Building a Full-Stack Application with AWS Amplify and ReactJS

Introduction

AWS Amplify is a powerful development platform that enables developers to build scalable full-stack applications. This guide will walk you through creating a ReactJS application with a backend powered by AWS Amplify.

Prerequisites

• Node.js v10.x or later
• npm or yarn
• AWS Account

Install the Amplify CLI

The Amplify Command Line Interface (CLI) is a unified toolchain to create AWS cloud services for your app. Let's go ahead and install the Amplify CLI.
npm install -g @aws-amplify/cli

Initializing the Project

Create a new React application and initialize your Amplify project:

npx create-react-app amplify-react-app
cd amplify-react-app
npm install -g @aws-amplify/cli
amplify configure

amplify configure will prompt you to sign in and add IAM user.

Enter your desired username and press Next.

Select Attach policies directly and select AdministratorAccess-Amplify as the Permissions policy. Select Next

This is the review page. Check if everything is alright and create user.

Navigate to the just created user and click on the 'create access key button'.We'll need the key in the projects' terminal.

Select the first option,Click Next.

There we go! Use the copy icon to copy these values to your clipboard, then return to the Amplify CLI.

Setting Up Authentication

Set up authentication using Amazon Cognito:

amplify add auth
# When prompted, select the default configuration
amplify push

Adding a GraphQL API and Database

Add a GraphQL API and database using AWS AppSync and Amazon DynamoDB:

amplify add api
# Select GraphQL, provide an API name, and choose an authorization type
amplify push

Implementing the Frontend

Install necessary packages and configure the frontend to interact with the backend services:

//index.js
import Amplify from 'aws-amplify';
import awsExports from './aws-exports';
Amplify.configure(awsExports);

Interacting with the API

Use the Amplify library to interact with the GraphQL API:

import { API, graphqlOperation } from 'aws-amplify';
import { listNotes } from './graphql/queries';

async function fetchNotes() {
  try {
    const noteData = await API.graphql(graphqlOperation(listNotes));
    console.log('notes:', noteData);
  } catch (err) {
    console.log('error fetching notes', err);
  }
}

Deploying the Application

Deploy your application using the Amplify Console:

amplify add hosting
# Select a hosting service and follow the prompts
amplify publish

Conclusion

You’ve now successfully set up a full-stack application with AWS Amplify and ReactJS. This application includes user authentication and a serverless backend with a GraphQL API.