Why GraphQL within CMS Projects can COST you thousands!

Summary

This video script explores the choice between GraphQL and REST APIs for building a CMS project. It discusses the origins of GraphQL, its benefits like efficiency and single endpoint, and contrasts these with REST API's simplicity and SDK support. The speaker argues that while GraphQL offers advantages, it may not be necessary for all CMS projects, especially when considering content modeling and referencing. They suggest that the right tool should be chosen based on specific project needs, highlighting the importance of understanding content structure and potential issues like the N+1 problem in GraphQL. The script concludes by recommending REST API as a default for most CMS projects unless GraphQL's specific benefits are required.

Takeaways

• 📈 GraphQL was developed by Facebook to address over-fetching and under-fetching issues in traditional REST APIs.
• 🛠️ Building a CMS project often involves challenges like content governance and data migration, which are not directly solved by GraphQL or REST.
• 🚀 Efficiency is one of GraphQL's main benefits, as it allows clients to request exactly the data they need, reducing data in transit.
• 🔑 GraphQL provides more control for front-end developers, potentially making it easier to implement new features.
• 🔗 Using a single endpoint in GraphQL can simplify working with multiple APIs, avoiding the hassle of dealing with multiple URLs.
• 🔄 GraphQL can eliminate the need for API versioning, offering flexibility by allowing updates without breaking existing queries.
• ⏰ Real-time updates are feasible with GraphQL, beneficial for features like chat apps and notifications.
• 🤔 The speaker questions how often CMS projects actually encounter the limits that GraphQL aims to solve, suggesting that good content modeling can prevent over-fetching issues.
• 🔄 REST APIs with SDKs can often handle related data queries efficiently, mitigating under-fetching concerns.
• 🛒 GraphQL shines in scenarios like e-commerce websites where a single query can fetch data from multiple sources, unlike REST which might require multiple queries.
• 🛠️ The choice between REST and GraphQL should be based on the specific needs of the project, rather than a default preference for one over the other.
• 🧩 SDK support for REST APIs is more readily available and easier to implement, whereas GraphQL often requires additional tools and complexity.

Q & A

What was the original purpose behind the development of GraphQL?

GraphQL was originally developed by Facebook in 2012 to address challenges with traditional REST APIs, such as over-fetching or under-fetching of data, which resulted in inefficient resource use and network performance issues.

What are the typical problems encountered when building a CMS project?

Typical problems in building a CMS project include content governance, accessibility, responsive design, and data migration issues, which are independent of whether REST or GraphQL is used.

Why are there more articles recommending GraphQL compared to REST API online?

GraphQL offers benefits like efficiency, control over data retrieval, a single endpoint, removal of API versioning needs, and real-time updates, which might lead to more online recommendations.

What is the significance of content modeling in a CMS project?

Content modeling in a CMS project helps to create well-designed templates that reduce the risk of over-fetching data, as the CMS will only return necessary properties for rendering pages.

How does referencing work in the context of a CMS using REST APIs?

In REST APIs, most CMS systems provide a flag to return related data within the same query, which helps to mitigate under-fetching issues by fetching all related data in one go.

Why might GraphQL not be the best choice for a brochureware website?

For brochureware websites, the benefits of GraphQL, such as efficiency and control, may not be as impactful because good content modeling negates over-fetching issues, and the complexity of GraphQL might not be justified.

In what type of website does GraphQL show its benefits more clearly?

GraphQL is particularly beneficial in e-commerce websites where it can fetch all the data required for complex pages, like an account page, with a single query, avoiding the need for multiple REST API calls.

What is the advantage of using SDKs provided by headless CMS vendors for REST APIs?

SDKs simplify the process of configuring and accessing information from the CMS, providing an easy-to-use interface and handling the complexities of the underlying REST API.

Why might CMS vendors not provide SDKs for GraphQL?

CMS vendors might not provide SDKs for GraphQL because it requires additional complexity and the implementation is often left to the developer to handle, including dealing with issues like caching and the N+1 problem.

What is the 'N+1 problem' in the context of GraphQL?

The N+1 problem refers to a database query issue where fetching a list of entities requires additional queries for related data for each entity, leading to inefficient database calls that can be mitigated with tools like Prisma.

What is the speaker's default recommendation for most CMS projects?

The speaker's default recommendation for most CMS projects is to use REST API due to its simplicity, SDK support, and built-in caching, reserving GraphQL for cases where its specific benefits are needed.