ReactJS User Authentication And Authorization: Best Practices

The more our personal and business data flows online, the more concerned people are about internet security. Users desire application integration without having to provide user login information all the time. They also desire security without being aware that it is present.

Authentication is concerned with identifying an entity (i.e user, server, or device). A web application may request a username and password when identifying a user. If a cloud service wants to locate a server, it may request the IP address. Finally, devices may be recognised by their unique MAC addresses.

Similarly, authorisation permits one party to get access to another (or resource). A home key is a good example of how permission varies from authentication. A door lock is unconcerned about who is using the key to enter the residence. It merely recognises that persons in possession of the home key have permission to enter. In this article, we’ll be discussing how to curate a ReactJS application while implementing API authorization and authentication.

Methods of Putting API Authorization & Authentication in ReactJS

ReactJS is a Javascript front-end framework for creating user interfaces. Furthermore, the framework is frequently used to create SPAs (single page applications). Single-page apps are loaded into the browser. This indicates that none of the information in the SPA is secure.

As a result, React apps that use the SPA paradigm cannot store API keys on the front end for permitted access. This limits the application's ability to authorise itself for third-party API requests. This, however, does not prevent it from authenticating.

Creating a React App that utilizes Authentication and API Authorization

In this article, we will show the distinctions between authentication and permission in a React project. We can do this by emulating the authentication principles of a React app and building an OAuth application via Github that allows our application to retrieve Github user data over the Github API.

The Next.js framework will be used to construct the application.

We’re choosing Next.js because it offers the following features:

● A simple page-based routing scheme (with support for dynamic routes).

● On a per-page basis, pre-rendering, static generation (SSG), and server-side rendering (SSR) are available.

● Splitting code automatically for quicker page loading.

● Routing on the client-side with efficient prefetching.

● CSS and Sass support is built-in, as is support for any CSS-in-JS library.

● API routes are supported in the development environment with Fast Refresh to construct API endpoints with Serverless Functions.

● It is completely extensible.

The most essential aspect of Next.js is that it "generates HTML for each page in advance, rather than having it all done by client-side JavaScript." Pre-rendering can improve speed and SEO.” Furthermore, Next.js allows us to construct API routes within the folder of our application project.

This is ideal for backend programming or code that deals with sensitive data. Next.js comes with a slew of capabilities out of the box and is suggested by ReactJS. org as one of the technologies to utilise when developing a react project. We've got a lot to cover in this application, so let's get started!

Requirements for curating a ReactJS app with authentication and API Authorization

● NodeJS is already installed locally (10.13 or later).

● Understanding of how to utilize a command-line program.

● Download Git for Windows and use the Git BASH program that comes with it if you're on Windows.

● Knowledge of NodeJS and React is required.

● Code editor with internet connectivity (Sublime, VSCode).

● Account on Github.

Source: https://www.zenesys.com/blog/reactjs-user-authentication-authorization