unfetch

What is unfetch?

The 'unfetch' npm package is a lightweight polyfill for the Fetch API, which allows you to make HTTP requests in environments where the Fetch API is not natively available, such as older browsers or certain JavaScript environments. It is designed to be minimal and efficient, providing the essential functionality of the Fetch API without any additional overhead.

What are unfetch's main functionalities?

Basic Fetch Request

This feature demonstrates how to make a basic HTTP GET request using 'unfetch'. The response is then converted to JSON and logged to the console.

const fetch = require('unfetch');
fetch('https://api.example.com/data')
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data))
  .catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

POST Request

This feature demonstrates how to make an HTTP POST request using 'unfetch'. The request includes headers and a JSON body, and the response is processed similarly to the GET request.

const fetch = require('unfetch');
fetch('https://api.example.com/data', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ key: 'value' })
})
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data))
  .catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

Handling Errors

This feature demonstrates how to handle errors in a fetch request using 'unfetch'. It checks if the response is not ok and throws an error, which is then caught and logged.

const fetch = require('unfetch');
fetch('https://api.example.com/data')
  .then(response => {
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error('Network response was not ok');
    }
    return response.json();
  })
  .then(data => console.log(data))
  .catch(error => console.error('Fetch error:', error));

Other packages similar to unfetch

node-fetch

'node-fetch' is a popular package that provides a Fetch API implementation for Node.js environments. It is more feature-rich compared to 'unfetch' and supports additional functionalities like streaming and handling of complex request/response scenarios.

axios

'axios' is a promise-based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. It offers a more comprehensive set of features compared to 'unfetch', including request and response interceptors, automatic JSON data transformation, and support for canceling requests.

isomorphic-fetch

'isomorphic-fetch' is a package that brings the Fetch API to both client and server environments, making it suitable for universal (isomorphic) JavaScript applications. It is similar to 'unfetch' but aims to provide a consistent API across different environments.

README

unfetch

Tiny 500b fetch "barely-polyfill"

• Tiny: weighs about 500 bytes gzipped
• Minimal: just fetch() with headers and text/json/xml responses
• Familiar: a subset of the full API
• Supported: supports IE8+ (BYOP)
• Standalone: one function, no dependencies

🤔 What's Missing?

• Uses simple Arrays instead of Iterables, since Arrays are iterables
• No streaming, just Promisifies existing XMLHttpRequest response bodies
• Bare-bones .blob() implementation - just proxies xhr.response

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Table of Contents

• Install
• Usage
• Examples & Demos
• API
• Contribute
• License

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Install

This project uses node and npm. Go check them out if you don't have them locally installed.

$ npm install --save unfetch

Then with a module bundler like rollup or webpack, use as you would anything else:

// using ES6 modules
import fetch from 'unfetch'

// using CommonJS modules
var fetch = require('unfetch')

The UMD build is also available on unpkg:

<script src="https://unpkg.com/unfetch/dist/unfetch.umd.js"></script>

This exposes a fetch global if not already present.

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Usage

import fetch from 'unfetch'

fetch('/foo.json')
  .then( r => r.json() )
  .then( data => {
    console.log(data)
  })

Examples & Demos

Coming soon!

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API

Contribute

First off, thanks for taking the time to contribute! Now, take a moment to be sure your contributions make sense to everyone else.

Reporting Issues

Found a problem? Want a new feature? First of all see if your issue or idea has already been reported. If don't, just open a new clear and descriptive issue.

Submitting pull requests

Pull requests are the greatest contributions, so be sure they are focused in scope, and do avoid unrelated commits.

• Fork it!
• Clone your fork: git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/unfetch
• Navigate to the newly cloned directory: cd unfetch
• Create a new branch for the new feature: git checkout -b my-new-feature
• Install the tools necessary for development: npm install
• Make your changes.
• Commit your changes: git commit -am 'Add some feature'
• Push to the branch: git push origin my-new-feature
• Submit a pull request with full remarks documenting your changes.

License

MIT License © Jason Miller