axios');

axios.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1')

  .then(res => {

    console.log(res.data.id);

    console.log(res.data.title);

  })

  .catch(err => {

    console.log(err);

  });

Another benefit of Axios, it supports multiple concurrent requests with axios. all. With a simple illustration, we can concurrently call duplicate REST API to get two todos information at once:

const axios = require('axios');

axios.all([

      axios.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1'),

      axios.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/2')

    ]).then(axios.spread((res1, res2) => {

      console.log(res1.data.title);

      console.log(res2.data.title);

    })).catch(err => {

      console.log(err);

    });

5. THE r2 MODULE

THE r2 MODULE

The r2 module comes first to use Promises. It is an implementation of the browser’s Fetch API client in Nodejs. It primarily uses the same API as window.fetch with fewer dependencies, which means r2 depends on node-fetch.

 Run the following command in a terminal to execute:

npm i r2

Same as before, the following code snippet will call a duplicate REST API to get todo information:

const r2 = require("r2");

const url = "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1";

const getData = async url => {

 try {

   const response = await r2(url).json;

   console.log(response);

 } catch (error) {

   console.log(error);

 }

};

getData(url);

Read More: Benefits of using Node.js for Ecommerce Web Application

Conclusion

Still, Nodejs has various other methods to make HTTP requests that we didn’t list here. With this, Nodejs proves its potential in the technical aspects of web application development.

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Nodejs HTTP Requests FAQs

1. How to make HTTP requests in Node.js with fetch API?

In Node.js, you can use the fetch API to make HTTP requests. First, ensure you have the node-fetch package installed. Then, you can use it similarly to how you use it in the browser, importing fetch and making requests as needed. This allows for easy and efficient handling of HTTP request with Node js applications.

2. What can I use instead of request node?

Instead of the deprecated request package in Node.js, you can use modern alternatives like Axios, node-fetch, or the built-in http and https modules. These alternatives offer improved performance, better compatibility with modern JavaScript features, and ongoing support and maintenance.

3. How does node Express handle multiple HTTP requests?

Node Express, a popular web framework for Node.js, handles multiple HTTP requests using middleware. Middleware functions can intercept and process incoming requests, performing tasks such as logging, authentication, or data parsing. This allows Express applications to efficiently handle and respond to multiple HTTP requests simultaneously.

4. What is the difference between HTTP and request in Node?

In Node.js, HTTP is a built-in module that provides functionality for creating HTTP servers and clients. It allows you to handle HTTP requests and responses programmatically. On the other hand, the request module (now deprecated) was a third-party library used for making HTTP requests in a simplified manner. It has been replaced by more modern alternatives like Axios or node-fetch.

5. How to run HTTP on Node.js?

To run an HTTP requests Node js, you can use the built-in http module. First, require the module, create a server using the createServer method, and specify a callback function to handle incoming requests. Finally, listen on a specified port to start the server and begin handling HTTP requests. This allows you to create robust and scalable web applications using Node.js.

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