Characteristics of GraphQL
1. Declarative Data
In GraphQL as it’s tag line says “Ask for what you need, get exactly that” , clients can specify what data they require and will get the exact data they wanted. This helps in reducing over-fetching and under-fetching of data.
2. Single Endpoint
When GraphQL is used in the application, there is no need to create multiple endpoints to access the same type of data, GraphQL queries can dynamically fetch the required data. The single endpoint can handle various query and mutation.
3. Optimized Data Retrieval
GraphQL uses batch query system, where client can request multiple pieces of data in a single query optimizing the overall data retrieval by reducing number of requests sent to the server.
4. Flexibility
GraphQL is flexible in terms of data retrieval, fetches only required data. GraphQL is also flexible in terms of technology supporting backend services built on Java, NodeJS, and others.
GraphQL vs REST: Which is Better for APIs?
In the world of web development, communication between a client (like a web or mobile app) and a server is crucial. Traditional REST APIs have been the go-to solution for many years, but GraphQL is emerging as a powerful alternative that offers more flexibility and efficiency. GraphQL is a query language for API and a server-side runtime engine used for data query and manipulation. It was developed by Facebook, and later made open source, and is now managed by GraphQL foundation hosted by Linux foundation. Many popular public APIs like Facebook, GitHub, Yelp, Shopify, and Google Directions API adopted GraphQL as the default way to access their services.