Today, we are going to compare GraphQL – a newly introduced tool for API management with the classical REST. Which of them is overrated? Read this article till the end to find out!
What is the Purpose of a Web Development API?
The purpose of REST and GraphQL is to communicate between the client and the server.
What Is REST?
Its Characteristics (also known as the REST constraints)
1. Uniform Interface
All operations in REST are based on the same interface. Regardless of the operation, the client and the server use the same patterns to communicate.
2. Client Server
All systems that REST works with have to be built with a client server architecture.
3. Statelessness
The state of the front end is only understood by the back end but not saved there. If there’s an error in one process it doesn’t impact the REST of the functionality.
4. Isolated Layers
REST respects isolation on all levels of the web architecture.
Advantages
- Obviously Scalability
- Popularity. REST became one of the most popular API infrastructures on the market.
- Flexibility. An aspect that initially set REST apart from multiple competitors was its format agnostic approach.
Disadvantages
- It requires multiple round trips. If you need a lot of additional information in your main request, REST won’t be able to deliver this data in one go.
- Over-Fetching. Even if an app needs only a few fields from an API endpoint, it gets all the data. Thus, we will get the full information on each player when we are just interested in the name.
So, maybe GraphQL is your best choice. Wait, let us share our experience of API development with GraphQL.
What is GraphQL?
It’s a query language for API integration that executes data requirements.
Advantages
- It connects Frontend and Backend. GraphQL allows you to adjust the client side automatically.
- Each client specifies exactly what data is used on the back end. GraphQL allows the software to be more specific in its requests.
- A strong type system
GraphQL is stricter about API types. They are stated clearly in the schema definition language. You have to learn these types before building an architecture.
Disadvantages
- No HTTP specification for data caching
Technically, this should make things easier and faster. However in reality, our team notices that this system requires a lot of metadata. - Complex syntax
A learning curve for GraphQL is obviously steeper than for REST. - Increased code base size
The scamma has a lot of repetitive code and in many cases we hate that we need to write a nearly identical code, one for a database, another one for GraphQL.
Differences between REST and GraphQL
1. Schema Definition Language
- REST is described as a list of final destinations where the data will be used or stored.
- GraphQL on the other hand, uses its custom schema to describe the requests.
2. Resources
- REST assigns a URL to each data resource to send a request and retrieve a piece of information, APIs send requests to that address, REST processes a request and returns a JSON document.
- In GraphQL, you need to create two separate types, one that defines the object and the other one is query, that refers to the ways of retrieving it.
3. Route Processing
Both REST and GraphQL use similar approaches to move data and start functions.
However, GraphQL allows repeating a query several times and requesting details – in the long run, this is what prevents over-fetching.
It’s time to Sum up? Here’s our team’s Advice
If the final software works with general data, the REST API will work well. However, If the app needs to retrieve specific insights on a regular basis, GraphQL solves the under and over-fetching issues.
Though REST API is a tried and proven approach to building APIs, GraphQL is more sustainable in the long run.
Thank you for reading this article. We are EZtek – a software development company in Vietnam, UI/ UX design, an IT consulting company working with top brands worldwide. Make sure you follow us closely to understand what’s better for you.
