It Depends - Examining GraphQL Myths & Assumptions

Transcript

1. Marc-Andre Giroux - GraphQL Galaxy 2020
   It Depends
   Examining GraphQL Myths & Assumptions
   

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2. Marc-Andre Giroux
   GitHub
   
   Montreal, Canada
   

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3. It Depends
   

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4. Caching
   We’re thinking of using GraphQL
   
   as our API
   Terrible mistake! Say bye to
   caching.
   

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7. https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7234
   

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10. Solutions must be looked at from a
    specific context
    

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11. There’s some truth to it
    

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12. Conventions
    

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13. Flexibility vs Cache Hits
    

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14. Performance
    We’re thinking of using
    GraphQL as our API
    Cool! Why are you
    choosing GraphQL over
    other API styles?
    Because… performance!
    

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15. Is GraphQL faster than ____?
    

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16. GET /user
    {
    
    viewer {
    
    name
    
    age
    
    }
    
    }
    
    

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17. The trade-off, though, is that a uniform interface degrades efficiency, since information is transferred in a
    standardized form rather than one which is specific to an application's needs. The REST interface is
    designed to be efficient for large-grain hypermedia data transfer, optimizing for the common case of the
    Web, but resulting in an interface that is not optimal for other forms of architectural interaction.
    https://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/rest_arch_style.htm
    

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18. One Query to Rule them All
    

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19. viewer {
    
    contributionsCollection {
    
    commitContributionsByRepository {
    
    contributions {
    
    nodes {
    
    commitCount
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    repositories(first: 100) {
    
    nodes {
    
    name
    
    issues(first: 100) {
    
    nodes {
    
    body
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    issues(first: 100) {
    
    edges {
    
    node {
    
    author {
    
    login
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    

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20. @defer & @stream
    

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21. viewer {
    
    contributionsCollection {
    
    commitContributionsByRepository {
    
    contributions {
    
    nodes {
    
    commitCount
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    repositories(first: 100) @defer {
    
    nodes {
    
    name
    
    issues(first: 100) {
    
    nodes {
    
    body
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    issues(first: 100) @defer {
    
    edges {
    
    node {
    
    author {
    
    login
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    }
    
    

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22. Full Circle?
    

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23. Make Tradeoffs, Mitigate Downsides
    

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24. Predictability
    

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25. BFF
    The Backend-For-Frontend Pattern
    

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26. https://samnewman.io/patterns/architectural/bff/
    

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27. BFFs are not only about
    representation
    

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28. Autonomy
    

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29. type User {
    
    name: String!
    
    age: Int!
    
    Friends: [User!]!
    
    }
    
    

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30. type User {
    
    name: String!
    
    nameForAndroid: String!
    
    age: Int!
    
    ageForThisOneClient: Int!
    
    friends: [User!]!
    
    friendsForXBOX: [XBOXFriend!]!
    
    }
    
    

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31. Complete Separation
    

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32. “One Graph”
    

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33. type User {
    
    name: String!
    
    nameForAndroid: String!
    
    age: Int!
    
    ageForThisOneClient: Int!
    
    friends: [User!]!
    
    friendsForXBOX: [XBOXFriend!]!
    
    }
    
    

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34. It Depends
    

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35. Why this is important
    

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36. We want GraphQL to succeed
    

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37. We want developers using GraphQL
    to succeed.
    

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38. In which context?
    

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39. Compared to what?
    

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40. What are the trade-offs?
    

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41. Thank You!
    @__xuorig__
    book.productionreadygraphql.com
    twitch.tv/graphqlfm - youtube.com/c/GraphQLFM/
    (30% OFF GRAPHQLGALAXY30)
    

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