Introduction
Frontend data fetching has gone through several paradigm shifts: from XMLHttpRequest callbacks, to Promise chains with fetch and axios, to declarative hooks with React Query and SWR. Each step traded more abstraction for less boilerplate.
A less-discussed but noteworthy direction is the move toward strategy-based request handling — where libraries don't just offer data-fetching hooks, but purpose-built hooks for specific business patterns: pagination, form submission, polling, file uploads, and more. Instead of telling the computer "how" to fetch data step by step, you declare "what" you need.
This article examines this evolution using alova as a reference implementation, analyzing when strategy-based approaches deliver value — and when simpler alternatives still make sense.
The Boilerplate Problem
