In React.js should I make my initial network request in componentWillMount or componentDidMount? : <p>In the react docs it recommends making initial network requests in the <code>componentDidMount</code> method:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><code>componentDidMount()</code> is invoked immediately after a component is mounted. Initialization that requires DOM nodes should go here. If you need to load data from a remote endpoint, <strong>this is a good place to instantiate the network request.</strong> Setting state in this method will trigger a re-rendering.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If <code>componentWillMount</code> is called before rendering the component, isn't it better to make the request and set the state here? If I do so in <code>componentDidMount</code>, the component is rendered, the request is made, the state is changed, then the component is re-rendered. Why isn't it better to make the request before anything is rendered?</p>
