How to send emails from a React app with Netlify Functions

Netlify Functions allow developers to run server-side code in a serverless environment, enabling functionalities such as sending emails from a React application without setting up a traditional server. This can be achieved by using event-driven Netlify Functions, which are triggered by specific events like form submissions. The article details the process of integrating these functions with SendGrid to send automated email responses upon form submissions. Developers can create these functions in JavaScript, TypeScript, or Go, and deploy them alongside frontend code on Netlify, which manages the server-side execution on AWS. The guide includes instructions for setting up a simple React app with a contact form, creating and configuring Netlify Functions, and obtaining and using a SendGrid API key to send emails. It also covers testing the setup locally using Netlify's CLI and deploying the app to Netlify for production use, highlighting the ease with which frontend developers can achieve a full-stack experience in Jamstack applications.