Introduction to GraphQL

This lesson will address what GraphQL is and the dependencies required to execute the GraphQL application.

We'll cover the following

What is GraphQL?

GraphQL is a query language that gives API users the ability to describe the data they want. It lets API creators focus on data relationships and business rules instead of worrying about the various data payloads that the API needs to return.

Advantages of GraphQL

  • Can retrieve many resources in a single request.
  • Well-suited for complex systems and microservices.
  • Includes authentication and type verification.
  • Easy to share code.

System dependencies for GraphQL

The Elixir example code for the course assumes that you’ve installed the following system dependencies:

  • ErlangErlang (v20.0+)
  • ElixirElixir (v1.5.0+)
  • PostgreSQLPostgreSQL (v9.4+)

Note: Don’t worry about any installations as we have set up everything on our platform.