Re:Why, after 6 years, I'm over GraphQL
by nkozyra on Thursday May 30, 2024 @01:32PM
(#40526406)
> Hmm. I wonder if there is some kind of query builder that can live server-side. That is, capture the flexibility of a query language when developing, and then consolidating that when going into production.
I think this is what a lot of people end up doing (and yes, with REST). Translating options via query params / POST body into a query. In theory GraphQL was supposed to mitigate this DSL-like translation, but the thing is people like flexibility and ability to change and, yes, break backwards compatibility. That's also why a lot of people end up with a translation layer with things like RPC, which is itself supposed to be a direct, shared communication protocol.
The messiness of APIs is often a feature, at least internally. These approaches that attempt to avoid the mess are better for the end consumer but cause friction within development groups and the benefits are often obscured.
I think this is what a lot of people end up doing (and yes, with REST). Translating options via query params / POST body into a query. In theory GraphQL was supposed to mitigate this DSL-like translation, but the thing is people like flexibility and ability to change and, yes, break backwards compatibility. That's also why a lot of people end up with a translation layer with things like RPC, which is itself supposed to be a direct, shared communication protocol.
The messiness of APIs is often a feature, at least internally. These approaches that attempt to avoid the mess are better for the end consumer but cause friction within development groups and the benefits are often obscured.