Introduction:

In this tutorial, we will learn about how to create a Remix app that uses GraphQL to fetch data from the server. We will begin by discussing GraphQL and Remix, and then we will dive into the details of how to set up the project and use Apollo Client to fetch data from a GraphQL API.

Part 1: What is GraphQL?

GraphQL is a query language for APIs that was developed by Facebook in 2012. It provides a more efficient, powerful, and flexible way to communicate between the client and the server. With GraphQL, the client can request exactly the data it needs, and the server will return only that data. This results in faster and more efficient data retrieval and reduces the amount of over-fetching and under-fetching of data.

Part 2: What is Remix?

Remix is a modern framework for building web applications. It is designed to be fast, flexible, and extensible, and it emphasizes developer productivity and user experience. Remix provides a powerful client-side router, server rendering, and code splitting out of the box, making it easy to create performant and scalable web applications.

Part 3: Loaders and Actions in Remix

Remix provides two main types of components to work with data: loaders and actions. Loaders are responsible for fetching data from the server, while actions are responsible for updating data on the server.

Part 4: How Remix Routes are different from Single Page App Routes

Remix routes are different from traditional single-page app (SPA) routes because they are designed to be server-rendered. This means that each route is rendered on the server and then sent to the client, which results in faster load times and better SEO.

Part 5: Why does this matter for a Remix GraphQL application?

When building a Remix app with GraphQL, the server is responsible for fetching and serving the data. By leveraging server-side rendering, Remix can ensure that the initial page load includes all the data the app needs, resulting in a faster and more seamless user experience.

Part 6: Setting up the Remix project

To get started with building a Remix app that uses GraphQL, we first need to set up our project. Here are the steps to do so:

Step 1: Create the remix app

To create a new Remix app, we can use the Remix CLI. Open up your terminal and run the following command:

npx remix new my-app

This will create a new Remix app called "my-app".

Step 2: Install dependencies

Next, we need to install some dependencies to work with GraphQL. Run the following command:

npm install apollo-boost graphql graphql-tag

This will install the necessary packages to use Apollo Client, which we will use to fetch data from the server.

Part 7: Adding Apollo Client to the Remix App

Step 1: Define the schema and queries

The first thing we need to do is define the schema and queries for our GraphQL API. This is typically done by the backend team, and we will assume that they have provided us with a schema and some queries to work with.

Step 2: Define the resolvers

Once we have our schema and queries, we need to define the resolvers. The resolvers are responsible for fetching the data from the server and returning it to the client. This is typically done by the frontend team, and we will assume that we have been given the necessary resolvers to work with.

Step 3: Create the Apollo Client

To use Apollo Client, we need to create an instance of the client and pass it our GraphQL endpoint, schema, and resolvers. Here's an example of how to do that:

import ApolloClient from "apollo-boost";

import { resolvers } from "./resolvers

// Create a new instance of the Apollo Client const client = new ApolloClient({

uri: "/graphql",

 clientState: {

resolvers,

},

 });

In this example, we're passing the endpoint of our GraphQL server to the `uri` property of the client. We're also passing our resolvers to the `clientState` property so that Apollo Client knows how to resolve our queries. Step 4: Use the client to fetch data from the server-side API Now that we have our client set up, we can use it to fetch data from the server. To do this, we'll create a loader in our Remix app that uses the client to query our API. Here's an example of what that might look like: 

import { useQuery } from "@apollo/react-hooks";
import gql from "graphql-tag";

export function useMyData() {
  const { loading, error, data } = useQuery(gql`
    query MyQuery {
      myData {
        id
        name
        description
      }
    }
  `);

  return {
    loading,
    error,
    data: data ? data.myData : null,
  };
}

In this example, we're using the useQuery hook from the @apollo/react-hooks package to execute a GraphQL query. We're passing our query to the gql function, which parses our query and returns a query object that we can pass to useQuery. We're also returning an object that contains the loading state, error state, and data that we received from the server.

Part 8: Display the data

Now that we have our loader set up, we can use it to display the data in our app. Here's an example of how to do that:

import { useMyData } from "./my-loader";

export function MyComponent() {
  const { loading, error, data } = useMyData();

  if (loading) {
    return <div>Loading...</div>;
  }

  if (error) {
    return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{data.name}</h1>
      <p>{data.description}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

In this example, we're using the useMyData hook to load our data. We're then using conditional rendering to display either a loading message or an error message if the data is not available. Finally, we're displaying our data in the UI using JSX.

Conclusion:

In this tutorial, we learned about how to build a Remix app that uses GraphQL to fetch data from the server. We discussed GraphQL, Remix, loaders, and actions, and we saw how Remix routes differ from traditional SPA routes. We also saw how to set up a Remix project, use Apollo Client to fetch data from the server, and display that data in the UI. With this knowledge, you can now build powerful and performant web applications using Remix and GraphQL.