A simple demonstration of using Django as the backend and React as the frontend which is communicate via REST api and JWT Auth.
- React runs a development/production server for the frontend.
- Django serves as the backend, providing a REST API secured with JWT authentication.
- API routes are defined and handled by Django.
- React Router manages client-side navigation, with JWT tokens used for authentication and authorization.
- Efficient Development: React’s development server with hot reloading speeds up the frontend development process.
- Reusable API: Django’s REST API can be reused for mobile apps, desktop apps, or other frontends in the future.
- Separation of Concerns: Django and React run as independent services, making the architecture modular, scalable, and easier to debug.
- Modern Authentication: Uses JWT stored in cookies, which is secure and compatible with modern frontend frameworks.
- Customizable and Extensible: You can add third-party packages, middleware, and tools easily in both Django and React ecosystems.
- Improved Developer Experience: Frontend and backend teams can work in parallel with minimal conflicts.
- Increased Complexity: Requires managing two separate applications (React and Django), which means more setup, build, and deployment steps.
- JWT Security Considerations: JWTs require secure handling (e.g. HTTP-only cookies, CSRF protection) to avoid security vulnerabilities.
- CORS Configuration: Since frontend and backend run on different ports/domains, you need to configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing properly.
- No Built-in SSR: React in this setup does not provide server-side rendering (SSR), which might affect SEO and initial load speed.
- Double Hosting Needed: You must host and manage both the Django backend and React frontend separately unless using a unified deployment setup.