Mark Drew talks about “Let’s get GraphQL! (Smart API access from CFML) ” in this episode of ColdFusion Alive podcast with host Michaela Light.

Show notes

History of API use: SOAP, REST, GraphQL, oh my!

Why GraphQL?

Why Facebook invented it 2012

Open source version released in 2015 + spec released

What exactly is GraphQL

A query language for APIs

For example, if you look at a single tweet, obtained from Twitter's API, you will so a stack of information that you don't need! If only there was a way to query this data to get just what you need.

GraphQL - A language specification that solves the same problem that SQL did for Relational Databases.

Fundamentals of GraphQL

Hierarchical

Parse the graph of data - parents → children → grandchildren

Product-centric

Strong-typing

Client-specified Queries

Introspective

The API is self-documented

Language Concepts

Fields and subfields

types and fields, not endpoints. Access the full capabilities of your data from a single endpoint. GraphQL uses types to ensure Apps only ask for what’s possible and provide clear and helpful errors

Edges

Nodes

Filters

Arguments

Fragments

Variables

Mutations

CRUD operations

Versioning

Add new fields and types to your GraphQL API without impacting existing queries. Aging fields can be deprecated and hidden from tools. By using a single evolving version, GraphQL APIs give apps continuous access to new features and encourage cleaner, more maintainable server code.

How about in CFML?

Client libs

Java Server Libs

IDL based on the GraphQL apec

Must strip extra whitespace from the query you submit

Who are actually using it and why?

Github

Facebook

Intuit

Pinterest

Coursera

Shopify

Sky TV

Faster to run

Good for mobile apps

Apollo tools and server

How was cf.Objective for you?

What are you looking forward to at CFCAMP and NCDevCon?

Mentioned in this episode

Adam Tuttle

SOAP

REST

REST endpoint

REST get

REST post

REST delete

JSON

Swagger auto documentation creation

GraphQL

History of Facebook inventing GraphQL

The star warsAPI test playground

The GraphicQL swapi  demo

GraphQL edge

GraphQL node

GraphQL filter

GraphQL Fragment

GraphQL Mutations

CRUD = Create Read Update Delete

Matt Gifford

Paw REST software

SAML

Apollo GraphQL tools and clients

Graph.cool

Preside CFML CMS

Listen to the Audio

Bio

Mark Drew

Mark Drew has been programming CFML since 1996, and even though he has had forays into Perl, ASP and PHP he is still loving every line of code he has crafted with CFML. His career has concentrated on eCommerce, Content Management and Application Scalability for various well-known brands in the UK market such as Jaeger, Hackett, Hobbs, Dyson, B&W, Diesel amongst others. He founded CMD, a London based web development consultancy.

Links

Twitter

LinkedIn

CFML Slack

Mark (at) CMDHQ.com

Interview transcript

Michael:          Welcome back to the show. I'm here with Mark Drew from Command MD, a web development consultancy in London, he's the founder. That's a bit like George Washington founded United States except it's a little bit smaller.

Mark:               Just a tad, just a tad, we'll soon be quite as … you know give me 400 years and …

Michael:          There we go yeah.

Mark:               And I'm sure we'll be quite as big as the United State.

Michael:          Exactly, so we're going to be looking at getting graphical with GQraphQL. We’ll look at the history of A.P.I. use, and where GraphQL fits into that. Why you should use it, who's using it, what exactly is the fundamentals of it,