How to Return a Value from The Movie Database API using JavaScript

Описание: Learn how to effectively return the "key" variable from The Movie Database API using JavaScript. This post provides a step-by-step explanation to help beginners understand API requests and async functions.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/64944060/ asked by the user 'Mithat Ercan' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/13456625/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/64946513/ provided by the user 'Mithat Ercan' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/13456625/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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How to Return a Value from The Movie Database API using JavaScript: A Beginner's Guide

If you’re venturing into the world of JavaScript and APIs, you may encounter challenges while trying to retrieve and manipulate data. One common issue is understanding how to return values from async functions. In this post, we’ll tackle a specific problem: how to return the "key" variable from The Movie Database API when fetching data based on a movie's ID.

The Problem

Imagine you are using The Movie Database API to get details about movies, and you want to retrieve the trailer key for each movie. You’ve written a function to get the trailer for a movie based on its ID. However, when you try to use this function, you find that it does not return the expected value. Instead, it returns a Promise, which is not directly usable unless handled correctly. Let’s look at the solution to this issue step-by-step.

The Solution

To properly fetch the trailer key and use it when creating your movie display, we need to ensure that we handle the asynchronous nature of JavaScript correctly. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Make the forEach Callback Async

First, we need to modify the showMovies function. The key part is to make the callback of the forEach method async. This way, we can use the await keyword inside it.

2. Await the getTrailer Function

We need to await the result from getTrailer(), allowing the function to complete before we proceed to use its value:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

3. Understanding the Code

Here’s a breakdown of the code:

Async Await: By using async in the callback, we can leverage await, which will pause the execution of the code until the Promise is resolved. This makes sure that we get the trailer key before trying to use it.

Using the Trailer Key: After retrieving the trailer key, it’s inserted into the HTML for display, allowing users to click the link and watch the trailer directly from the modal.

Summary

JavaScript’s async functionality can be tricky for beginners, particularly when dealing with Promises. This example illustrates how to correctly return and use data fetched from an API. To recap, here are the main steps:

Modify the forEach callback to be an async function.

Use await when calling the getTrailer() function to retrieve the trailer key.

With these adjustments, you can effectively return and display the trailer key from The Movie Database API, enhancing your application and making use of its powerful data.

Feel free to experiment with the code and watch your JavaScript skills grow!