stripe-js VS axios

At ReadMe, we’re constantly keeping an eye on the best DX out there, and we’ve come to notice a trend. Many of the top API-first companies out there offer their own custom SDKs, such as Stripe, Twilio, and Plaid (and I’m only linking to their JavaScript SDKs!).

Due to PCI compliance requirements, the Stripe.js library has to be loaded from Stripe's servers. This creates a challenge when working with server-side rendered apps, as the window object is not available on the server. To help us manage that complexity, Stripe provides a loading wrapper that allows importing Stripe.js like an ES module:

This approach was no different when I started thinking about the SprintDock website (a working title) and backend infrastructure needed for the first time back in April 2021, when I was still working full-time. This was until I started playing around with Stripe JS.

Stripe.js should not require React to run - I wouldn't recommend using React unless you want it for some other reason. Maybe check out the docs here for how to get started? https://stripe.com/docs/js

Implement Stripe JS to collect card details and convert to token on the frontend

That’s all for this tutorial. Hopefully it has given you an understanding of how to process Stripe payments in a Node.js application. There are many more configurable options available not used in this tutorial. To discover all these options the offical Stripe.js documentation is an excellent resource.

Thank you to our top open-source contributors this month: marcoscannabrava, viablecell (stripe-js), williammartin (stripe-node), jmarkowski, kronthto, hibariya (stripe-samples), alihussain5, Morriar, tophattom, richardxia, RyanBrushett, karmakaze, alexdunae, Bo98, kddeisz (sorbet).

For a payment gateway, you should check out Stripe. You can use their JavaScript SDK which allows you to take payment (https://stripe.com/docs/js). A competent developer with experience in these SDKs could wire up a payment gateway anywhere between a day and a couple of days.

https://github.com/stripe/stripe-js strikes perhaps the most realistic balance possible, recognizing that NPM is an insecure place for their core JS logic that creates a PCI compliant iFrame, and so their NPM package is just a loader for a script tag hosted securely. And yet they encourage people to use NPM for the wrapper itself. Which is just as vulnerable to supply chain attacks as anything else on NPM. If this isn't tacit acknowledgement of a "new standard" I don't know what is. I absolutely agree that it's problematic.

Typically, there are various ways to choose an HTTP client, and for this example, I've chosen axios.

axios: To fetch data from the Strapi CMS API and also to fetch responses from our Express server.

Note, you can use any library for HTTP requests like axios. This example uses the http and node-fetch libraries available on npm.

Interact with other APIs over an encrypted channel. For example, you can use Axios with Node.js.

For this article, I will be using the TypeScript Starter template as shown in the screenshot above. This comes with Nodejs, Cheerio, Axios

Axios is suitable for a wide range of web development projects, from simple single-page applications (SPAs) to complex, large-scale enterprise software.

Axios for streamlined API interactions, facilitating seamless data fetching.

Axios is a popular HTTP client library for Node.js that provides a more user-friendly and feature-rich way to make HTTP requests. Axios simplifies error handling and supports features like automatic JSON parsing and request/response interceptors, making it a great choice for many HTTP request scenarios.

For this tutorial, we’re going to scan the file for malware using Verisys Antivirus API, and so we’ll add a package to make it easier to make external HTTP requests. Popular choices include Axios and node-fetch - for this article, we’ll use node-fetch

In the dynamic realm of JavaScript and front-end development, selecting the appropriate tool for HTTP requests is critical. Axios and Fetch stand out as two leading contenders, each offering distinct features and benefits. This article delves into their differences and practical applications, providing a comprehensive comparison.