GraphQL vs REST – Difference Between APIs
You have likely heard of GraphQL but may not be quite sure how and if it’s different from REST. Well, you’re in luck! Today, we are going to go through some essentials on how GraphQL is benefiting the developing community over REST.
What is GraphQL ?
GraphQL is an application layer server-side technology which is developed by Favebook for executing queries with existing data. GraphQL can optimize RESTful API calls. It gives a declarative way of fetching and updating your data.
GraphQL helps you to load data from server to client. It enables programmers to choose the types of requests they want to make.
What is REST?
REST is a software architectural style that define a set of constraints for creating web services. It is designed specifically for working with media components, files, or hardware device. The full form of REST is Representational State Transfer
Features of GraphQL
- It is statically typed, so you do not need to define variable before using it.
- GraphQL can decouple frontend from backend.
- No over or under fetching of data.
- Documentation of GraphQL come with no extra cost.
- It helps you to save bandwidth.
Features of REST
- REST has a uniform interface.
- Resoutces can be easily accessed by name.
- Services of REST can be scaled to achieve high performance to span client demand.
- The REST API enables systems to transmit and send or receive data in an easy way.
- Database resource in an application can be quikly mapped with a REST API endpoint.
- REST allows you to store frequently used information in the memory.
- It has a simple architecture and pattern.
- The API of REST can be served from more than one server.
Key Difference between GraphQL and REST
- GraphQL is an application layer server-side technology that is used for executing queries with existing data, while REST is a software architectural style that defines a set of constraints for creating Web services.
- GraphQL can be organized in terms of a schema, whereas REST can be arranged in terms of endpoints.
- The development speed in GraphQL is fast, while the development speed in REST is Slow.
- The message format for GraphQL mutations should be a string, while the message format for REST mutations can be anything.
- GraphQL uses metadata for query validation, whereas REST does not have machine-readable metadata cacheable.
Difference between GraphQL and REST API:
| GraphQL | REST |
| GraphQL is an application layer server-side technology which is developed by Facebook for executing queries with existing data. | REST is a software architectural style that defines a set of constraints for creating Web services. |
| It follows client-driven architecture. | It follows server-driven architecture. |
| GraphQL can be organized in terms of a schema. | REST can be arranged in terms of endpoints. |
| GraphQL is a growing community. | REST is a large community. |
| The development speed in GraphQL is fast. | The development speed in REST is Slow. |
| The learning curve in GraphQL is difficult. | The learning curve in REST is moderate. |
| The identity is separated from how you fetch it. | The endpoint you call in REST is the identity of an object. |
| In GraphQL, the server determines available resources. | The shape and size of the resource are determined by the server in REST. |
| GraphQL provides high consistency across all platforms. | It is hard to get consistency across all platforms. |
| The message format for GraphQL mutations should be a string. | The message format for REST mutations can be anything. |
| It is strongly typed. | It is weakly typed. |
| GraphQL API endpoints are single. | REST API endpoints are multiple. |
| It uses metadata for query validation. | It does not have machine-readable metadata cacheable. |
| Provides consistent and high-quality UX across all operating systems. | It is difficult to get consistency across all operating systems. |
That’s all about difference between GraphQL and REST API. It seems a nice alternative of REST API and solves some of the pertaining problems with RESTful web service. I think GraphQL has bright future with Facebook throwing its weight behind. A lot of other companies like Coursera, Github, Yelp have also adopted GraphQL.
It seems a nice alternative of REST API and solves some of the pertaining problems with RESTful web service. I think GraphQL has bright future with Facebook throwing its weight behind.
