GraphQL is a query language for APIs. This tutorial on GraphQL introduces this widely used query language.
Why GraphQL?
To answer this question, first look at the Rest API. A REST API (also known as a RESTful API) is a programming interface (API or Web API) that conforms to the requirements of the REST architectural style. APIs expose their functionality as resources in the REST architecture. This can be any form of service, data, or object that the client can access. Each resource has its own URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), which the client can retrieve by sending a request to the server. When the concept of REST was invented, client applications were relatively simple and development wasn’t as fast as it is today. As a result, REST is suitable for many applications. However, the API landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. GraphQL was introduced to accommodate these changes. That brought the following to the table –
- GraphQL reduces the amount of data sent over the network, greatly improving apps running in these environments.
- Each client can access the exact data they need using GraphQL.
- When using REST APIs, we often have to change how data is presented by the server to account for changes in client-side requirements and design. This hinders rapid development processes and product revisions.
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What is GraphQL?
GraphQL is a data query language. GraphQL, unlike most query languages (such as SQL), is not used to query specific types of data storage (such as MySQL databases). Instead, use GraphQL to query data from various sources. It was created with the goal of creating a fast, versatile, and developer-friendly API. It can also be used within the GraphiQL integrated development environment (IDE). His GraphQL, an alternative to REST, allows developers to create requests to retrieve data from various sources in a single Her API call.
GraphQL allows API admins to add or remove fields without affecting existing queries. Developers can create APIs with different methods, and the GraphQL definition ensures that the API behaves consistently.
Features of GraphQL
Now that you know what GraphQL is, this section describes its key features.
Queries and Mutations
GraphQL operations are either reads or writes. GraphQL queries are used to read or fetch values, and mutations are used to write or post values.
Data source agnostic
There is no difference in GraphQL where the data originates. It can come from databases, microservices, or even backend RESTful APIs.
runtime
GraphQL runs server-side, making it a dynamic and runtime environment.
Served over HTTP
GraphQL is typically sent over HTTP. This means that no additional software is required to query data from the GraphQL server as the operations are just strings.
GraphQL is fully typed
- GraphQL APIs are laid out by the data they serve, not by their endpoints.
- Developers can access all features of their data from a single endpoint.
- GraphQL uses types to ensure that your app only asks for what it can do, and that failures are explicit and useful.
Using GraphQL offers some great benefits. The next section defines some.
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Advantages of GraphQL
- In a GraphQL application, a GraphQL schema establishes a single source of truth. This will allow organizations to connect all their APIs together.
- A call to GraphQL is processed in a single round trip. Clients receive exactly what they request without overfetching.
- Well-defined data types help clients and servers communicate more efficiently.
- GraphQL is a self-reflecting language. A client may request a list of available data types. This is great for creating documents on the fly.
- GraphQL allows you to extend your application’s API without affecting previous requests.
- There are many open source GraphQL extensions available that provide functionality not available in REST APIs.
- GraphQL doesn’t require a specific application architecture. It can be added to existing REST APIs and is compatible with existing API management tools.
GraphQL limitations
- For developers familiar with working with REST APIs, GraphQL has a steep learning curve.
- GraphQL moves much of the data querying effort to the server, making things more complicated for server developers.
- GraphQL may require different API management tactics than REST APIs depending on how it is implemented, especially rate limits and pricing.
- Caching is more difficult to implement than REST.
- API maintainers are also responsible for creating maintainable GraphQL schemas.
A simple GraphQL query
GraphQL is a query language that allows you to request specific fields of an object.
Consider the following query.
query
{
Staff {
name
}
}
result
{
“Staff”: {
“Name”: “John”
}
}
The query and result have the same shape. This is important in her GraphQL because it always gives the expected result and the server understands exactly what attributes the client is requesting.
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You can also pass arguments to request data.
request
{
emp(id: “1000”) {
name
position
}
}
result
{
“data”: {
“emp”: {
“Name”: “Dorothy,
“Location”: “Kansas”
}
}
}
The data returned is specific to the employee ID passed as a parameter.
This was a simple example of how GraphQL queries work.
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next step
We hope this tutorial on “What is GraphQL” has helped you understand the basics of GraphQL and why it is so widely adopted.
If you want to learn more about these backend query languages and frameworks, check out Simplilearn’s Full Stack Web Development Graduate Program and Full Stack Web Developer – MEAN Stack Course and enroll in the course that fits your requirements.
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