Introduction to Data Fetching

A weather app contains no weather when you install it. The forecast lives on a server, and the app asks for it each time it needs a fresh copy. Asking a remote server for information and showing the answer is called data fetching.

Most apps depend on it, because the alternative is an app that shows the same information every time it opens. A social media app loads the latest posts, a shop loads products and stock levels, a chat app loads new messages, and a news app loads the latest stories. The server that holds this information is often called the backend.