Creating a map of the best pizza in Chicago with Yelp’s Fusion API & Netlify Dev

The process of writing and deploying code can be challenging due to the disparity between development environments and production, making it difficult to test and identify bugs. To overcome this, developers can use local emulators that replicate production conditions, such as serverless providers like AWS, Netlify, and Microsoft, which offer CLI tools or sandbox testing environments. By using these tools, developers can improve their testing strategy, reduce the likelihood of deploying buggy code, and increase productivity. A concrete example is using Netlify Dev, an extension of the Netlify CLI, to create a serverless function that makes a call to the Yelp API to fetch data for a map visualization. The process involves installing the Netlify CLI, creating a basic project scaffold, connecting the project to Netlify, and deploying the function to test its functionality. With Netlify Dev, developers can share their locally running build with stakeholders, receive instant feedback, and deploy code faster, ultimately improving their development workflow and reducing the risk of deploying buggy code.