Ask HN: If GraphQL Is So Great, Why Doesn't Everyone Use It Already?

Re:Ask HN: If GraphQL Is So Great, Why Doesn't Everyone Use ... by gorjusborg on Tuesday October 10, 2023 @11:27PM (#37840544)

I considered graphql recently and selected against it. I am not saying graphql is bad, but it was not as good for our situation.

Graphql is really suited for aggregating disparate data sources and making them look unified. You dont need to use ot that way, but that is the main value prop.

The downsides that killed it for us was that performance characteristics seemed less clear, and ever replacing it would be a nightmare due to its unstructured usage.

Things that were simple in REST (like rate limiting, capacity planning, authorization) seemed more difficult, and we didn't need the killer feature of it.

It is an interesting tech, but you are probably better off starting with REST and adopt gql on top afterward if you need it.

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Re:Ask HN: If GraphQL Is So Great, Why Doesn't Everyone Use ... by nullxone on Wednesday October 11, 2023 @04:34AM (#37842204)

Thanks. A lot of these things ring true in a very practical sense.

GraphQL keeps getting more mature and adding more and more tooling/features/middleware, but we also need to work on de-risking the technology from a more fundamental perspective to get to a rock solid foundation.

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