GraphQL vs REST API

What is GraphQL?

GraphQL is a query language for your API. It provides a way for clients to request specific data from a server and for the server to provide that data in a structured format.

GraphQL History

GraphQL was developed internally by Facebook in 2012 and released publicly in 2015. It was created as a way to more efficiently fetch and manipulate data in the company's mobile apps, and it has since become a popular choice for building APIs in a variety of applications.

The idea behind GraphQL was to provide a more flexible and efficient alternative to traditional REST APIs, which often required multiple round trips to the server to fetch the data needed by the client. By allowing the client to specify exactly the data it needs in a single request, GraphQL enables more efficient data fetching and manipulation.

Since its release, GraphQL has gained widespread adoption and has become a popular choice for building APIs in a variety of applications, including mobile, web, and backend services. It is now maintained as an open-source project under the GraphQL Foundation.

With GraphQL, the client specifies exactly what data it needs in a request called a "query." The server then responds with the data requested, in the format specified in the query. This allows the client to get only the data it needs, rather than getting a fixed set of data from the server as with a traditional REST API.

GraphQL is often used as an alternative to REST APIs, as it allows for more flexible and efficient data fetching and manipulation. It is especially useful in situations where the client needs to request data from multiple sources or in complex, nested structures. GraphQL is often used in combination with a runtime that executes queries and returns the requested data. One popular runtime is the GraphQL server, which is a server-side implementation of the GraphQL specification.

On the other hand, REST (Representational State Transfer) is a architectural style for building APIs that uses HTTP verbs (such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE) to manipulate data. In a REST API, the server exposes a fixed set of endpoints for each resource, and the client makes requests to these endpoints to perform different operations.

One key difference between GraphQL and REST is that GraphQL allows the client to request exactly the data it needs, while REST APIs typically provide a fixed set of data in response to each request. This means that with GraphQL, the client has more control over the data it receives, and can make more targeted and efficient requests.

Another difference is that in a GraphQL API, the server defines a schema that specifies the types of data that can be queried, and the operations that can be performed on that data. This allows for more flexibility and evolution of the API over time, as the schema can be modified without breaking existing clients. In contrast, REST APIs typically have a fixed set of endpoints that cannot be easily changed without breaking existing clients.

GraphQL  can help improve the flexibility of your API. With REST APIs, you often have to design your API around the needs of your clients. This can be a problem if your clients have very different data needs, as you may have to design multiple endpoints to accommodate them all. With GraphQL, clients can request exactly the data they need, which makes it much easier to design a flexible API that can accommodate a wide range of client needs.

Overall, the choice between using GraphQL or a REST API will depend on the specific needs and requirements of your application. Both approaches have their own strengths and limitations, and it is important to carefully consider which is the best fit for your use case.