GraphQL or REST?

GraphQL Course · lesson 9 of 14 · 5 min read

An honest comparison - GraphQL is a trade, not an upgrade.

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Key points

  • GraphQL wins when many different clients need different shapes of the same data.
  • REST wins when the API is simple, cacheable and consumed one way.
  • HTTP caching is much harder with GraphQL: one URL, POST bodies, so CDN caching mostly does not apply.
  • File upload, rate limiting per endpoint and simple monitoring are all easier in REST.
  • You can run both: GraphQL for a rich client, REST for webhooks, uploads and third parties.

GraphQL trades caching and simplicity for client flexibility - take the trade only if you need the flexibility.

Errors and null propagation Variables, fragments and operation names

This is a reading copy. The full lesson — with the visual explainer, the interactive lab and a Run button for the code — lives in the GraphQL Course course, and every lesson in it is listed on the GraphQL Course contents page.