What's the difference between GraphQL and rest api

Question

I want to know what are all reasons of qraphQL to be used instead of rest api .

As much I know instead of making multiple requests (to reduce HTTP request), can make a group of HTTP requests in one request using graphQL .

Can anybody describe little more, please?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

There are many articles covering this question in more details available on the internet. I am trying to give a short overview here.

GraphQL offers a couple of advantages over REST.

Main difference

In a REST interface, everything is about resources. For example, you'd get the resources "car" with ID 25 and ID 83 by calling an endpoint like this:

GET /cars/25
GET /cars/83

Note, how you have to call the interface twice. The endpoint ("cars") and your resource are coupled.

In GraphQL you could get both cars with one call, using this example query:

GET /api?query={ car(ids: [25, 83]) { model, manufacturer { address } } }

Note, how you even specified the exact data you want to fetch (model, manufacturer and its address). Compared to REST, the endpoint ("api") is not resource-specific anymore.

Some advantages

• As already mentioned in the question, you can reduce the amount of HTTP operations with the help of GraphQL queries (avoid underfetching).
• By specifying exactly, which data you want to fetch, you are able to reduce the overhead being transmitted over the interface (avoid overfetching).
• By using flexible queries with GraphQL, you're more likely to avoid coupling the interface consumer too tight to the producer by not implementing exactly the requirements of a specific consumer into a REST interface with defined endpoints.
• Because each consumer exactly specifies which data is required with GraphQL, you can gather more detailed statistics on data usage in your backend.