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GraphQL for React Developers

Roy Derks

Developer, author (Fullstack GraphQL, React & React Native books) and public speaker

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There are many advantages to using GraphQL as a datasource for frontend development, compared to REST APIs. We developers in example need to write a lot of imperative code to retrieve data to display in our applications and handle state. With GraphQL you cannot only decrease the amount of code needed around data fetching and state-management you'll also get increased flexibility, better performance and most of all an improved developer experience. In this workshop you'll learn how GraphQL can improve your work as a frontend developer and how to handle GraphQL in your frontend React application.

This workshop has been presented at GraphQL Galaxy 2022, check out the latest edition of this Tech Conference.

FAQ

GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for executing those queries with your existing data. It provides a more efficient, powerful, and flexible alternative to the traditional REST API. It allows developers to specify exactly what data they need, making it ideal for complex systems and reducing the amount of data transferred over the network.

StepZen provides a service to easily set up GraphQL APIs by allowing you to define your schema and connect to existing data sources. It handles the backend configuration and server management, enabling you to focus on building your front-end application without worrying about the complexities of backend services.

GraphQL offers several benefits over REST, including fewer HTTP requests (reducing load times), a more structured and type-safe way to interact with an API, and more precise data fetching capabilities. It allows for a single endpoint and provides flexible data structures, which can simplify development and improve performance.

Apollo Client is a comprehensive state management library for JavaScript that enables you to manage both local and remote data with GraphQL. It is used to fetch, cache, and modify application data, all via GraphQL. Apollo Client integrates seamlessly with React and other popular frameworks, making it a popular choice for developers working with GraphQL.

In GraphQL, mutations are used to modify data on the server, such as creating, updating, or deleting records. Unlike queries, which are used to fetch data, mutations change data. Each mutation is defined in the schema and can include multiple fields, similar to queries. The client specifies the mutations to be executed along with any necessary parameters.

react graphql

Roy Derks

112 min

07 Dec, 2022

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Video Summary and Transcription

Today's workshop focuses on GraphQL for Front-End Developers, comparing it to REST APIs and exploring its operations and subscriptions. The workshop covers schema definition, data retrieval, and using GraphQL in the application. It also includes exercises on restructuring data, using named queries, and implementing Apollo Client. Other topics discussed are manual updates, mutations, and automatic data updates using refresh queries. The speaker also mentions the GraphQL code generator for generating TypeScript types.

Available in Español: GraphQL para Desarrolladores de React

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