What are the key differences between GraphQL and REST APIs, and what advantages does GraphQL offer in terms of performance and flexibility for web development?

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Answered by suresh

Key Differences Between GraphQL and REST APIs

Key Differences Between GraphQL and REST APIs

GraphQL and REST APIs are both powerful tools for building web applications, but they have some key differences:

1. Data Fetching:

REST APIs follow a predefined structure where each endpoint corresponds to a specific resource and returns fixed data. In contrast, GraphQL allows clients to request only the data they need, reducing over-fetching and under-fetching of data.

2. Flexibility:

With REST, clients often need to make multiple requests to different endpoints to fetch related data. In GraphQL, clients can specify nested queries in a single request, reducing the number of network requests required to fetch data.

3. Versioning:

REST APIs require explicit versioning to introduce changes without breaking existing clients. With GraphQL, the schema serves as a contract between clients and servers, enabling backward-compatible changes without versioning.

Advantages of GraphQL:

1. Performance: GraphQL allows clients to request only the data they need, improving performance by reducing over-fetching and under-fetching of data.

2. Flexibility: Clients can specify their data requirements in a single request, reducing the number of network requests and optimizing data fetching.

3. Strongly Typed Schema: GraphQL uses a strongly typed schema that enables precise validation of queries at runtime, improving data consistency and reducing errors.

Answer for Question: What are the key differences between GraphQL and REST APIs, and what advantages does GraphQL offer in terms of performance and flexibility for web development?