Introduction
As a seasoned developer, you may have encountered situations where you had to spend significant amounts of time developing multiple APIs for a single feature. Have you considered creating a single API that could accomplish most of your work? This is where GraphQL comes in - a module that was developed to increase productivity and simplify the lives of team members.
To produce and disseminate content across diverse channels, numerous entities have adopted novel technological frameworks, including API-driven headless CMS platforms. It is essential to note that APIs are not all created equal, just as CMS platforms are not. In contemporary times, a significant number of corporations have opted for GraphQL to meet their API demands.
However, in this blog, we will discuss, what is GraphQL, and how does it stack up against established API protocols such as REST?
What Exactly is GraphQL
GraphQL has gained popularity in the realm of API management as a query language that provides more resilience, flexibility, and efficiency than REST. Distinct from REST, which focuses on organizing web services, GraphQL places greater emphasis on retrieving elements (although it supports a wider range of features). Initially introduced by Facebook as an open-source initiative, GraphQL has since garnered significant support from its expanding user community.
Moreover, GraphQL's versatility is reflected in its database- and programming language-agnostic nature, rendering it compatible with a variety of technologies. For headless CMS platforms in particular, APIs, which are a set of rules controlling software program communication, are essential in modern software technology. As a result, using GraphQL for API management has many advantages, such as:
- Improved developer experience,
- Higher efficiency, and
- Optimized data retrieval
With these benefits, GraphQL is quickly gaining popularity as a language for creating and integrating contemporary APIs.
Concepts of GraphQL?
Schema: The structural representation of data available for use is encapsulated in a schema, which is utilized by GraphQL to establish a hierarchy of types with fields. By defining the blueprint of the available data and its functionalities, schemas form an essential element in the design and implementation of GraphQL-based applications.
Mutations: Mutations enable the modification of server-side data, facilitating a range of operations, including adding, updating, and deleting data on the server. Through mutations, developers can implement changes to the underlying data store, reflecting updates to the application's state.
Queries: Queries are employed to retrieve or fetch values, thereby specifying the range of data delivery available through your API. Each field and nested object within a query may receive arguments, enabling developers to effectively deepen their requests and specify more granular data sets.
Subscriptions: An integral aspect of GraphQL's core principles is centered around the concept of subscriptions. In today's dynamic applications, the establishment of real-time connections between servers and clients is vital to ensure prompt notifications of important occurrences. The traditional request-response cycles are insufficient to fulfill the real-time requirements of modern applications. Instead, subscriptions enable clients to maintain persistent connections to servers after subscribing to an event of interest. Upon the designated event, the server proactively transmits relevant data to the subscribed client, allowing for timely and efficient dissemination of critical information.
GraphQL vs REST: Why GraphQL is Better than REST?
Suppose you operate a blog and desire to display the latest posts on your homepage. To achieve this goal, you must retrieve the posts via a data fetch operation. Accordingly, you may opt to execute the following actions:
What happens though if you also want to view the author? There are three ways to accomplish this:
- Fetch the authors from a distinct source:
- Change the resource to also include the author's name:
- Develop a resource that returns the posts along with the author:
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Let us analyze each of these approaches sequentially to discern how GraphQL can effectively tackle the challenges enumerated since each approach is likely to engender distinct sets of issues.
Under-Fetching
Employing the initial tactic of retrieving authors from a distinct resource would necessitate two server requests instead of one, and as you expand, the requirement for additional requests to different destinations to gather all the necessary data may arise. This, however, can be circumvented with GraphQL, as evidenced by the following, which entails a solitary request without the need for repetitive round trips to the server.
Over-Fetching
As illustrated by the second approach that entailed incorporating the author into the resource to alleviate the issue, it effectively resolved the problem. However, modifying a resource may have inadvertent ramifications for other components of your application, commonly known as over-fetching.
Returning to your website example, where a sidebar displaying the top monthly entries with their titles, subtitles, and dates is utilizing the resource /api/posts. As you modified the resource to include the author, it is now present in the sidebar data as well, despite being unnecessary.
Although this may not seem problematic, it is suboptimal to retrieve redundant data for users with restricted data plans. Fortunately, such concerns are averted by GraphQL, as it empowers the client to retrieve solely the requisite data.
GraphQL vs REST: When to Use GraphQL?
In the following situations, GraphQL performs best:
1. Applications intended for use on devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices necessitate bandwidth optimization due to the limitations in data transmission capacity.
2. An application that retrieves data utilizing a composite pattern from multiple storage APIs is exemplified by a dashboard that accumulates data from a diverse array of sources. These may include logging systems, backends for consumption statistics, and third-party analytics tools aimed at tracking end-user interactions.
3. Client-side proxy patterns are effectively facilitated by GraphQL, which can function as an abstraction layer atop an extant API, enabling end-users to customize the response structure in accordance with their specific needs. By way of illustration, clients can employ a shared API provided by Firebase as a backend service and devise a bespoke GraphQL definition to suit their unique requirements.
Should You Use GraphQL?
GraphQL is poised to be the preeminent API technology of the future, owing to its superior efficacy and efficiency. This approach enables streamlined code development that can accomplish a great deal more.
Moreover, it allows for the generation of requests to multiple data sources with a solitary call. If you have yet to utilize GraphQL, it is recommended that you explore this innovative technology.
