Django, React, and GraphQL

Marc Murphy

Full Stack Developer at SparkChange

Co-founder Qlicks.io

Rem Sadykhov

University College London

Co-founder Qlicks.io


This paper provides an introduction to integrating django, react, and graphql. We aim to provide a more in depth discussion of related issues on this topic in separate videos and papers.

React, Django, and GraphQL can be used together to build modern web applications. React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces, Django is a Python web framework, and GraphQL is a query language for APIs.

To use React with Django, the first step is to set up a new Django project and create a new app within the project. Then, create a new React app within the app using the create-react-app command. This will set up the basic structure for the React app and allow you to start building your user interface.

Next, you'll need to integrate React with Django by adding it to your project's settings.py file and creating a new view that renders the React app. This view will return the index.html file generated by the create-react-app command and the JavaScript bundle generated by React.

Once the React app is integrated into the Django project, you can start building the user interface using React components. These components can make API requests to the Django server to retrieve and update data.

To use GraphQL with Django, you'll need to install the graphene-file-upload and graphene-file-upload packages. These packages provide the necessary functionality to handle file uploads in GraphQL.

Next, you'll need to define the GraphQL schema for your API. This schema defines the types of data that can be queried and the fields that are available for each type. You can use the graphene library to define the schema in Python.

Once the schema is defined, you'll need to create the resolvers that handle the data requests. These resolvers are responsible for fetching the data from the database and returning it to the client. You can use Django's ORM to interact with the database and return the data in the format defined by the GraphQL schema.

To connect the React app with the GraphQL API, you'll need to install the apollo-client package. This package provides a way to interact with the GraphQL API from within the React app. You can use the useQuery hook to fetch data from the API, and the useMutation hook to send data to the API.

Finally, you will need to secure the communication between the React app and the GraphQL API by adding an authentication and authorization mechanism. You can use JWT tokens and Django-graphql-jwt package to handle the authentication and authorization.

Some useful links:

In summary, React, Django, and GraphQL can be used together to build modern web applications. React can be integrated with Django to build the user interface, while GraphQL can be used to handle the data requests between the React app and the Django server. To use GraphQL with Django, you'll need to install the necessary packages, define the schema, and create the resolvers that handle the data requests. To connect the React app with the GraphQL API, you'll need to install the apollo-client package and use the useQuery and useMutation hooks. Finally, you will need to secure the communication between the React app and the GraphQL API by adding an authentication and authorization mechanism.

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