How to provide a GraphQL API – I want it that way

Codineers Rosenheim Meetup, März 2023, Stefan Schmöller Slides ansehen

With GraphQL a modern and flexible way of providing APIs for our data is emerging. The clients specify which data they need, the provisioning of data becomes more flexible and dynamic. Over-fetching or under-fetching are history.

But does this mean we have to rewrite all APIs to benefit? How can we retrofit a GraphQL API onto our existing API landscape?
In this talk we explore three different alternatives:

• The Developer Way: Writing a GraphQL API layer by hand
• The Cloud-native Way: Using lightweight API gateways such as Gloo or Tyk
• The Serverless Way: Using Cloud Provider native services

We will look at all three approaches conceptually and justify when and why each makes sense. Additionally, we will show in a live demo how GraphQL APIs can be added to an existing REST API.