GraphQL APIs With .NET: What You Need To Know

Developers looking to build efficient and flexible APIs can benefit from the query language GraphQL. Not only can this query language help developers to build robust APIs, but it can also improve the experience for them and users.

REST has long been the go-to query language for developers looking to build APIs with. NET. But the problem with this open-source query language from Facebook is that it is too inflexible and often fails to keep up with the client’s evolving requirements     .  

This is the reason a more flexible alternative in the form of GraphQL was developed: it solves REST’s inefficiencies and shortcomings and helps developers create more flexible and efficient web APIs. Let’s dive deeper into the topic to learn what creating GraphQL APIs with .NET entails and why you need to hire .net developers with some experience working with it.  

What Is GraphQL?

It is important to get a basic understanding of GraphQL before you learn how to create APIs with this query language that you can integrate into .NET core applications.

The GraphQL query language for creating open-source APIs requests specific data from multiple sources and then returns it using its syntax. Customers can utilize this to request only what they need and nothing else.

Suppose you were in a restaurant and wanted to order a dish on their menu but you also wanted the ingredients on it to be personalized to your taste and preferences. The restaurant’s policy allowed it and you were able to choose the ingredients you wanted and ones you didn’t.

GraphQL works exactly like this to allow you to request only the specific fields you require to improve the performance of your .NET core application by saving bandwidth. This is not possible with traditional API, which decides and sends you the data it wants, and you have no control over the requests.

When Should You Use GraphQL?

Now that you understand the GraphQL query language, you may want to know the best time to use it. There are several situations where using this API query language is recommended. They include the following:

Flexibility With Query

GraphQL allows you to request the exact data you need and avoid overloading      with unnecessary data that traditional RESTful APIs often provide.

Reduce the Number of API Calls

A dot-net development company working on ASP.NET core applications can get all the necessary data for a specific function or visualization by using a single GraphQL call. In this instance, there is no need to make more than a single API call     .

Great For Complex Data Models

Dot net development services working on an application will find the GraphQL API query language as a great choice for traversing the relationships between different objects in a complex data model.

No Need to Break Client Applications When Evolving the API

GraphQL eliminates the need to break the existing client applications to integrate new types and fields into your API. You can request the new data only if and when there is a need for it.

Provide Customers With What They Need

You do not need to create two different versions of the API when using GraphQL to provide different customers with what they need. Instead, this query language is designed to allow you to provide different customers—such as web and mobile application users—with the exact data they need.

When Not To Use GraphQL?

There are also some situations where dot net development services should not use GraphQL and where RESTful APIs are a better choice. These situations include the following:

When You Need to Create Simple APIs

Traditional RESTful is a better option than GraphQL when      you need to create simple APIs. These are APIs with clear requirements for data and well-defined endpoints. Using GraphQL, in this case, will only serve to make things more complicated.

When The Relationships Between Objects Is Straightforward

The RESTful approach is a good choice for situations where things are simple or straightforward. This is the case when you have simple data and queries that prevent the relationships between objects from being complex. Using the RESTful approach here instead of GraphQL allows a dot net development company to anticipate exactly what each endpoint will return.

When You Have a Development Team Not Familiar With GraphQL

Using GraphQL to create APIs for you web applications may not be the best option for you if your in-house development team is unfamiliar with the query language. RESTful is a simpler approach in this case and one your team is likely to be aware of.

However, one way around this is to hire professional dot net development services with the expertise and experience to create APIs for ASP.NET core applications using the GraphQL query language.

When You Need to Implement Efficient Caching Strategies

If you use GraphQL to create APIs for your .NET applications, you will find it difficult to implement efficient caching strategies. This is because the endpoints in GraphQL cannot be accurately predicted, and it is challenging to cache responses, which is not the case when using the RESTful approach.

How to Implement GraphQL in .NET Applications

Now that you understand the situations where using GraphQL for creating APIs is a good choice and where it isn’t, we can proceed to the practices involved in implementing this query language in .NET applications.

There are a few different ways to do this, but the two most popular methods are Hot Chocolate and GraphQL.NET.

The latter is a .NET framework that you can integrate with .NET applications without any issues. It is made possible by the advanced functions of this framework like support for code-first and schema-first, support for subscription in real time, ability to handle complex queries, and integration of Entity Framework Core.

GraphQL.NET, on the other hand, allows you to integrate NET applications with a GraphQL server using a library dedicated to this purpose. You can perform data resolution, handle queries, and create schemas for GraphQL using the support GraphQL.NET offers.

Conclusion

It is clear that GraphQL has advantages and drawbacks. You need to decide whether this API query language is the right option for you by considering your specific project needs, the development resources available to you, and the complexity of the data and queries you need to deal with. Once you know this, you can make an informed choice.