Life is hard and so is learning GraphQL

A talk focused on the trials and tribulations of learning GraphQL, but how documentation can help.

Current deck from: ReactJS Girls Conference
Recording: bit.ly/graphql-finland

Transcript

1. Life is hard and so is learning GraphQL @carolstran
2. @carolstran
3. @carolstran graph.cool
4. @carolstran
5. @carolstran
6. @carolstran
7. @carolstran
8. @carolstran
9. @carolstran
10. @carolstran
11. @carolstran
12. @carolstran
13. GraphQL @carolstran
14. GraphQL @carolstran
15. @carolstran
16. @carolstran
17. Go to GraphiQL and “try it out” @carolstran bit.ly/graphiql-demo
18. Work your way through the documentation @carolstran graphql.org
19. @carolstran graphql.org
20. @carolstran
21. @carolstran
22. @carolstran
23. @carolstran graphql.org
24. @carolstran graphql.org
25. @carolstran graphql.org/learn
26. @carolstran graphql.org/learn
27. @carolstran
28. @carolstran
29. @carolstran Anyone who encounters GraphQL, needs to be able to understand it
30. @carolstran gatsbyjs.org
31. @carolstran
32. The problems and what we can do about it @carolstran
33. Just because GraphQL is “self- documenting," doesn’t mean you should stop writing docs @carolstran Problem
34. @carolstran bit.ly/github-gql-api
35. @carolstran bit.ly/github-gql-api
36. “This type of documentation is great after you understand the domain area and the business cases and you’ve built some confidence making queries and mutations… @carolstran — Andrew Johnston bit.ly/andrew-api-docs
37. …but without more detailed documentation that covers the conceptual materials, you’re not going to get there.” @carolstran — Andrew Johnston bit.ly/andrew-api-docs
38. “Documenting API endpoints explains how individual tools work, explaining how to use those tools together is a whole other area of documentation effort. ” @carolstran — Chris Ward bit.ly/documenting-graphql
39. @carolstran gatsbyjs.org/docs/querying-with-graphql/
40. GraphQL is dominated by the JavaScript community @carolstran Problem
41. @carolstran bit.ly/graphql-def
42. @carolstran
43. @carolstran JavaScript TypeScript Ruby PHP Python Java C/C++ Swift .NET Erlang Elixir Haskell Rust Go Scala Clojure R (and more)
44. @carolstran graphql.org/learn
45. @carolstran graphql.org/learn
46. @carolstran graphql.org/code
47. Assumed knowledge and specific terminology Problem @carolstran
48. @carolstran Everyone is a beginner at some point
49. Listing pre-reqs for a tutorial will help prevent headaches @carolstran
50. @carolstran bit.ly/graphql-glossary
51. @carolstran bit.ly/fb-graphapi
52. Quick wins some short documentation tips @carolstran
53. Be confident with your definitions Quick win @carolstran
54. Don’t integrate tools or services without explanation Quick win @carolstran
55. Be transparent about any downfalls Quick win @carolstran
56. More resources for learning GraphQL and beyond @carolstran
57. HowToGraphQL.com Resource @carolstran
58. @carolstran howtographql.com
59. A Frontend Developer’s Guide to GraphQL Resource @carolstran github.com/peggyrayzis/guide-to-graphql
60. @carolstran css-tricks.com/front-end-developers-guide-graphql/
61. GitHub's GraphQL API Resource @carolstran bit.ly/github-gql-api
62. @carolstran bit.ly/github-gql-api
63. Community Resources on official GraphQL docs Resource @carolstran graphql.org/community
64. @carolstran graphql.org/community
65. https://so-you-want-to-learn- graphql.netlify.com/ Resource @carolstran github.com/carolstran/so-you-want-to-learn-graphql
66. @carolstran github.com/carolstran/so-you-want-to-learn-graphql
67. One last thing (but actually, I promise) @carolstran
68. @carolstran bit.ly/javascript-monads
69. @carolstran Please don’t let GraphQL become the new monads