GraphQL Improves Data APIs, Supported in Azure, GitHub

• GraphQL is a protocol and runtime engine for accessing data over HTTP with usability and performance improvements over REST APIs.
• It could help developers implement better performing apps, in particular mobile ones that work with a lot of remote data.
• Microsoft supports it in offerings such as Azure API Management, Data API Builder, and GitHub.
• However, it could tax databases with complex queries, it’s another protocol for developers to learn, and it can add to external dependencies.

The GraphQL specification was published in 2015, but it has rapidly gained popularity in the last couple years, and new Microsoft support for the protocol continues to arrive.

What Is GraphQL?

GraphQL is a protocol and runtime engine for serving HTTP-based data queries through APIs that can be used as an alternative to REST. It was initially developed by Facebook and later released as an open source specification. The GraphQL Foundation, which maintains the specification, was established in 2019. 

GraphQL delivers an application layer that acts as an intermediary between a client and one or more data sources. GraphQL is not a database system, and it does not provide storage.