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GraphQL

Recommendation
Updated
Moved
USE
2022-02-09

What is it​

GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data. GraphQL provides a complete and understandable description of the data in your API, gives clients the power to ask for exactly what they need and nothing more.

When to use it​

GraphQL should only be used on a per-application basis and when it makes sense to have an application-specific gateway.

Example of cases when it might make sense:

  • Complex data structures with a lot of hierarchical relations.
  • Data structures with a lot of fields and only a subset might be needed by the clients.

Avoid cross-application dependencies​

We currently advise against building separate applications on top of the same GraphQL API, since we are trying to avoid overambitious API gateways with unclear team ownership.

How to learn it​

The main GraphQL site has great learning resources for understanding GraphQL independent of any language or framework.