The GraphQL Ecosystem

GraphQL is powerful and can solve a variety of problems. There are a lot of tools that make working with GraphQL easier, but it's not always easy to stay up to date and know whats available. This talk aims to showcase some of the most used tools in the GraphQL ecosystem, the problems those tools solve and how they can be used.

Transcript

1. Robert Saunders The GraphQL Ecosystem
2. • GraphQL Overview • GraphQL Clients • GraphQL Gateways • GraphQL Servers • GraphQL-to-Database Servers • Demo Agenda
3. What, Why, How?
4. - Official GraphQL Website “GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data. GraphQL provides a complete and understandable description of the data in your API, gives clients the power to ask for exactly what they need and nothing more, makes it easier to evolve APIs over time, and enables powerful developer tools.”
6. An API defines how a client loads data from the server.
7. • Increased mobile usage requires for efficient data loading • Variety of different frontend frameworks and platforms • Fast development & expectation for rapid feature development What about REST?
8. • Strong type system • Schema Definition Language (SDL) • Serves as a contract between the client and the server The Schema • Example: • Blogging application to display the titles of the posts of a specific user. The same screen also displays the names of the last 5 followers of that user.
9. Response (Server) Request (Client) Endpoint: https://myapp.com/graphql
10. Response (Server) Request (Client) GET https://myapp.com/users/{id}
11. Response (Server) Request (Client) GET https://myapp.com/users/{id}/posts
12. Response (Server) Request (Client) GET https://myapp.com/users/{id}/followers
13. • No more over- and under-fetching • Clients ask for exactly the data they need • One endpoint instead of many endpoints Declarative, Efficient, and Flexible
14. GraphQL server with connected database
15. Thin layer in front of many services
16. Hybrid of connected database and services
17. • https://graphql.org/learn/ • https://www.howtographql.com/ • https://facebook.github.io/graphql/ • https://facebook.github.io/relay/docs/en/graphql-server-specification.html • https://bit.ly/graphql-design-tutorial Learning resources:
18. GraphQL is making developers excited.
19. GraphQL Interest Over Time 0 25 50 75 100 April 2015 April 2016 April 2017 July 2018
20. FastQL Apollo Engine urql Nano GraphQL Micro GraphQL React GraphQL - Request Grafoo AWS AppSync Apollo Client Lokka AWS Amplify AWS AppSync Android Client GraphQL iOS gql GraphQL - JS Yoga Absinthe Alumbra TypeGraphQL Prisma PostGraphile Neo4j-GraphQL
21. Application Breakdown Client Server Data
22. Ecosystem Breakdown GraphQL Gateway GraphQL Client Client GraphQL Server Server Database-to-GraphQL Server Data
23. GraphQL Clients
24. • A library that constructs queries and sends them to the server. What is a GraphQL client?
26. #
27. Write your queries and let the client do the rest.
28. Simple view layer integrations.
31. Error handling, build time optimization/validation, state management and local caching.
33. Amazing catalog of dev tools to see the lifecycle of your queries.
36. • Apollo Client • Relay Popular GraphQL clients:
37. GraphQL Gateways
38. What is a GraphQL gateway? It’s something that sits in between the client and server to offer additional features.
39. • Query execution tracing • Query caching (CDN integration) • Error tracking • Trend analysis What are the features of Apollo Engine?
42. • Apollo Engine • FastQL Popular GraphQL gateways:
43. GraphQL Servers
44. • A library/tool that usually sits above a lower-level language. • Responsible for receiving the query from the client and responding. What is a GraphQL server?
45. Easy GraphQL execution and batch resolving.
46. Schema stitching.
47. • Apollo Server • GraphQL Ruby • GraphQL Yoga Popular GraphQL servers:
48. Database-to-GraphQL Servers
49. • Translates between the database and GraphQL. • Some serve GraphQL clients directly some act like an ORM. What is a Database-to-GraphQL server?
51. Without Prisma With Prisma
52. • Prisma • PostGraphile • Neo4j-GraphQL Popular Database-to-GraphQL servers:
53. Demo
54. Prisma Blogging Application
55. • https://www.graphqlstack.com/ • https://github.com/chentsulin/awesome-graphql • https://www.apollographql.com/ • https://www.prisma.io/ • https://bit.ly/graphql-design-tutorial Resources:
56. Thanks!