Import JSON file in React

Question

I'm new to React and I'm trying to import a JSON DATA variable from an external file. I'm getting the following error:

Cannot find module "./customData.json"

Could some one help me? It works if I have my DATA variable in index.js but not when it's in an external JSON file.

index.js

import React, {Component} from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import customData from './customData.json';
import Profile from './components/profile';
import Hobbies from './components/hobbies';

class App extends Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        <Profile name={this.props.profileData.name}imgUrl={this.props.profileData.imgURL} />
        <Hobbies hobbyList={this.props.profileData.hobbyList}/>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

ReactDOM.render(<App profileData={DATA}/>, document.querySelector('.container'));

hobbies.js

import React, {Component} from 'react';

var Hobbies = React.createClass({
  render: function(){
    var hobbies = this.props.hobbyList.map(function(hobby, index){
        return (<li key={index}>{hobby}</li>);
    });
    return (
        <div>
            <h5>My hobbies:</h5>
            <ul>
                {hobbies}
            </ul>
        </div>
    );
  } 
});

export default Hobbies;

profile.js

import React from 'react';

var Profile = React.createClass({
render: function(){
    return (
        <div>
            <h3>{this.props.name}</h3>
            <img src={this.props.imgUrl} />
        </div>
    )
  }
});

export default Profile

customData.json

var DATA = {    
    name: 'John Smith',
    imgURL: 'http://lorempixel.com/100/100/',
    hobbyList: ['coding', 'writing', 'skiing']
}

export default DATA

Answer 1

One nice way (without adding a fake .js extension which is for code not for data and configs) is to use json-loader module. If you have used create-react-app to scaffold your project, the module is already included, you just need to import your json:

import Profile from './components/profile';

This answer explains more.