RESTful APIs vs GraphQL

Developers should learn RESTful APIs when building web services, mobile backends, or microservices that require standardized, platform-independent communication over HTTP meets developers should learn graphql when building modern web or mobile applications that require flexible, efficient data fetching, such as in complex frontend-backend integrations or microservices architectures. Here's our take.

RESTful APIs

Nice Pick

Developers should learn RESTful APIs when building web services, mobile backends, or microservices that require standardized, platform-independent communication over HTTP

Pros

• They are essential for creating public-facing APIs, integrating third-party services, or developing single-page applications (SPAs) that interact with servers, as they simplify client-server interactions and improve scalability
• Related to: http-methods, json

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

GraphQL

Developers should learn GraphQL when building modern web or mobile applications that require flexible, efficient data fetching, such as in complex frontend-backend integrations or microservices architectures

Pros

• It's particularly useful for scenarios where clients need to avoid multiple round-trips to servers or when APIs must evolve without breaking existing queries
• Related to: apollo-client, relay

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. RESTful APIs is a concept while GraphQL is a tool. We picked RESTful APIs based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

RESTful APIs wins

Based on overall popularity. RESTful APIs is more widely used, but GraphQL excels in its own space.