The Role of APIs in Modern Web Development: REST vs. GraphQL vs. gRPC
Modern web development is significantly dependent on APIs. APIs streamline the development process and ensure application functionality. However, different approaches to API development exist.
Most notably, there are REST, GraphQL, and gRPC APIs. Each of them serves a different purpose in the development process.
In this article, we’ll explore what APIs are, the differences between REST, GraphQL, and gRPC, and how to choose the best one for your use case.
What are APIs?
Application programming interfaces serve as intermediaries allowing applications, services, and systems to communicate. You can, for example, create a writing tool application using web development languages and then use ChatGPT’s API to leverage AI for certain features.
APIs are commonly used in web development to fetch, send, and process data between the client and server. There are numerous types of APIs, but most notably, there are web, library, and operating system APIs. APIs are essential for building interactive and dynamic applications.
Web APIs are used for communication over the Internet, while library APIs provide pre-built functionalities within a programming language or framework. OS APIs also perform a similar function, allowing software applications to interact with the OS.
Application programming interfaces also play a crucial role in container monitoring. They enable real-time data collection, logging, and automated scaling through platforms like Kubernetes and Docker.
Overview
Before we discuss why someone would choose one API approach over the other, it’s important to understand the key standard features and complexities related to each.
REST
RESTful web APIs are the most widely adopted API architecture. Their key traits include simplicity and statelessness, meaning each request is independent. They’re based on standard HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.
Since most web-based applications are already developed in HTML and Javascript, it’s easy to integrate them with other web applications. REST uses resources structured by URLs (e.g., /users/123).
It supports multiple data formats, including JSON and XML, but the predominant data format is JSON. REST works well with caching mechanisms and scales efficiently, making it an excellent choice for startups and growing solutions.
Although the most widespread, REST has some disadvantages. For example, REST can lead to over or under-fetching data, and its performance can degrade with large payloads.
GraphQL
This API is developed by one of the most visited websites in the world, Facebook. GraphQL is a query language and runtime for APIs that allows clients to request only the necessary data. Unlike REST, which exposes multiple endpoints, GraphQL provides a single endpoint (/graphql) where clients send structured queries.
GraphQL solves a significant downside of REST, which is overfetching since clients send requests only for data they need. Furthermore, GraphQL supports nested queries, reducing the number of requests the client has to send.
It uses a strongly typed schema, which ensures reliability. Although it has some advantages over REST, it is more complex to implement and more resource-heavy than REST. The process of caching is also more challenging than REST.
gRPC
gRPC stands for Google Remote Procedure Call, and Google developed it. This high-performance API framework uses Protocol Buffers (protobufs) instead of JSON for data exchange.
It is designed for efficiency and supports bidirectional streaming for real-time applications. The proto buffs make gRPC much faster than GraphQL and REST, and gRPC works across several different programming languages.
gRPC supports bidirectional streaming for real-time applications but is not as well-suited for browser-based applications because browsers don’t natively support HTTP/2. Of course, qRPC’s benefits and high performance make it much more complex to implement than the previous two options.
It also requires additional client libraries for full functionality, which the previous two options don’t. For developers engaged in React web development, understanding these API frameworks can enhance the way they interact with backend services, ultimately improving user experience and performance.
Which Application programming interfaces to choose?
Your API infrastructure depends mainly on the use case. A RESTful API is best for building traditional web applications, especially if simplicity and scalability are priorities. However, GraphQL is a much better alternative if your application requires efficient data fetching, such as in mobile and single-page applications.
It’s best to use gRPC when performance and real-time streaming are critical, such as in IoT applications, microservices, and machine-to-machine communication.
APIs also play a role in domain hosting when setting up a web application. For example, APIs like Cloudflare and AWS Route 53 allow automated DNS configurations. APIs also streamline one of the most critical cybersecurity aspects of websites: encryption.
APIs from Let’s Encrypt and Cloudflare help automate SSL setup, and they are used by many websites. REST is the most common API architecture used in domain hosting, while GraphQL is emerging in content management systems like Contentful and Sanity.io.
Conclusion
APIs are the backbone of modern web development, enabling communication between applications and services. REST, GraphQL, and gRPC each have unique strengths and weaknesses, making them suitable for different scenarios.
When choosing an API, consider factors like performance, flexibility, and ease of implementation. On their own, neither of the options is perfect, but each of them excels in specific scenarios.
Before you choose the API for your product, consult with reputable experts and software engineers. Selecting a subpar option can cause more problems later, so making a careful choice early on is worth the extra time and consideration.
