Let's use our new-found react skills to create a weather app!
You will need:
- Fetch (built-in to JavaScript) or axios (3rd party, remember to
npm install axios
) - Create forms that store data with local state
Resources:
Time to show off! You're going to display the weather on your app.
You'll use the OpenWeather API to fetch weather information from a certain zip code and update your blog to display the current weather.
At the end of this exercise, your solution will look something like what's shown here.
- Fork and clone this repo
- cd into the new folder and run
npx create-react-app .
to generate a new react app in the repo. - sign up for an API key here
- Make a new component called
Weather
. On yourWeather
page, ask the user to input a zip code.- you will need to use a 'controlled form' where your
Weather
component's state controls the value of the input - store what the user has typed in your
Weather
component's state. - you will need an
onChange
event handler, that updates state as the user types - you will need an
onSubmit
event handler, that is invoked when the user submits the form, don't forget to prevent the default behavior of the form submission! - You can learn more about forms here.
- you will need to use a 'controlled form' where your
- when the form is submitted, use the value in state and
fetch()
from the OpenWeather API. (note, you maynpm i axios
and use it instead of fetch, if you prefer)- read here how to ping the API and get results based on zipcode
- Use the response from the API to display the current temperature, the high and low temperatures, the current weather description, and the name of the city.
- Note: Our solution uses Fahrenheit. You're free to use Celsius or Kelvins if you'd like.
Need a Hint or Two?
Hint 1
You'll only need to create and implement the `Weather` component.
Hint 2
The `value` of your text fields need to be 'controlled' in your components state
Hint 3
The temperature reading comes in units of Kelvin by default - check the API for the `units` parameter to get the reading in Farenheit or Celcius
Here are some extra ideas to challenge yourself if you have time:
- Icons make every weather app come to life! There's a good way to do this - hunt around in the returned JSON for a recommended icon.
- Spend a little time styling the page. Try to get it close to the example image above!
- Make your current weather into a 5-day forecast
- Make a
Use current location
button so the user can click that instead of providing the location.