Cutting Through API Complexity: A Guide to GraphQL

Published on Jun 14, 2024

Updated on Jun 27, 2024

Have you ever felt frustrated fetching data from an API and ending up with a bunch of information you don’t need? Enter GraphQL, a game-changer in the world of server-side APIs! This blog post takes you on a journey to understand GraphQL, from its core concepts to practical development steps.

What is GraphQL?

Imagine an API that caters to your specific needs. With GraphQL, that’s exactly what you get! It’s a querying language specifically designed for server-side applications. There will be a single API endpoint. Users can request the required details and the system will send a response as per the requests with a precise answer.

The Building Blocks of GraphQL:

Everything in GraphQL revolves around three key concepts: Schema, Queries, and Mutations.

Schema: Think of the schema as the blueprint for your data. It defines the main structure of the data that can be queried or modified, ensuring consistency and clarity for developers. The schema structure is created using fields and types.

Queries: These are used to fetch the data from the GraphQL API. You define the specific data you need in a structured format, and GraphQL gets it for you efficiently. This is a similar use case like a “GET” request in RESTful APIs.

Mutations: Need to insert, update, or delete data? Mutations are your answer. They are used to modify (Insert, Update, Delete) the data in the GraphQL API. This is a similar use case like “POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE” requests in RESTful APIs.

Understanding the GraphQL API Architecture:

Architecture plays a crucial role in achieving efficiency. But what exactly goes on behind the scenes? Let’s break it down!

The above diagram represents the 3-tier architecture diagram of GraphQL. Here’s what’s happening:

Clients send the requests with only the required parameters in the query string using JSON format
GraphQL server handles the requests with appropriate actions and interaction with the data layer,
After that send back the responses with only requested data as payload JSON to the Clients for further process.

The Role of GraphiQL IDE:

GraphiQL is a graphical interface specifically designed for GraphQL. It allows you to build, test, and debug your queries and mutations in a user-friendly environment.

Benefits of GraphQL:

Precision is key: Getting exactly what we need is the primary goal for GraphQL. It delivers only the data your application needs for faster performance.

One request, many answers: Get multiple distinct details in a single request instead of sending multiple requests.
Structure for clarity: Structured type referencing request and response detail, making it easier for developers to understand and maintain the API.
Future-proof flexibility: Updates to the API become a breeze with GraphQL. You can introduce new features without depending on version control management, ensuring smooth operation.
No More Data Juggling: Easily combine multiple data sources in a single endpoint.

REST vs GraphQL:

In a traditional REST API, you might need to use multiple endpoints for different requests.

With GraphQL, a single request with a well-defined structure retrieves all the data in one go, saving time and resources.

How to get started with GraphQL?

If you are considering the technology and framework to build a web application using GraphQL, you can choose Express.js.

Development Flow Diagram in Express:

The above diagram shows the flows that give you an overall idea to develop a project using GraphQL. If you are a beginner, please check the following link.

Server-Side Application:

Include two npm packages (graphql-http and graphql) to start with GraphQL.
Build the folder structure to start the development to define the GraphQL schema.
Create the base folders in the following manner “/src/schema”.
The concept is to build module-wise schema, so it’s better to create individual folders for each module (i.e. User, Product, Order, Payment, etc.).
Each module folder should have 3 files (index.js, typedefs.js, and resolvers.js).
Use the ‘index.js’ to combine the integrations of ‘typedefs.js’ and ‘resolvers.js’ to make it centralized for that particular module.
Use ‘typedefs.js’ to define the structure of queries and mutations for that particular module.
Use ‘resolvers.js’ to build the logic to manipulate queries and mutations for that particular module.
Run the project
Test and debug the integrated API using GraphiQL IDE

Client-Side Application:

Once your server-side is set up, it’s time to connect your application:

From the client-side application, Call API from a single endpoint (/graphql) and send the query string within the ‘data’ parameter as a request to get the response for that specified query string.
Get the response as JSON payload and process it for further execution.

Conclusion:

GraphQL is a powerful tool that simplifies API development. By offering a more efficient and flexible approach to data retrieval, it empowers developers to build cleaner, faster, and future-proof applications.

Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting your journey, GraphQL is worth exploring. Its clear structure, streamlined data fetching, and ever-growing community make it a valuable asset for your development toolbox.

Additional Resources:

Folder Structure and Integration Reference: you can check the following link.

Video Reference on Integrations, you can check the following link.

About the Author:

Sudipta Mal is a Technical Architect at Mantra Labs. His passion goes beyond his technical expertise; he’s also fascinated by experimenting with new technologies, which further fuels his creativity and problem-solving abilities.

Further Readings: Beego is Backend Developers’ Fav for 2024; but why?

Let’s take a trip back in time—2008. Netflix was nothing like the media juggernaut it is today. Back then, they were a DVD-rental-by-mail service trying to go digital. But here’s the kicker: they hit a major pitfall. The internet was booming, and people were binge-watching shows like never before, but Netflix’s infrastructure couldn’t handle the load. Their single, massive system—what techies call a “monolith”—was creaking under pressure. Slow load times and buffering wheels plagued the experience, a nightmare for any platform or app development company trying to scale

That’s when Netflix decided to do something wild—they broke their monolith into smaller pieces. It was microservices, the tech equivalent of turning one giant pizza into bite-sized slices. Instead of one colossal system doing everything from streaming to recommendations, each piece of Netflix’s architecture became a specialist—one service handled streaming, another handled recommendations, another managed user data, and so on.

But microservices alone weren’t enough. What if one slice of pizza burns? Would the rest of the meal be ruined? Netflix wasn’t about to let a burnt crust take down the whole operation. That’s when they introduced the Circuit Breaker Pattern—just like a home electrical circuit that prevents a total blackout when one fuse blows. Their famous Hystrix tool allowed services to fail without taking down the entire platform.

Fast-forward to today: Netflix isn’t just serving you movie marathons, it’s a digital powerhouse, an icon in platform engineering; it’s deploying new code thousands of times per day without breaking a sweat. They handle 208 million subscribers streaming over 1 billion hours of content every week. Trends in Platform engineering transformed Netflix into an application dev platform with self-service capabilities, supporting app developers and fostering a culture of continuous deployment.

Did Netflix bring order to chaos?

Netflix didn’t just solve its own problem. They blazed the trail for a movement: platform engineering. Now, every company wants a piece of that action. What Netflix did was essentially build an internal platform that developers could innovate without dealing with infrastructure headaches, a dream scenario for any application developer or app development company seeking seamless workflows.

And it’s not just for the big players like Netflix anymore. Across industries, companies are using platform engineering to create Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs)—one-stop shops for mobile application developers to create, test, and deploy apps without waiting on traditional IT. According to Gartner, 80% of organizations will adopt platform engineering by 2025 because it makes everything faster and more efficient, a game-changer for any mobile app developer or development software firm.

All anybody has to do is to make sure the tools are actually connected and working together. To make the most of it. That’s where modern trends like self-service platforms and composable architectures come in. You build, you scale, you innovate.achieving what mobile app dev and web-based development needs And all without breaking a sweat.

Is Mantra Labs Redefining Platform Engineering?

We didn’t just learn from Netflix’s playbook; we’re writing our own chapters in platform engineering. One example of this? Our work with one of India’s leading private-sector general insurance companies.

Their existing DevOps system was like Netflix’s old monolith: complex, clunky, and slowing them down. Multiple teams, diverse workflows, and a lack of standardization were crippling their ability to innovate. Worse yet, they were stuck in a ticket-driven approach, which led to reactive fixes rather than proactive growth. Observability gaps meant they were often solving the wrong problems, without any real insight into what was happening under the hood.

That’s where Mantra Labs stepped in. Mantra Labs brought in the pillars of platform engineering:

Standardization: We unified their workflows, creating a single source of truth for teams across the board.

Customization: Our tailored platform engineering approach addressed the unique demands of their various application development teams.

Traceability: With better observability tools, they could now track their workflows, giving them real-time insights into system health and potential bottlenecks—an essential feature for web and app development and agile software development.

We didn’t just slap a band-aid on the problem; we overhauled their entire infrastructure. By centralizing infrastructure management and removing the ticket-driven chaos, we gave them a self-service platform—where teams could deploy new code without waiting in line. The results? Faster workflows, better adoption of tools, and an infrastructure ready for future growth.

But we didn’t stop there. We solved the critical observability gaps—providing real-time data that helped the insurance giant avoid potential pitfalls before they happened. With our approach, they no longer had to “hope” that things would go right. They could see it happening in real-time which is a major advantage in cross-platform mobile application development and cloud-based web hosting.

The Future of Platform Engineering: What’s Next?

As we look forward, platform engineering will continue to drive innovation, enabling companies to build scalable, resilient systems that adapt to future challenges—whether it’s AI-driven automation or self-healing platforms.

If you’re ready to make the leap into platform engineering, Mantra Labs is here to guide you. Whether you’re aiming for smoother workflows, enhanced observability, or scalable infrastructure, we’ve got the tools and expertise to get you there.

Cutting Through API Complexity: A Guide to GraphQL