Glossary · letter G
GraphQL
Query language for APIs
Definition
An alternative to REST in which the client specifies exactly what data it wants from an API in a single query. GraphQL avoids the problems of over-fetching (REST returns more than needed) and under-fetching (REST requires multiple requests to gather the required data).
Business application
A mobile application that needs different combinations of data on different screens benefits from GraphQL — one endpoint handles all scenarios. The downside of GraphQL is greater implementation complexity on the backend.