---
tags: [graphql, APIs]
---

# Key characteristics of GraphQL

> In a nutshell, GraphQL is all about optimizing data communication between a
> client and a server. This includes the client asking for needed data and
> communicating that need to the server, and the server preparing a fulfillment
> for that need and communicating the fulfillment back to the client. GraphQL
> allows clients to ask for the exact data they need and makes it easier for
> servers to aggregate data from multiple data storage resources.

- GraphQL is a **query language** from which you can build APIs. It exists as an
  abstraction layer between a client that issues requests and a backend
  comprising any number of databases that responds to queries.

- Crucially, with applications that utilise GraphQL, both the backend and the
  frontend use the same GraphQL syntax. They speak the same language. This means
  that neither needs to take account of the way in which the other is
  implemented. For example, a client could request data from both a relational
  database and an object database without knowing there is any difference from
  its point of view. Conversely, client requests could be made through
  JavaScript or Python and the structure of the request received by the backend
  would be the same.
- The main benefit is its interoperability and its network economy when compared
  to REST APIs: you ask only for what you want and you get only that; there is
  no surplus data, increasing efficiency, reducing the number of network
  requests and reducing the size of the payload.

> The best way to think of GraphQL architecturally is to think of it as a
> different technique for instantiating the _uniform interface_, _client/server
> decoupling_, and _layered-system architecture_ contraints of traditional
> [REST APIs](RESTful_APIs.md#rest). However, instead of making
> GET or POST requests to a REST endpoint URL and passing parameters, you send a
> structured query object.

## Architecture

From the point of view of the frontend, GraphQL is a query language that may be
used via wrappers for a given framework or programming language (such as Apollo)
or directly simply by sending requests over HTTPS to a single URL.

From the point of view of the backend, GraphQL is a **runtime** that provides a
structure for servers to describe the data to be exposed in their APIs. We call
this structure the **schema**. For example, the GraphQL server might translate
the query into SQL statements for a relational database then take what the
storage engine responds with, translate it into JSON and send it back to the
client application.

> The backend implementation of GraphQL is known as the **GraphQL server**. This
> server is distinct from any of the physical servers that the backend may rely
> on. The client queries the GraphQL server.

Client requests are sent over HTTPS and the data is typically returned in the
form of JSON:

![](/img/graphql-architecture.png)

## Implementation overview

### Queries, mutations, subscriptions

Queries can be used for **both** reading and modifying data.

- When you need to read data with GraphQL you use **queries**
- When you need to modify data, you use **mutations**

So, for comparison, a query would be akin to a `READ` instruction in SQL or a
`GET` request send to a REST API. A mutation would be akin to `WRITE` then
`READ` instruction in SQL or a `POST` request to a REST API.

There is a third request type called a **subscription**. This is used for
real-time data monitoring requests, like a data stream, similar to a continuous
`READ` process. Mutations typically trigger events that can be subscribed to.

### Frontend

Below is an example of a request that would be made to a GraphQL server from the
frontend:

```graphql
query {
  employee(id: 42) {
    name
    email
  }
}
```

### Backend: structure and behaviour

We define the structure of a GraphQL API on the backend through the schema. A
schema is strongly typed and is basically a graph of fields that have types, e.g

```graphql
type Employee(id: Int!) {
  name: String!
  email: String!
}
```

`!` stands for required. In addition to the standard primitive data-types you
can also have custom types.

We implement the behaviour of the API through functions called **resolver
functions**. Each field in a GraphQL schema is backed by a resolver function. A
resolver function defines what data to fetch for its field.

> A resolver function represents the instructions on how and where to access raw
> data. For example, a resolver function might issue a SQL statement to a
> relational database, read a file’s data directly from the operating system, or
> update some cached data in a document database. A resolver function is
> directly related to a field in a GraphQL request, and it can represent a
> single primitive value, an object, or a list of values or objects.

### GraphQL endpoint

The GraphQL server exposes a single endpoint as a URL. This is in contrast to a
REST API where there are multiple endpoints, each corresponding to a different
resource. With GraphQL, the request is not specified by the URL and the payload
but rather in the GraphQL string that you send to the endpoint, like the
`employee` query above.

## Benefits

### Single requests

With a REST API if you require multiple resources you have to make multiple
requests to different endpoints and then once they resolve, synthesise them on
the client side. With GraphQL you can send a single request that encompasses
each individual resource:

The REST scenario:

![](/img/REST_request-load.png)

The GraphQL scenario:

![](/img/graphQL_request_load.png)

### Abstraction of multiple services

![](/img/graphql_multiple_resources.png)

### Stops overfetching

In a strict REST API you must request all resources from a given resource and
then filter on the client. With GraphQL you request only the resource you need
at the client-level.

### Single endpoint

In GraphQL you have a single endpoint and it always remains the same. This makes
updates easier to manage, since you don't need to broadcast new endpoints as the
API grows. It also simplifies frontend parsing, since you don't need to account
for, or interpolate different endpoints in your request URL.
