🌐 Day 80 of #100DaysOfCode in Python: Discovering GraphQL

Photo by Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash

Welcome to Day 80! Today, we delve into GraphQL, a powerful query language for APIs, and learn how it offers a more efficient and flexible alternative to traditional REST APIs. We’ll explore how to use GraphQL with Python to fetch exactly the data you need from an API.

1. What is GraphQL?

• Overview: Developed by Facebook in 2012 and released publicly in 2015, GraphQL is a query language for APIs that allows clients to request only the data they need, reducing overfetching and underfetching issues common in REST APIs.
• Operation Types:
• Query: Fetch data in a similar way to a GET request in REST.
• Mutation: Modify data similar to POST/PUT/DELETE in REST.
• Subscription: Maintain a steady connection to receive real-time data updates.

2. Advantages of GraphQL

• Fetch What You Need: Specify exactly which data fields to return, avoiding unnecessary data transfer.
• Single Endpoint: Unlike REST, which may require multiple requests to different endpoints, GraphQL usually works with a single endpoint.
• Strongly Typed: The schema defines the structure of the API, providing clear expectations about the data…