jsonapi-vs-graphql

https://dri.es/headless-cms-rest-vs-jsonapi-vs-graphql

Result:

we rank JSON:API above GraphQL and GraphQL above REST.

Compare:

1. Request efficiency

• REST

  Poor; multiple requests are needed to satisfy common needs. Responses are bloated.

• JSON:API

  Excellent; a single request is usually sufficient for most needs. Responses can be tailored to return only what is required.

• GraphQL

  Excellent; a single request is usually sufficient for most needs. Responses only include exactly what was requested.

2. Documentation, API explorability and schema

• REST

  Poor; no schema, not explorable.

• JSON:API

  Acceptable; generic schema only; links and error messages are self-documenting.

• GraphQL

  Excellent; precise schema; excellent tooling for exploration and documentation.

3. Operational simplicity

• REST

  Acceptable; works out of the box with CDNs and reverse proxies; few to no client-side libraries required.

• JSON:API

  Excellent; works out of the box with CDNs and reverse proxies, no client-side libraries needed, but many are available and useful.

• GraphQL

  Poor; extra infrastructure is often necessary client side libraries are a practical necessity, specific patterns required to benefit from CDNs and browser caches.

4. Writing data

• REST

  Acceptable; HTTP semantics give some guidance but how specifics left to each implementation, one write per request.

• JSON:API

  Excellent; how writes are handled is clearly defined by the spec, one write per request, but multiple writes is being added to the specification.

• GraphQL

  Poor; how writes are handled is left to each implementation and there are competing best practices, it's possible to execute multiple writes in a single request.

2019-04-17