Understanding GraphQL

REST vs. GraphQL

For years, REST has been the standard. But as frontend requirements became more complex, the limitations of over-fetching and under-fetching data became apparent. Enter GraphQL.

Ask For What You Need

With GraphQL, the client specifies exactly the data structure it needs. No more parsing huge JSON blobs just to get a user's firstName.

Single Endpoint

Forget managing /users, /posts, /comments. GraphQL exposes a single endpoint that can access your entire data graph.

Strongly Typed

The schema is the source of truth. Types are enforced, meaning less runtime errors and better tooling (like auto-completion).

"GraphQL is not a silver bullet, but for complex, data-driven applications, it is a game changer."

This article walks you through setting up a basic Apollo Server and querying it from a React frontend.