GraphQL is known for its flexibility, allowing Client- side to request only the data they need and reducing the over fetching of data that occur in REST APIs. graphql has been adopted in various industries and is supported by many programming languages and frameworks.
It essentially provides a more efficient and flexible alternative to Traditional REST APIs. Here are the key concepts and components of GraphQL.
Schema: At the core of GraphQL is the schema. The Schema defines the types of data that can be queried and the relationships between them.
Queries: Clients request the specific data that they need using queries. A query in Graph QL looks similar to the shape of the desired response. Clients can request nested data and specify only the fields they need, reducing over fetching and under fetching of data.
Mutations: Mutations are used when clients need to modify or create data on the server. They are similar to queries but are used to write operations. Mutations define how the data should change and can return specific information after the operation is completed.
Resolvers: These are functions that determine how the data defined in the schema is actually retrieved or mutated. They are responsible for fetching the data from the appropriate data source. Resolvers are associated with each field in the schema and are executed when a query or mutation is made.
Single Endpoints: Unlike Representational State Transfer APIs, which may have multiple endpoints for different resources, GraphQL typically exposes a single endpoint. This simplifies the communication between the Client-Side and the Server-Side.