GraphQL or Bust
$7.99
Minimum price
$7.99
Suggested price

GraphQL or Bust

To Use it Or Not to Use It? That is The Question.

About the Book

GraphQL, the data modeling language developed by Facebook, has been making ripples throughout the economy since its inception in 2013. GraphQL or Bust helps determine the position of GraphQL within the API ecosystem. We explore things like the benefits of using GraphQL, the differences between it and REST, nuanced security concerns, extending GraphQL with additional tooling, licensing issues, GraphQL-specific consoles, making a transition to GraphQL from an existing web API, and much more.

GraphQL presents a sea change in how API providers enable access to their data, and can bring high usability benefits to consumers. Smart API owners put emphasis into treating their services as a product; this means improving the developer experience and fine-tuning the user onboarding mechanism. As GraphQL enables an unparalleled ability to display API endpoints and test call behaviors, as well as an operational boost in aggregating API responses, it could very well be the tool API owners are searching for to improve their developer experiences. 

But we aren't quick to bandwagon on any new technology without first opening the floor to debate. So, over the past year we exhausted many subjects on the blog, throwing GraphQL into the security ring, judging the process of migrating a REST API to GraphQL, vetting any outsanding licensing issues, and searching for GraphQL APIs in practice today as evidence of its use. We've compared it to other methods of linking API calls, charted industry best practices, and looked at the growing spectrum of GraphQL tooling.

In this volume we've aggregated nearly all of the GraphQL knowledge that has been shared on the Nordic APIs blog and at our conferences. Being a relatively new technology, some may still have questions about it, and we hope to answer those questions as well as open avenues of discussion around new concerns.

The truth is your current systems likely won't "bust" without GraphQL. The title for this eBook represents the fervent community adoption we've seen quickly embrace the technology.

*All proceeds from the sale of this eBook will be donated to the Salvation Army in Sweden.

About the Author

Nordic APIs
Nordic APIs

In 2013, Nordic APIs was formed to help organizations become more innovative, lean, and efficient. Nordic APIs has grown into one of only a handful of all-­API-­related event series held anywhere in the world. After hosting more than a dozen events, the community has grown to include hundreds of international thought leaders. Through the global reach of its blog, Nordic APIs is connected to 10's of thousands of API practitioners from around the world. Visit nordicapis.com for more information.

Table of Contents

  • Preface: Introduction to GraphQL
  • Is GraphQL The End of REST Style APIs?
    • Defining REST and its Limitations
    • The End Of The Status Quo
    • Conclusion
  • 5 Potential Benefits of Integrating GraphQL
    • What is GraphQL
    • 1 - More Elegant Data Retrieval
    • 2 - More Backend Stability
    • 3 - Better Query Efficiency
    • 4 - GraphQL Is a Specification
    • 5 - GraphQL Improves Understanding and Organization
    • Who Uses It
    • Conclusion: Assess
  • How to Wrap a REST API in GraphQL
    • What is GraphQL?
    • Defining a Schema
    • Alternatives to this Method
    • To Wrap or Not to Wrap
    • Conclusion: Wrap or Recode
  • Best Practices for A Healthy GraphQL Implementation
    • Dogma vs Practices
    • Conclusion
  • Security Concerns to Consider Before Implementing GraphQL
    • GraphQL - A Summary
    • Implied Documentation vs. Actual Documentation
    • Unified Failures
    • Data and Server Transaction Volumes
    • Information Hiding and Chattiness
    • Authorization and GraphQL
    • Measured Optimism
  • 7 Unique Benefits of Using GraphQL in Microservices
    • Clearly Separated Data Owners
    • Data Load Control Granularity
    • Parallel Execution
    • Request Budgeting
    • Powerful Query Planning
    • Service Caching
    • Easy Failure Handling and Retries
    • Case Study of Microservices In Action: How GraphQL Benefits Yelp
    • Final Thoughts
  • Comparing GraphQL With Other Methods to Tether API Calls
    • What Do We Mean By Tethering API Calls?
    • Benefits of Tethering API Calls
    • Drawbacks of Tethering API Calls
    • Use Cases
    • Alternatives — GraphQL
    • Conclusions
  • The Power of Relay: The Entry Point to GraphQL
    • What’s the Difference Between GraphQL and Relay?
    • What is Relay?
    • The Good
    • The Bad
    • A REST Replacement
    • Conclusion
  • 10 GraphQL Consoles in Action
    • GraphiQL: GraphQL API Explorer
    • 1: GraphQL Hub
    • 2: Brandfolder
    • 3: Buildkite
    • 4: EHRI
    • 5: GDOM
    • 6: GitHub
    • 7: HIV Drug Resistance Database
    • 8: Helsinki Open Data
    • 9: melodyCLI
    • 10: SuperChargers.io
    • 11: Microsoft
    • Does Increased Usage Validate GraphQL?
    • Tips on Making GraphQL / GraphiQL Awesome
    • More Resources:
  • 10 Tools and Extensions For GraphQL APIs
    • List of 10+ Tools & Extensions for GraphQL APIs
    • 1: GraphiQL
    • 2: GraphQL Voyager by APIs.guru
    • 3: GraphCMS
    • 4: GraphQL Docs by Scaphold.io
    • 5: GraphQL Faker
    • 6: Swagger to GraphQL
    • 7: GraphQL IDE
    • 8: GraphQL Network
    • 9: Graphcool
    • 10: Optics by Apollo
    • Final Thoughts
    • Resources
  • What The GraphQL Patent Release Means For the API Industry
    • Background
    • Developers Express Concern
    • Out of the Frying Pan…
    • Is This a Concern?
    • Oil and Water
    • Final Thoughts
    • Stay Connected
  • Nordic APIs Resources
  • Endnotes

The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee

Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.

Now, this is technically risky for us, since you'll have the book or course files either way. But we're so confident in our products and services, and in our authors and readers, that we're happy to offer a full money back guarantee for everything we sell.

You can only find out how good something is by trying it, and because of our 100% money back guarantee there's literally no risk to do so!

So, there's no reason not to click the Add to Cart button, is there?

See full terms...

Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase

We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.

(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)

In fact, authors have earnedover $13 millionwriting, publishing and selling on Leanpub.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub

Free Updates. DRM Free.

If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).

Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers) and EPUB (for phones, tablets and Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.

Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.

Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them

Write and Publish on Leanpub

You can use Leanpub to easily write, publish and sell in-progress and completed ebooks and online courses!

Leanpub is a powerful platform for serious authors, combining a simple, elegant writing and publishing workflow with a store focused on selling in-progress ebooks.

Leanpub is a magical typewriter for authors: just write in plain text, and to publish your ebook, just click a button. (Or, if you are producing your ebook your own way, you can even upload your own PDF and/or EPUB files and then publish with one click!) It really is that easy.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub