Why You Need an API Layer and How To Build It in React

An API layer in a frontend application serves as a centralized component responsible for managing all API interactions, effectively reducing code duplication and enhancing maintainability. By encapsulating the logic needed for API calls in a single layer, it simplifies updates when API endpoints change and centralizes HTTP client configurations, making it easier to manage headers, cookies, and other settings. This approach not only streamlines the process of handling request cancellations, using techniques like the JavaScript AbortController, but also allows for seamless integration with JavaScript frameworks such as React. The API layer functions by returning Promises, which enable asynchronous handling of API responses and can be implemented using a Promise-based HTTP client like axios. Overall, this architectural strategy enhances the scalability and maintainability of frontend applications, allowing developers to manage API requests efficiently and consistently across the codebase.