GraphQL, a query language for APIs and a runtime to perform these queries with your existing data, is rapidly growing in popularity. According to the latest State of JavaScript survey report, 44.3% of respondents said they used GraphQL APIs in 2020 compared to just 5% in 2016. Additionally, many Fortune 500 companies now use GraphQL APIs for their backends in production, while top tech companies like Facebook and GitHub use API technology to improve their product offerings and increase system performance.



Improved application performance with GraphQL

The GraphQL API improves application performance by reducing JSON payload size and network overhead from multiple API calls. By allowing the client to specify its data needs, GraphQL APIs eliminate the need to transfer unnecessary generic data from the backend and reduce the number of round trips required to retrieve backend data.

As companies scale and iterate on their products, the data required for different clients and pages changes. In a REST API design, when new requirements arise, developers must decide whether to create a new endpoint and make a new request for that data from clients or add more data to an existing endpoint. The first option leads to more server round-trips, and the second option increases the size of the payload, which can hamper app performance.

With more applications being accessed over flaky mobile networks and app speed being a key metric for customer retention, minimizing server round trips and data transfers over the wire is paramount. . Companies like Netflix and Pulley have reported faster page load times and overall app performance after switching to GraphQL APIs.

With GraphQL APIs, clients receive only the data they specify in a single trip from the backend server, saving network bandwidth and resources.

Improved developer experience

Adopting GraphQL APIs improves the developer experience for both front-end and back-end developers. Back-end developers want to create APIs that are intuitive and easy to explore and navigate. GraphQL helps with this by reducing the time spent documenting APIs.

Through a concept known as interception, GraphQL APIs allow clients to query the schema and discover the resources available on it. With great tools and libraries like the GraphiQL IDE, interactivity for GraphQL API endpoints is much more intuitive for the developer.

API users want APIs that are flexible, easy to integrate, and support multiple client use cases (web, iOS, and Android). Because of the flexibility of REST, it is difficult to create a single point that can meet all of a client's data needs. Often the same client has to call multiple APIs to get the required data from the backend. Additionally, with REST APIs, front-end developers have to rely on the backend for API specifications before building product features, which slows down development time.

Advantages of GraphQL over REST APIs

Now that we have a basic understanding of GraphQL, let's examine why it has become the preferred choice for many developers over traditional REST APIs.

Single Request Response Cycle: 

One of the most important advantages of GraphQL is the ability to retrieve all required data in a single request. In contrast, REST APIs often require multiple round trips to different endpoints to get all the necessary data. This performance can lead to faster response times and a better user experience.

Precise data retrieval: 

With GraphQL, clients can specify exactly what data they need, which can significantly reduce the amount of data transmitted over the network. In contrast, REST APIs return a fixed data structure where the server determines what data is sent to the client, often resulting in overfetching or underfetching of data.

Strong typing: 

The GraphQL API is strongly typed. This means that the schema of the API defines the format of the response data, which can be validated and queried against. This leads to more predictable results and better tooling.

Real-time data with subscriptions: 

GraphQL has built-in support for real-time data updates via subscriptions. It allows clients to subscribe to specific data and receive updates from the server whenever the data changes. REST, on the other hand, does not have built-in support for real-time updates.

Better error handling: 

In REST, you often get a generic error status code if something goes wrong. With GraphQL, you receive a detailed error message with the data that was successfully retrieved, which makes debugging easier.